My kids would have so much fun if they lived on a farm.  We went to Manila pond to swim and fish.  They spent the entire time catching and playing with the crawdads.

This boy and his wildlife.  If he doesn't have a career in biology, I will be quite surprised.

End of Summer Fun

We had a great 4th of July.  The kids saved money for a while to buy their own fireworks.  Kyle was super sweet and let his siblings set off his roman candles.  Caleb was insanely brave and did one himself.

These boys returned from a magical trip to Kentucky to visit their cousins.  They had hours of toad hunting, spider killing, chicken herding, gun shooting, mole drowning, and more fun than should be possible.  I missed them terribly and I can't believe they changed planes through the Denver Airport by themselves.

Josh was able to go on his first backpacking trip with the Teachers from our ward.  He was exhausted and sad he didn't catch any fish but had a blast.

Nana Shari gave us a week in Park City in a condo.  We had a really nice time swimming in the pool, playing games and riding the alpine slide.  Josh wasn't very happy because he couldn't swim.  He was nursing a torn nail bed and ripped off nail from a baseball injury.

Here's my hero waiting for the doctor.  He was such a trooper.  That was a horrible injury and looked so painful.

Here are two adorable brothers getting ready for big brother Josh to take us for an afternoon bike ride.  

We went camping with our family friends over the 24th of July.  We drove up Spanish Fork Canyon to Diamond Fork.  This campground was awesome.  I wish I had more pictures but every time I wanted to grab my camera, it was in the tent when Blake was napping.  We were able to play in the river, go on a nature hike with hobbit houses (small bushes created little nooks and caves), a teepee, a spider bench, and "lego" plants.  We spent some time at a red rock formation where one of the other boys almost peed on a rattlesnake.  Mom let Josh and Kyle get close enough to check it out and identify it.

This is a poster the kids and I made for Joshua when he had a gruesome fingernail injury.  He got his fingernail 80% ripped off by a catcher's shoe when he was sliding into home base.  We went to hospital for X-rays, 5 stiches in the torn nail bed, and a "Franken-nail" procedure.  They remove the dead nail, reshape it, and shove it back into the opening so it won't seal shut before the new nail can grow in.  They stitched the nail into the sides of his finger.  

I am quite capable of handling blood and gore but watching the nail bed being worked on made me a little queasy.

We went to Park City for a week in June and stayed in one of Jeff's Mom's timeshare condos.  We mostly swam in the pool (except Josh and his injured finger) but we were able to ride the Alpine Slide.  

This picture of the kids turned out great.  It's really hard to catch Caleb looking into the camera.  I think it is hard for him and his autism because it's like looking into someone's eyes.  You can see Josh's finger cast if you zoom in. 

We went to the Olympic Park for the first time and we were surprised at how much there was to see.  We watched some aerial skiers practice flips and jumps of the smaller ramps into a pool.  Here we are at the museum where the kids could try out the skeleton, bobsled, and luge sleds.

Caleb wanted me to take his picture on the sled like Blake.  He had a hard time figuring out the orientation.

9 months!

Our summer has officially started.  Do you want to know what we have been up to?  

BASEBALL

Dance Concerts

And of course, MORE BASEBALL!  Hours and hours of baseball.

Caleb graduated from preschool.  He's ready for Kindergarten.

I took 11 girls to Girl Scout Day Camp for 2 days.  I sure enjoy these sweet girlies.

We went up American Fork canyon to have a BBQ and play in the stream.  Caleb finally figured out this time that his pole doesn't quit look the same and Josh's and Kyle's.  He wanted a bubble and hook as well.

I love this picture.  I love these kids.

This one as well.

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Camp Floyd in Fairfield with our family friends.  The kids had a great time (except Josh and his fellow teenager friends) learning about old fashioned medicine, games and weapons.  The highlight of the day was when the kids were able to put on old army gear and take a lesson from a "General".  Caleb surprised us by putting on the clothes and keeping them on.  When he saw Josh sitting on the other side of the park, he took off running to show him his hat and gun.  His little friend Kyler followed him.  I was laughing so hard at watching these two teeny boys running across the field while the general kept hollering, "I didn't say advance!".  It took me some time to stop laughing but I was able to get a few seconds of them running back to the troop.

Here's some pictures of the other kids in their uniforms.