Archery camp (so far)

We've gone to archery camp twice already: once August 20-23 to haul our trailer up and set up camp, and once August 29-September 1 for hunting and cousin time.

Let me just say, I am enormously grateful for our new travel trailer. With all the rain and occasional hail we've had this season, the trailer has made a world of difference. No more will I have to check the covers on the baby 12 times in the night to make sure she's not freezing in the tent. No more will I have to take shelter under a tarp when it starts to rain. No more will I have to borrow stoves, pots or matches to prepare meals. It's heaven.

Endorsement over. Time for pictures!

Camping trip #1:

 Gwendolen sad because her hat fell off.

Rebekah with her "pet" grasshopper Leafy. He didn't stick around for too much longer.

Seth teaching Rebekah how to shoot a .22 pistol--her first firearm aside from her BB gun. 

 Miriam at the rock quarry.

Rebekah and Analee in Harriman State Park. I had intended to take these two girls on a short hike through the park while Grandma Susan tended Miriam and Gwendolen. Instead, we chanced upon Heritage Days and got to experience a lot more.

Analee and Rebekah stamping leather for key chains.

Analee getting a short horseback ride. The girls also got to participate in some games and eat homemade ice cream.

Camping Trip #2:

 Seth, Kelsey, Grandma Susan, Miriam (in red) and Analee going on a walk near Grandma and Grandpa Hendricks' cabin after church. Grandma had taken Cooper, Kelsey and Miriam to the cabin Saturday because of the weather. We met up with Miriam at church and spent the day at the cabin, culminating with the big dutch oven dinner Grandpa Dennis always makes Labor Day weekend.

Kelsey wanted to be carried, but not by Uncle Seth.

It was Grandma she wanted. (She was extremely tired, by the way.)

Gwendolen eating lunch on our only sunny day at camp this time around (all other meals had to be eaten inside to the stormy weather).

 Miriam pulling funny faces at lunch.

Analee at camp.

Rebekah melting plastic forks in the fire while Seth watches. Melting silverware became a favorite pastime for Bekah, Ana, Mack and Tav.

We're excited for another installment of camping to happen later this month.

Trip to Ogden

We love temple open houses. Since Seth had just taken off a week of work for me to go to girls' camp, I took the girls down to Ogden with the help of my mom and (later) my sister. The day before our tour, we visited the dinosaur park in Ogden.

Miriam and Analee playing with dinosaurs and volcanoes.

Rebekah, Analee and Miriam looking at the robot dinosaurs. I was sure they would scare the living daylights out of one of my children, but none of them were remotely concerned with the roaring, blinking dinos. In fact, Winnie now has to insert a baby dinosaur into "Old McDonald" every time we sing it. (The baby dinosaur says a very meek "roar," in case you were wondering.)

Feeding fish and ducks in the pond.

Brushing sand away from "dinosaur bones."

Cute girls.

Analee inside the dinosaur skull.

Gwen going down the slide.

Feeding sand to the saddled dino.

Winnie with the dinosaur mask she colored in the education building.

Rebekah making a beaded bracelet.

Winnie and Grandma putting together a puzzle.

The animal Ana created.

Analee offering water to a parched dino; Miriam screaming in terror.

Grandma offering Winnie as a dino snack.

After a rough night in the hotel (Ana and Miriam fought over who had more covers; Rebekah threw up before she fell asleep; Andrea got next-to-no sleep for those and other reasons) and picking up Aunt Jessica from the shuttle (she had to work the day before), we went to the temple for our 9 a.m. tour and took pictures afterward.

Analee, Rebekah, Winnie and Miriam in front of the fountain. Whereas it had been hotter than hot the day before at the dino park, it was much cooler that morning, and it actually rained on us later. (I just realized that Miriam is wearing the same dress Analee wore to our last temple open house.)

The girls and I in front of the Ogden Temple.

Winnie went from this:

to this in about 30 seconds when I pulled her off the flower beds because she grabbed handfuls of dirt and threw them on the sidewalk. 

Aunt Jessica with the girls.

The girls with Grandma and Aunt Jessica.

At the open house, I saw a fellow BHS Class of 2000 graduate, as well as two of my Scott cousins and their mom. It's a small world.

After the requisite post-temple-tour pics, we took the girls to the Treehouse Museum (which we visited back in 2010, but the girls were more than happy to spend time there again).

Rebekah riding her stallion.

Analee and her puppet show.

 Miriam playing with knights and horses. Everywhere we went in the museum--the medieval corner, the doll room, the farm area--she found little figurines and played with them.

Winnie got stuck in the royal dress-up box.

There she is!

Analee writing her name on the chalkboard of the schoolhouse. She's very disappointed that she won't get to learn cursive until after Christmas this year.

After a quick visit with my cousin in Perry, we drove home just in time to unpack and repack for our first trip to archery camp (to be featured in the next blog post).

To see more pictures from our trip, start here.

ARTitorium

I love taking my girls to museums, but even more than that, I love letting them experience fun, new things on the cheap. Idaho Falls has a new interactive art museum, and during the grand opening, tickets were only $1 each. Grandma Scott (and later Grandpa Scott) met us there on the first day and helped herd the girls through it.

Analee, Grandma Scott and Gwendolen in the kaleidescope  screen.

Gwendolen, Rebekah, Miriam and Analee enjoying the green screen.

Miriam with her props and costumes in front of the green screen.

Analee in "The Scream."

Rebekah catching Winnie at the bottom of the slide.

Rebekah making a stop motion movie while Winnie, Miriam and Analee watch (and Grandma talks on the phone).

And my kids are so doggone cute, they ended up in the paper:

 

Library parties

I know I go on and on about our local library, but they've worked hard to earn that praise. Our children's department is the best. Case in point: Awesome August Parties.

Twice a day every Wednesday in August, the children's department hosts themed parties. Families are welcome to sign up for as many as they'd like. Seth took the girls to the Pete the Cat party while I was at girls' camp. The week after, we got gussied up and went to the superhero party.

It started with a story:

Kim the librarian (dressed as Super Smartypants) reading while Analee (dressed as Snow Girl) and Gwendolen (dressed as Super Princess) listen.

Andrea (dressed as Lioness) keeps Winnie occupied during the story.

... then we posed for pictures:

Miriam (dressed as Batman) and Analee soaring over buildings.

Rebekah (who chose not to dress up) with Analee and Gwendolen.

... and made masks:

Miriam sporting two masks.

Analee's new snow mask.

... and took it all in.

An overexposed shot of Winnie and Seth (dressed as the Dread Pirate Roberts/Batman/?).

We missed the third party because we were camping (post to come), but we got to go to the Harry Potter party the fourth week. This time, we all dressed up.

Analee as Hermione.

Seth as Crabbe/Goyle.

Rebekah as Harry.

Miriam as Luna (with her spectrespecs and party dress).

Andrea as Tonks (with the nastiest pink hair glue ever).

Winnie as the cutest house elf you've ever seen.

We played games, made wands and were sorted into houses. Then we got to pose with the greatest guy to love/hate:

And so we give thanks to the greatest children's department librarians ever for hosting the greatest parties on the planet.

Ana-ism #27

During our latest camping trip, it rained buckets and made camp a boggy mess. Seth revved the truck's engine to get us through the muddy mess and exclaimed:

Seth: We're gonna plow through this puppy!
Ana: (In shock and horror) What puppy?!