Camping

Katie has been dying to go camping since the first of summer. We kept putting it off because John was too little. Then we were putting it off because he cries so much. It seemed there was always something. Finally, we picked a weekend and decided to give it a go. We decided to stay close in case of a disaster and we also had a "trial run" one night for family home evening. We headed up Millcreek Canyon to roast some marshmallows. Joey was really nervous about the fire and stuck pretty close to me the whole evening, but he was a serious smore fan. On the way home he kept talking about how much he loved the "outdoor fire dinnerhouse." We were so confused. Finally, we figured out he was referring to the campfire! That kid is such a crack up.

The "outdoor fire dinnerhouse"

So, the next weekend we headed off for our first camping adventure as a family of five. Todd and I were both a little apprehensive. We worried that no one would sleep including all those in the campground. Todd thought we should go to this campground up Little Cottonwood Canyon. He has checked to see if we needed reservations and it looked like you could reserve, but that there were some sites set aside for first come too. So, we figured at 11am on a Friday we'd miss the rush. Boy, were we wrong. Apparently, you have to reserve your spot in FEBRUARY!!! That's right, February. Lame! So, of course, Katie is bawling because we might not be able to camp now and John is crying like he normally does and Joey is chattering away about who knows what. We were a sight!

We decided since we were there we would at least go on a nice hike and then look for other options for camping. We hiked up to Catherine's Lake and did some fishing. Katie absolutely loves fishing. Joey remains terrified despite our best efforts. I did actually get him to hold a rod with a fish on for a few minutes. But, as soon as it got close to shore and started flopping around he was racing off screaming.

So, while Katie and dad were fishing I tried to calm John who was crying again and entertain Joe. Joe kept picking up sticks and swinging them around. And, being the peds nurse I am I kept taking them away from him to avoid eye injury's. Well, I wasn't quite fast enough with one. Katie caught a fish and it started flopping toward Joey and he panicked and took off running up the embankment, tripped on a critter hole and fell right onto the stick in his hand. Yep! He scratched his cornea. So, now we have Joe AND John screaming and we are a 2.5 mile hike back to the car and a 30 minute drive to the ER. This "camping" trip is turning out to be AWESOME!!! Once we were able to calm him down and really look at his eye we decided to just play it by ear. He didn't seem too bothered by it.

After we got back to the car we told Katie we would attempt to find a camping spot on Big Cottonwood, but it really didn't look good. So, now she is crying again. Todd and I are starting to feel like terrible parents at this point since we had gotten everyone so excited about camping and it wasn't going to work out now. Of course, there were no camping spots left there either. So we drove over Guardsman Pass and hoped for some random campground as we headed toward Heber. And, SCORE, a campground with one spot left. I've never seen a more happy little girl. She was absolutely elated. It seemed we had turned a corner. The rest of the trip went smoothly and everyone, but me, slept quite well. Camping trip was a success! Both Todd and I decided all in all it turned out much better than expected!

Joe's face says it all in these pictures. The kid really loves fish! (extreme sarcasm here)

Behind the 8 ball

Wow!

I am so behind the 8 ball with my house cleaning, laundry~by far, the worst household job on the planet, school clothes shopping, grocery shopping, picture editing, birthday party planning, and of course...blogging.

WHERE HAS THE SUMMER GONE?!

I can't believe John is already 3 months plus! He continues to melt our hearts and get chubbier by the second. I'm actually dreading the four month appointment in a few weeks when I will be expected to report that my child is on a schedule. He's NOT! He's just John eating every hour in the evening, sleeping whenever and nothing I can do will change his personal preferences! Trust me, I've tried. So, I'm not looking forward to the lecture from the pediatrician about how important it is to get him on a schedule. I know it's important so I'll keep trying, but in the meantime I'm holding my flight pattern to survival. Seriously, the kids eats every hour in the evening. BUT, HE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!

My baby girl, who is not such a baby anymore, will start Kindergarten a week from today. What?! How do I have a Kindergartner? Of course, she is so excited she can hardly stand it. It about killed her today when all her little neighbor friends went to their first day of first grade today and she wasn't going. She's going to be one of the oldest in kindergarten and I know it's a good thing, but my heart ached for her today when we were there for her testing and all of them (church and neighborhood buddies) walked by on their way to recess. Her face was so so sad. I'm sure she'll be fine because she's so social, but at the same time it's hard to not be with your friends. She can't wait to start her new ballet and tap class in a couple weeks. I'm totally thrilled that it is across the street. No driving with three kids! And, she's going to be six in a couple weeks and I really can't believe it. She is counting down the days until her birthday. I'm wishing I could slow down the time. I can do babies and toddlers, but I'm so nervous about the school age. Yikes! Hopefully, I don't screw the poor girl up too bad!

Joe is growing like a stinkin' cute little week. Full of jokes, smiles and a full mop of hair! He has a new best friend, Adam. Every morning he checks on John and then looks out the window for Adam. They really are hilarious little buddies. For the first half hour of every play date they mostly look at each other and act shy. Then it's all giggles, bikes, bubbles and toddler whatever. I really dread the day we move to New Zealand and have to say goodbye to him. He is still horribly frightened of any living creature. In fact, yesterday evening I took the kids up to some historic white barn in Park City for some pictures and he was absolutely terrified there would be ducks, horses, pigs etc. there. When we got there and he discovered none of these frightening creatures were anywhere to be found it became his new favorite place. This morning he even asked if we could go to the, "fun white barn with no animals" today. What a hoot!

Anyway, I've been really busy with photography jobs lately~ check them out! I really do love taking pictures, I just wish I had the time and money to really get good at it. I love the creative outlet and challenge it gives me, but at the same time I have to sacrifice the "me" time in order to get to a session and then edit. I'm going to be doing limited family sessions (email me if interested) this fall so I don't get sooo busy I can't enjoy the holidays because this really is one of my favorite times of the year. And, I have some of the sweetest and most adorable little people to spend it with!

Trout Farm

She still loves as much as she did the first time she went 5 years ago!







































Him....not so much!

He's laughing!

Look who's laughing!!!

It happened a week ago today. It was music to our ears. The kids were playing downstairs and I was trying to make John's "tummy time" a little more tolerable with a game of peekaboo. So there we were in the middle of a peeka.... and there is was that adorable little hiccup, sucking in air, but still making noise laugh. It was precious. Even Todd heard it sitting at the table. Of course, it was accompanied by this cute little smiling face. It's amazing how it never gets old with each baby. I love it just as much with each one and perhaps a little more because it is all just racing by!

Donut Falls

We decided to take a family hike up to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's a short hike so figured everyone would be able to walk. It was a nice hike, but definitely a lot of people. Unfotunately, the flooding this spring took out the "donut" part of the falls. Katie was so disappointed. It sure was nice to get out and enjoy the mountains with everyone!