UEA Weekend

One more post while I'm on a roll. I will be done by 1 am.  Up until about 30 minutes ago I was working on an annotated bibliography of 50 sources (just punch me in the face for signing myself up for that), so this is way better.  Who needs sleep anyway?  Oh wait I do, and I will probably be yawning all day tomorrow.

After Luke's hunting adventure and then Brian's wedding on Thursday we hit the road Friday for a little trip to City of Rocks.  If you've never heard of it you're not alone.  It's actually a huge destination for rock climbers, and we just went there for a little hiking and outdoors fun.  It is truly in the middle of nowhere Idaho.  We had a great time though.  It's not the most beautiful place I've been to, but it is pretty and the big rocks that stick up out of nowhere are very unique--definitely worth seeing.

This was our view of Ian most of the trip.  Keeping track of that kid is a full-time job.



We rented a yurt which was awesome.  The kids loved it, and we thought it was pretty sweet too.  They have never stayed in one, so it was quite the new adventure for them.  Don't think we weren't roughing it though.  We had no running water (apparently that gets turned off Sep. 30), and we brought and cooked all our own food in the great outdoors.  It was no big deal though.  We had tons of food, plenty of water for cooking and washing hands, and we powered through the wipeys and hand sanitizer.

Good times around the campfire.  It was chilly but not cold--perfect weather actually.

I think Ian likes smores.

Breakfast in footie PJs.  That's the life.

Doing some exploring at City of Rocks.  We couldn't get more than about 2 steps before Luke wanted to stop and climb something.  All was going well until Seth had a run in with a prickly pear.  Not good.  There were at least 300 stickers in his hand.  Luke was quite concerned about him and after some serious tweezing he was good as new.

This was taken at the general store in Almo which is apparently the oldest one in Idaho.  We made several runs there for ice.  They have some cool old stuff in there like that scale and an old cash register.  The boys wanted gum balls which are only for display (I guess they've been there since like 1900 too) but luckily they had more since we promised them some.

Here's one last shot at the yurt.  It was a really nice setting with lots of trees and shrubs for boys to pee in and shoot air soft guns.  They also provided some privacy from our super weird neighbors who came over a lot and stayed a really long time for people we don't even know.  The kids had lots of fun "attacking" trees, riding bikes, and just being boys.

I guess Ian makes that face a lot.  He also kept us up a lot that first night.  The next one was much better--Ian woke up once and Seth did too when he rolled of his bed in his sleeping bag.  That's why he had a bottom bunk.

Before we left camp Luke took pictures of everything including this self-portrait and one of Jer and I.  We were all in need of a shower at that point.

Before we left we hit Castle Rock State Park for a little more hiking and a snack break before we headed home.

The kids were great and it was a really fun trip with lots of good food and great times together. 

Luke the Hunter

Well, Luke started the UEA weekend off with a bang--literally!  His Grandpa Boyd had the day off, so he came and picked Luke up after school Wednesday and took him for an overnight adventure.  (Seth was totally cool with it once he found out Jer was taking him on a motorcycle ride.)  They headed up to P town for some fun.  Jer's mom said that Luke decided Preston was a "cowboy town."  Jer's dad bought Luke this sweet camo coat, and they went hunting.  Jer's dad and several of his friends have wild turkeys on their property so that was their prey.  Luke was beyond excited to go and came home under protest.  Jer bought a little rifle for the boys (to use with help), and Jer's dad has a little gun they shoot sometimes when we go up there.  Apparently Luke is quite a good shot.  In fact, he shot a turkey that got away.  Grandpa Boyd said he helped Luke prop the gun off and cocked it for him but Luke found the turkey in the scope, aimed, and pulled the trigger all himself.  They found feathers as proof.  I'll be honest I'm not into hunting at all (at all) but Jer grew up doing it and it's inevitable that my boys will hunt as they get older.  I don't mind as long as I can sit the hunting trips out.  Luke also learned to cast a fishing pole by himself and caught 11 fish.  That's right, 11.  Jer's parents have a stocked pond at their house which makes for plenty of opportunity. 

When Luke came home dressed in head to toe in camo (and wearing running shoes) I had to laugh.  That pre-pubescent mustache looking thing is actually ice cream.

Check out the turkey feather in Luke's hat.  He collected that evidence at the scene.  He just watched Karate Kid, so he combined some of those moves with his hunting getup.  Totally cool in camo.

Fall Sports

Luke and Seth played soccer and kickball this fall.  I had Luke signed up for District 7 soccer but changed my mind at the last minute and just put him in the little city league.  I know it's cheesier but hey he's 6!  He had fun, it was awesome for him and Seth to play the same place and night, and we had Saturdays free!  Luke had lots of fun and scored quite a few goals.  He's still the littlest kid out there.  Seth loved kickball and did great.  Doing great in kickball means standing in line to kick, running the bases, and attempting to maintain some sort of focus when out in the field.  (I must say he had a lot more focus and discipline than Luke did at kickball!)  The boys had lots of fun watching and cheering for each other.  Seth's last game was a makeup game and the other team didn't show up so Luke and the other older siblings played Seth's team, and it was really fun.  The pictures are pretty self-explanatory.

Little Stinker

I don't give Ian nearly enough attention on this blog, but he is a lot of fun (and work) lately.  Chasing him around is a full-time job.  Whenever he has any freedom he makes a beeline for somewhere he shouldn't be like the road, and if there was ever a candidate for a leash it's him.  He has absolutely no problem with wandering a long ways away from me...in like two seconds.  When we take him a public place like a soccer game, church, the park, etc. he does not care one bit about staying with us.  In fact, it seems like he would rather be playing with other people's toys, sitting on their laps, eating their food, you name it.  He has no boundaries!  I love that he's so friendly and not clingy at all but it makes it a challenge to not lose him.  He needs a bell or something...or some of those squeaky shoes.  So here are a few things Ian is up to at almost 18 months...

Ian loves to be in the shower with or without his clothes.  He disappeared one day, and I found him in here having a good old time. 

This is his "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I am anyway" face.  He uses this one a lot.  Actually he openly mocks me and dares me to react like when he is throwing all of his food onto the floor--almost every meal, or he holds his plate out and yells "mom" in this really loud voice that sounds like a sheep (weird I know) until I take it from him.

Ian still loves his binky, but he will only take this kind.  We usually only let him have it in bed, but we're going to have to break him of the habit soon.

This was an interesting one.  I left the chair pushed out, and I found him on top of the desk standing on my laptop.  I guess he needed those pencils or maybe it was the scissors he was after.  Don't worry I scolded him after taking this picture.

Ian makes himself at home wherever he is.  At Bear Lake he didn't like his little chair that much, but he was happy to climb up in this one and utilize the drink holder.

Ian is a crack up.  He knows when he's being a ham.  He loves walking around with this bug net on his head because we all laugh.

Ian can make some serious faces.  I see the furrowed brow look in the picture above a lot.  He also has some awesome, kissable cheeks.

And of course there's the smile.  He is a happy kid (as long as you don't try to make him sit still or do something he has his mind set on).  In that case, his temper comes out and he will probably slap you (we're working on that).  Church=3 hour wrestling match right now so on Sunday toward the end of Sacrament meeting when he was getting really tired of it I grabbed his hand when he went to slap me so he head butted me--and that's not the first time.  Our friend sitting behind us laughed and commented after that he's got some good "ninja" moves.  I'm not sure that's a good quality in a one-year-old.  Lucky for me Jer is the one who is pretty much in charge of him at church, and he can go to nursery next week.  Yeah!  Little temper tantrums aside he is such a cute, fun, smily, energetic kid and we love him a lot.  He gives lots of good "loves" and sometimes it seems like everyone in the family is competing for his attention.  He is my beautiful blue-eyed, blond baby, and I can't stand seeing him grow up so fast.

Very Random Happenings

Because this is my family journal I'm going to try to do a catch-up post on all the stuff I never blogged about this summer. This is totally random and in no particular order and will probably interest no one so don't feel obligated to read on.  My kids are playing inside for once (in Luke's case it's because he's in a bit of trouble and can't play with friends today), so they are ransacking the basement while I do this.

 

I cannot make this new editor behave, so I guess the text will be here.  The top pic is Luke and Seth with their summer charts.  We set some goals and made a list of lots of things to do this summer and did most of them.  They earned stickers for days when they did their "homework" and chores without complaining.  A few days ago they went and spent their loot.  Luke chose a "How to Train Your Dragon" weapon set which is so him.  He loves to dress up and pretend to be a cowboy, explorer, superhero...he was so disappointed though that the helmet didn't fit.  It was perfectly round and not even close to big enough for his big noggin.  Bummer!  Seth picked a big robot that makes lots of noise.  Yippee!

In June the boys played t-ball.  Neither of them had ever played before, and they don't seem to have much interest in it.  In Seth's case it may just be his age but with Luke he really doesn't like it much.  We'll see if that changes.  I've never been a baseball fan at all, so I won't mind if they don't want to go there.  The team was for 3-7 year-olds which was way too big of an age/ability gap.  Jer was their coach.  The one and only girl on the team loved him.  It was a big hassle for him because his job does not exactly lend itself to being somewhere at 5:00, but he did great!

Over Father's Day weekend Jer was supposed to run in his steeplechase, but he couldn't due to the massive sprained ankle he got training over Memorial Day.  We had booked a room at Little America to stay down there at the race, so we decided to go anyway.  It was our first kidless getaway since Ian was born and it was awesome!  We ate out a lot including P.F. Cheng's where we would never go with our kids, went to a late movie, slept in, and had an amazing brunch at the Grand America.  We stopped off at my parent's house on our way back to pick up the kids and celebrate the holiday.  The Picketts came down for dinner and it was great.  These boys are like uncles to my kids, and we love them so much! 

Lots of fun swimming at the pool, swimming lessons, and home with friends and cousins.

A fun weekend in Salt Lake City with friends.  I met Kristy and kids on what has to be the hottest day ever at Thanksgiving Point.  Luckily we spent most of our time at the dino museum.  When we ventured to the petting zoo we almost died...but we had fun!  Then we met up with Jer and a bunch of other friends at the Miller's house in Holladay.  The guys hit the road for a bike ride on Saturday, and we hit the Gateway with the kids.  Good times.

We have done a few races this year.  We both ran the local half marathon in August.  Jer mostly biked after hurting his ankle, so I would give him about a D for training.  I would give myself maybe a B-.  It was fine though.  I was a few minutes faster than last year, and I didn't have to breastfeed at the finish so that was a plus.  It was a hot day which is really bad for my head.  My migraines have become such a nuisance.  I just plan on having one whenever I get hot exercising which is pretty much each time I train during the summer plus I just get some for no reason.  My pills usually counteract them pretty well.  Well, I had a pill in my running shorts for the finish.  Unfortunately it was a pretty hot day, and the race did not start at the crack of dawn when I usually run.  Needless to say I got a bad headache which was not improved with any of my pills which led to bad puking later in the evening accompanied by dehydration which led to a trip to the E.R.  That was really fun.  At the E.R. they decided to give me some meds by I.V. which took two people and about 3 hours to accomplish.  Just this week I tried this 3 day IV treatment that is supposed to help a lot, but the verdict is still out.  Jer also ran in a very hilly, trail half marathon at Snow Basin last weekend.  He did great despite the fact that he thought he was cramping, ate a bunch of salt, and puked for 10 minutes during the race.  It was beautiful up there and I want to do this one next year.  Running on trails is much more my thing than pounding the pavement.

Trip to Tony Grove.  It was one of the only cold days we've had in recent history and was about 50 degrees, but we had a fun hike around the lake.

Just in case this wasn't the longest post ever I'm also glad to say I finished my master's project a few weeks ago.  What a relief!  Getting babysitters or my mom and getting up to USU at least once a week for the last 6 months has been a huge pain.  I still have lots of writing and more coursework to do but everything else can be done at midnight in my p.j.s.  Okay I've neglected my kids for long enough.  That's it.

Say Cheese

So we got our family pics done in June, and I'm finally getting around to posting them.  We had some miscommunication about location which resulted in a last minute choice of place, but I think we got some cute shots anyway.  Seth wins the award for most uncooperative this time, but they were actually pretty good.  The worst shots were definitely of all the boys together trying to look at the camera at the same time...see below.  The candid ones were great.