Summer Vacation... The Cabin!

Our next great adventure while on our Summer vacation was a couple of days at the cabin. This is one of my boy's favorite places in the whole world, and you can guess why... four wheelers, lots of dirt, sticks, rocks and fire! We were especially happy that Paula, Emma and Jay came with us. And to top it all off, Ann managed to sneak away from work for a day and meet us up there. It was such a blast!

Carter enjoyed having a little play mate in Emma, it's pretty cool being bigger than someone else, even if it is only by a few months. It was fun to see him acting like his older siblings do with him, sharing toys with the baby...

...and playing peek-a-boo...


Sam, who absolutely loves babies, was smitten with Emma. I have a lot of pictures with the two of them as he always wanted to be where she was, here is one of my favorites...

Tyler also loved being with cute little Emma, but who wouldn't with a smile like hers! From what I saw, her face almost always looked like this, just a happy, engaging little girl!



Tyler enjoyed being on fire duty, look at that impressive log cabin...

It made for a good hot-dog-roasting fire...
Tuesday morning I came downstairs to this sight, love it! Not sure how much Jay loved it as he was sleeping about 5 feet away, but he was a good sport!

The four wheelers were almost constantly going, they got a good workout!
One of the highlights of this year at the cabin was Spencer learning how to operate a four wheeler himself. Steve took him out for awhile and taught him the ropes and then let him drive the little loop in front of the cabin by himself. Around and around and around he went. I wish I would have counted how many times, all I know is that it would have been a big number. That's a pretty big day in the life of a 12 year old!

Carter also had a milestone as he got to have his first ever four wheeler ride. He loved it too!
Along with lots of four wheeler rides, boat races down the stream (which somehow I don't have pictures of) and just some good old playing around, I think we all felt like this by the end of the day...
Good times!

Summer Vacation, the Saga begins...

We have been home from our Summer vacation for over a month now, so I guess it is time for me to write down some memories before they fade too much. I think I have felt a little daunted at the task seeing as we came home with something like 500 pictures. Just evidence of a great time, right?
We arrived in Utah the night before Father's Day and enjoyed a very fun party the next day at Sherry's house with my very fun family.
Larry had just received a paper rocket launcher from his kids for Father's Day, so we all put it to good use. This is a picture of the Rocket Creation Station (by the way, all pictures are courtesy of Rob Christensen Photography)...

So, basically a paper rocket is born when you make a tube out of construction paper (has to fit over the launcher), put a paper cone on top for the tip, and then fins on the side (optional). Important note: duct tape it all really well if you don't want your rocket to explode and look more confetti at the end than a rocket.
Here is Sam's rocket, which flew pretty well...

And here is the rocket launcher and Sam ready to blast off...

This picture was taken after Jackson launched his rocket, I thought it was a pretty classic picture, it still makes me chuckle. Click on the picture to enlarge it and check out Britten's face...

Carter was pretty curious about this whole process, and wanted to get involved as well. He did get a chance to pull the launch lever, and he didn't even seem scared when the rocket launched.

Besides launching rockets, we did lots of eating (of course) and visiting, which is personally my favorite part of getting together like this. It was a little cool outside (crazy for mid-June) so we huddled around Sherry's fire-pit and enjoyed a cozy evening...


The highlight of my kids' entire year is going out to Utah, and it is nights like this that are the reason. Just good times together with cousins they don't get to see nearly enough! Thanks Sherry, and everyone else for a very fun time!

Jimmer Freddette Camp for Shooters

Carter loves basketball, especially shooting hoops. Well, he really just likes throwing things in general, but that is another story.
Carter was pretty excited when I lowered the boy's little basketball hoop down to his level and gave him a few basketballs. Much to my surprise, before too long at all, he was making his shots.

Nice follow-through...


Carter was sad to find out that he was too young to attend the Jimmer Freddette Camp For Shooters, he likes Jimmer. But, while we waits to be old enough he will just keep practicing.



He's thinking he'll start working on this move next...

Baby Can... Spell

Last night I put Carter in the bathtub to scrub off all of the day's fun (sand, sunscreen, ice cream...). We, like many others, have those little foam letters in our tub and Carter enjoys sticking them on the wall of the shower, just like he has watched Sydney do. So, it wasn't unusual for Carter to be doing that very thing while I was washing him up last night. After I finished rinsing him off I looked up and this is what I saw...


Now, granted the U and the K are upside down and he was creative with the N which is really a Z (I think that just shows ingenuity) but I would say it's pretty good for an 18 month old... wouldn't you? Now I just need to figure out what it is he finds so funky...