St. George and Aladdin

Unfortunately, our Cove Fort tour put us a little behind schedule.

Also unfortunate, Milo waited till the last 30 minutes of our drive

to fall asleep. We arrived at our hotel, and after John checked 

in, he took the rest of the kids up to the room with our stuff,

while I waited with Milo (still sleeping) in the car.

Then, we drove around trying to find a place for dinner.

I was hoping for someplace new, but we ended up at Wingers.

That was great for Jonah, but not for his Mom.

After eating, we didn't have time to go back to the hotel,

so I didn't have my camera when we went to Tuacahn.

The show was AMAZING!

You can read a review HERE, and see some photos

from the show. We loved the flying carpet,

the fireworks, the zip-line, and the 3D scenes.

On the Tuacahn site there are some photos of the amphitheater. 

The only photos I took were at the hotel. :(

We got two rooms and a view of the Temple. 

Ruby was thrilled about the Temple.

We didn't leave Tuacahn until midnight, and it was after 1am

before we got all of the kids to bed. Luckily, we all slept-in till

9am. That didn't leave much time for breakfast and the

promised (and much anticipated) swimming, but we managed

to fit both in (just barely) before check-out. 

The kids also got to try out the treadmill in the workout room

of the hotel (with only one child getting injured).

My original plan for a summer excursion was to to to

the Manti Pageant. John went once in college, and wasn't crazy

about the going back, so my Plan B was Tuacahn.

It was a pretty awesome Plan B.

Even if I had to drive.

Cove Fort

A week ago, we took the kids to St. George to see

Aladdin at Tuacahn. On the way, we stopped for a short

break, and ended up visiting Cove Fort.

We've wanted to go before, but thought it was a long

drive from the freeway. Turns out that it is only 2 miles!

We got a short version of the tour because we

were on a tight schedule. It was just right for our family.

The first rooms that we saw were for sleeping:

- one for male visitors (you could pay for a bed 

or pay less to just sleep on the wood floor)

- one bedroom for female visitors

- one bedroom for the Prophet (Brigham Young slept here),

or for other leading brethren

- one for the Hinckley's daughters

- a bedroom for the Hinckley parents

The other side of the fort had a room for the telegraph,

a large dining room, a kitchen, laundry/sewing room,

and a sleeping room for the Hinckley's sons.

The sons' room had a trap door to the cellar 

that intrigued our kids.

After the tour, we took a few pictures.

The large tree is one that President Hinckley's grandfather

planted. The missionary who gave us a tour said that the

trees were dying. They were beautiful old trees and the shade 

they provided in the fort was so nice.

Webelos Day Camp

Bentley spent Flag Day at Camp Jeremiah Johnson

with the others Webelos for Day Camp.

I was sad that they didn't need an extra hand with the

boys at camp, but their leader took some great pictures.

It looks like Bentley had a wonderful time!

Bentley's First Day Camp

Bentley's Second Day Camp

Next week: Maxwell's first time at Day Camp!

I sent a disposable camera with Bentley, 

hopefully he can post some of those photos on his 

blog when we get them developed.

Piano Girl

Last week, Ruby started piano lessons!

She has been looking forward to this day for a long time.

(decorating her bag;   ready for her lesson;        practicing!!!)

So far, she loves it!

Hopefully she will love it for a long time.

Unlike Jonah, who went from 

"this it the best thing of my life"

to 

"it's like torture."

Summerfest!

Saturday was Summerfest - our city's summer event.

Bentley had a baseball game in the morning,

and after that and some yard work, John and I were

ready to spend the afternoon relaxing.

However, Bentley remembered the Summerfest carnival

in the park, and we ended up taking all five kids over to it.

We used to go over every year, but (based on my blog)

we stopped after Milo was born. This was his first time!

(Last year John took the 4 older kids while Milo and I stayed home.)

Each of the kids got to go on two rides.

Ruby and Milo picked the strawberry spin thing

and a mini-roller-coaster. Maxwell and Jonah also rode the 

mini-coaster, while Bentley opted for the swings.

The three older boys went on a Raiders obstacle course

type thing for their other ride.

When the older kids were Milo's age, they went on little kids

rides. Milo skipped right to the exciting rides with his siblings.

After the rides, we walked around to the booths,

the kids looked inside an ambulance, and got snow-cones.

After the carnival, we DID get to relax a little

(well, John worked on programming, but he WAS sitting down).

Then, we ate a quick dinner, and John drove Bentley,

Maxwell, Jonah, Ruby, and I to the parade route.

Our school is celebrating it's 50th Anniversary this year,

and some teachers, parents, and students walked/rode

in the parade. It was incredibly windy during the parade,

but we managed not to blow away (not easy).

When the parade ended and the sun went down,

the wind stopped and the city was able to have the annual

fireworks display to end Summerfest. We let the kids

(minus Milo) stay up to see the fireworks (Greg came up

to watch them from our place, too) and then everyone

finally went to bed. It was a long, but very nice Saturday.

past Summerfest posts: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011

The Surfing Piggy

Last week Ruby took a "Music and Movement" class at

the nearby charter school with a good friend of hers.

The class description said, "Join us for creative play as we sing 

songs, dance, and do drama activities and puppetry."

Ruby had a great time playing with her friends, 

singing, dancing, and painting.

On Friday, John and I took the boys to see Ruby's performances.

First up, the class shared their version of "The Three Little Pigs."

Ruby played "the little pig whose house didn't get blown down."

You can watch the video HERE.

After their play, the kids danced to "Surfin' Safari."

I wish I had taken a video of that, too!

Here are the pictures that I did take.

It was really fun to watch Ruby's dance, and I loved that
she sang along with the Beach Boys
(even though the rest of the class was silent).
Next up for Ruby - she starts piano lessons on Wednesday!

Some Summer Happenings

 Milo showing off the new shower curtain and rugs in 

the bathroom - it's like a whole new room and we love it!

 Jonah and his buddy Jacob at soccer camp.

 Maxwell after his first tennis lesson.

 Ruby dancing to "Surfin' Safari."

Bentley on base at his second game.

Surprise!

About a month ago, I started thinking about John's birthday.

Several of his college roommates/friends live within an hour's

drive from us, and I  thought it would be fun to get 

everyone together. And even more fun if we could surprise him.

I sent a message to the wives, and some of them said that

they would be willing and able to help with the surprise.

I let Bentley and Maxwell in on the party plans a couple of 

days ago, and didn't tell Jonah, Ruby, or Milo till John left to
lift weights with Brian right before the party. While he 

was gone, we madly rushed around getting everything set up.

Greg picked the sandwiches up and helped set up the net

for volleyball/badminton. The kids ran across the street to

get the things we'd hidden at our neighbors house.

Our friends arrived, and we placed Jonah in the living room as

lookout for John. When he saw Brian's car pull up, we gathered

everyone in the kitchen and waited to yell, "Surprise!"

Unfortunately, Milo slipped out of the kitchen and yelled

"surprise!" just as John walked in the front door.

John was partly prepared for the party, but didn't expect

to see our old friends there. At least we were 1 for 2. :)

We ate, talked, the kids (and dads) played games, we sang
happy birthday, and ate some more.
John said the day would be great if he didn't have to open a lot of
presents, and we didn't buy him anything!
Hopefully he meant what he said,
and the day was memorable in a good way.
Happy Birthday John!
And THANK YOU to Sarah and Jennifer and their families!

June Five

ready for bed???

update:

One general update because I'm afraid I will never get around

to blogging individual updates (like last month).

We're out of school for the summer! Hooray!

Maxwell is taking tennis lessons,

Ruby is in a Movement and Music class,

Jonah has soccer camp twice a week,

Bentley is playing baseball,

Max, Bentley, and I have scouts each week,

and starting next week,

Ruby, Jonah, Maxwell, and Bentley will have piano lessons.

It's going to be a good month!

Our new summer rule is no computer or TV time

between breakfast and lunch. So far it has been

sort of painful, but hopefully it will become routine.

No more signs of the snake in the backyard.

We've planted grass in the front yard and are

keeping our fingers crossed that it will grow.

Happy Summer!

Diamondbacks

Bentley's first baseball game of the season was today.
He is on a team (the Diamondbacks) with three other boys
from his Webelos group, so it should be a fun year.
He started the game playing catcher, and then played 2nd base.
During the 3rd inning he got a great hit and made it home
off of a friend's awesome hit.
John, Greg, the kids and I all went to cheer him on.

When we got home, John saw this snake in our backyard.

The kids watched it for a while, then shot it with their 

water guns. After a good shot of water, the snake slithered

under our air conditioner. I am afraid I will never be able

to go in the backyard again. Not without a water gun, anyway.

One more

One more post tonight, 

and one more princess dress for Ruby.

Earlier in the week, she used some of her money

to buy a Merida doll. Then, a few days later

she used the rest of her hard earned cash

to buy Merida's adventure dress.

She loves it, and we now have glitter everywhere

thanks to her shiny skirt. :)

Celebrating Summer Vacation

I have been looking forward to the last day of school

for a very, very long time. And then, once it arrived,

I was a little sad. This was the last year that all of

our kids will be at the same school. Next year, Bentley,

and possibly Maxwell, will be at a different school for

our district's version of the gifted program. 

Besides the difficult logistics of two schools,

I think it's sad that the kids won't all be together.

Anyway, whether I am happy or sad, summer vacation is here.
I am definitely glad to have them HOME for now.

On their last day, the boys went to school for a whopping
90 minutes; long enough for photos with teachers and exchanging

phone numbers with friends. (now if they can dicipher the handwriting)

All three boys earned their Champions Club Award,

although just barely. The principal put Maxwell's favorite

nickname on his certificate - Princess Dave II.

When we got home from school, the kids got new books

(a tradition we started last year).

Then, they looked at google gravity,

ate popsicles,

played video games,

went to a movie (The Lorax),

got pizza from Liz's favorite pizza place,

and went to the park for toys/tennis/baseball/tag.

I wish every summer day was like this -

relaxing and doing fun things as a family.

Maybe we will sneak days like this into the rotation,

along with tennis, baseball, soccer, piano, dance, basketball,

and playing (or "hanging out" with friends).

last school days: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

More Milo

Here are a few photos of Milo from the last week:

Top right - it took a very long time for him to go to sleep this night,

and it looks like when he finally crashed he really crashed.

Top left - striking a pose with a wheat thin (he requested a photo)

Bottom left - showing Mikey his new backhoe via Skype.

Bottom right - Using the backhoe to help pick up rocks

in the front yard. (We planted grass seed this week.

Hopefully we will have our front yard put back together soon.)

A Little Late to the Club

Last year, our Principal started The Champions Club.

The students are all given a list of requirements at the

beginning of the year. This year, quite a few of the requirements

had to do with end of the year things (like concerts),

so it was the end of May before we really started to mark

things off. One of the requirements on both the 3rd and 4th

grade lists was going on a hike with your family.

The night before the forms were due, we loaded everyone

into the van and drove to our favorite "hiking" spot -

Bridal Veil Falls.

The kids were a little wired, and wanted to climb up the mountain,

or down to the river so occasionally one of the older kids

had to hold their dad's hand. It was great.

But . . . all three boys are Champions for the 2nd year in a row.

Last year, Jonah and Maxwell and Bentley

Patriotic Program

Last year, our school's end of year program was a dance festival.

This year, they put together a Patriotic Program.

Each of the grade levels at the school sang a patriotic song,

and they honored family members who are serving

or have served in the military. John and I took Ruby

and Milo over to the High School to watch the program

Here are some grainy shots of the boys singing their songs,

and one of the four big kids after the program.

If At First You Don't Succeed . . .

Back in March, Milo had a potty training success.

He has been talking about it ever since,

but sadly has not repeated his outstanding performance.

About a week ago, he and I made a Potty Chart

in an attempt to get serious and out of diapers.

It didn't take long for him to earn enough stickers 

to go to Target to choose a prize - a much coveted backhoe.

He is slowly making progress, and with any luck will

have this toilet thing down before too long.

Although, if he follows the precedent he set back in March

he could be finished until we come up with a better incentive.