Girls Day and Campout Weekend

Well me and the girls finally got to have our girls weekend. We have been doing this for about 7 years now. We take a day when school gets out and spend it up the canyon doing all kinds of fun things. This year we got a bonus! We got to use our trailer for girls day. We had a lot of fun. We actually went up on a Thursday night after I got done with our enrichment meeting up the canyon and while I was at that meeting Kurtis took our trailer up and got it all set up. When my meeting was done we all went and stayed the night. Kurtis left for work at 4:30 in the morning from there and so when me and the girls woke up we started our girls day.

Here is our campsite.

We started off by doing magnets. We thought that would be fun to do so the girls could use them in their lockers for school.

While making our magnets (thanks to our enrichment meeting the night before) we played a game called family fun time. It kept us talking the whole time and laughing. (Thanks for the great idea Michelle!)

Then are legs were getting a little cramping from sitting there so we went on a little walk. It was so amazing and terrifying to see all the massive destruction from the fire just a year ago. But also such an awesome feeling to see all the greenery making its way back. Our campsite was one of the many that the fires ripped through.

Then of course after are little nature walk it was lunch time! Sandwiches and of course my all time favorite........chips and dip!

Then we worked on some picture frames, and easels. Some were painted and some were crafted with scrap paper.

Then came time for the girls most favorite thing.......PLAYING IN THE CREEK!

I told the girls that I would love to go sit in the creek! So....here is my idea of sitting in the creek! Although I did get sunburned knees.......not legs...just knees! Go figure.

This is Steph jumping in the water off a log. Look at Mike's face! I get a kick out of this one!

We decided we needed to be some sort of gang while up there so we called our self's the sun glass gang. Aren't we some cool chicks! HAHAHAHAHA

We had some great times in the water. It's amazing how much fun a creek holds. Expecially when Sam and Steph spotted a water snake. (I think I had the most fun watching them while they did all the screaming). But then our girls day had to end. We had to run Mike down the canyon to go to a party with some friends. So we left our site for a while until she got off to her party. (She didn't get back up to the campsite till after 12:00)

So the rest of us went back up the canyon (including Kurtis) to now just have a family camp out. We roasted hot dogs (cheating I might add) and ate .....yes my all time favorite chips and dip with the hot dogs. We left most of our hot dog sticks back home so we cooked them one at a time. Now that's a way to draw out the dinner.

Then after awhile Kurtis headed on back down into town to pick Mike up and bring her back (and to feed our poor lonely cat). While he did that me and the girls settled down for bed. In the morning when we are camping (usually on a Saturday) we always have what we call a BIG BREAKFAST. We cook hash browns, bacon, and scrambled eggs on our grill. It's not really a big breakfast, but it is when your used to cereal and such. (I'm not much of a cook unless I am camping, then I love too.) So here we are cooking our hash browns (which take forever). And by the time the whole breakfast is done, everything is usually cold......but hey..it sure tastes good!

Mike was wore out from her big party, so Sam and Steph enjoyed a game of life. It's funny to watch them play because they make up their own rules as they go along. So, while they enjoyed that I did something I swore I was not going to do.......I read "TWILIGHT" and yes I did enjoy it. I can't wait to read the next one. I finished this one in one day! Go figure.

Later that evening we did a dutch oven dinner. We did potatoes and yes of course...squash from the garden, and hamburger. It was good. I am beginning to think that we are not very healthy eaters when we are camping.......ahhhh but that's one of the joys of camping i think!

The girls headed back down to the creek while we were cooking dinner and tried to build a dam....well..they called it a waterfall....but .....I'll I could see was a little dam. But whatever it was they had fun building it and it was nice to see them work together for a change!

Then when it got dark we all settled down (girls in pj's) to watch a movie. We watched RV....that is until the generator ran out of gas...ooops.... sorry.... movie is over! Time to go to bed. So we did we went to bed.

We got up early the next morning and headed on down out of the canyon. We had a baby blessing to be to in Orem. It was sad to end the trip, but hopefully we can get a few more in before winter decides to visit us.

Signs of- "THE END OF SUMMER!"

Yes, the signs are all over for me that summer is coming to and end! It is so sad to see the time go. Summer is such a wonderful time yet it goes all to fast. I guess that is what makes it so special though is that you have to cherish it while it is here because you know it will be gone soon! Here are a few of the signs that I have been seeing. My garden, yea now there is a big sign. Here is the Squash, pumpkin and tomato plants flourishing massively. Notice my peas are gone, they had their season along with the radishes, turnips and cilantro. My strawberry's struggled due to the little birdies that guarded over the garden. Sneaky little things.




Another Sign is all the vegetables that are rapidly producing in the garden. We have been living off of spaghetti squash and crookneck squash. But hey with the prices of grocery's lately it has been nice. I have also enjoyed my green peppers and cucumbers in my salads and Jalapenos for salsa.



Another Sign is that my flowers in my front mound are finally starting to grow. They finally look they they aren't still in their pony packs. This is in an area where the weeds will not grow either! We h ave landscaping issues here!




My bushes in the back are doing really well and spreading.




My Hens and Chicks (which my kids call "hens and chickens and chickens and eggs") have done really well and are spreading.




And of course a great sign is my garden gloves. They are worn and well used by this time of year!




Another bitter sweet sign is the ending of Me and Mike doing K&J window washing together. During the summer it becomes J & M window washing. Good little job for mike while it helps out Kurtis during his busy year. We are required to do Top Stops windows once every two weeks throughout the year. For those of you on the list for windows, please be patient. We are getting there! We had a crazy summer with softball, then when Kurtis found the time of course the threatening of rain decided to come. Yes another sign of summer ending. Doesn't Mike looked thrilled..hahahah.





A huge sign is when your are getting close to the calendar date marked "School Starts"





And Always, when the county fair comes you know that end of summer is here! But it is always fun to go see the animals, exhibits and entertainment.




My favorite entertainment this year was the Demolitions Derby. I think it was a great derby this year. Here are some of my favorite photos I shot.


And always at the derby I am a widowed, the fire department is there to assist with any fires which means Kurtis is out there and I am sitting alone with the family. But this year Kim Howard and her family sat with us. She is also a fire department widow. But we are thankful for our men doing their job.


Here is Kurtis helping out on a couple of fires that happened. He is the one in the red hat.





The kids enjoyed the Demolition Derby.





But the best entertainment was my great Nephew Triston who treated us with his awesome dance abilities while the music was playing. Let me tell you, if you want some dance lessons...this is the boy to come to. What a cutie he is!



But there you go, the end of summer is coming and there is no stopping it. I guess we just go with the flow and look forward to next summer. This summer was filled with some great memories! And now we can move on to the next stage in life......FALL!