Labor Day weekend

A hunting we did go in Island Park over Labor Day weekend. Rebekah and Seth went hunting that week and during another week later on in the month. The rest of the family came up for the holiday weekend to enjoy time in nature. We drove up on Friday evening (Rebekah drove up later after her Friday evening temple shift) and came home Monday after lunch. 

One noteworthy anecdote: When it came time to drive home Monday, we planned on loading up the back of the truck with our stuff and driving both the truck and the van back. We figured we'd have plenty of room for six people, a dog and all the necessities we had brought up in the trailer. (The trailer was staying at camp so Seth and Rebekah could stay there later in the month.)

We started getting ready when Seth discovered that he had accidentally locked the keys to the truck in the cab. All the doors were definitely locked. He searched the undercarriage of the truck for the extra key in a magnetic box, but there was none to be found. (We're not sure if the truck never had one or if the bumpy forest roads had knocked it off.) We were despairing and wondered how we'd fit everything into the van when Seth remembered that he had brought up a new key fob to camp to try and get it to work with the truck. (The old fob had previously broken.) As he opened up the fob, a little piece went flying onto the forest ground. We searched and searched for it, but to no avail.

Then we had to try and find a battery that would work in the fob. Did we even have one like that at camp? Actually, we had three: one in each of the three tuners I had in my ukulele case. Seth wasn't sure which way the battery went into the fob. We were missing the little piece that needed to be there to make contact with the battery and make the buttons work. So we got a little piece of aluminum foil and Seth carefully made the contact and tried each of the batteries oriented both ways in the new fob to see if we could get the truck door to open.

After several tries, we finally had success and breathed a huge sigh of relief. (Seth had two extra copies of the truck key made after we got home.)

Our only other alternative that we could conceive before that was for us to all drive home in the van and send an extra key from home up with Dennis and Susan when they returned to camp the next week. When we got home, Seth found that we no longer had that extra key. So it's a good thing we didn't have to rely on that.

It was our own little forest miracle, and we were grateful things turned out that way.

Seth while on the hunt.

The bear tracks Andrea saw while hiking in Harriman State Park. No one else wanted to come with her, so I hiked alone. After spotting the tracks, I turned some music on so I wouldn't startle any wildlife.

Dennis, Uncle Kent, Rebekah and Seth hunting. The rest of Kent's family had been visiting earlier, but they left in time for school to start back home in Virginia.

Andrea at the top of the Ridge Loop at Harriman.

Rebekah whispering a secret to Ana while Miriam stands in the background.

Rebekah next to the elk skeleton she had previously dubbed Ricardo. 

Winnie surrounded by hungry dogs at camp. There were a ridiculous number of dogs at camp. We brought one of them. And ours was the (ahem) best behaved.

Winnie with the scrapes she got while walking on a fallen tree and slipping.

Miriam reading with Kent's dog Teddy on her lap.

Rebekah at the campfire.

A family session of Dungeons and Dragons. We had previously attended church and came back to relax.

Some of our visitors during the big Dutch oven dinner on Sunday. Grandma Scott, Grandpa Scott and Grandma Hendricks all came up.

Rebekah giving Peach some love under the trailer.

The wildflowers Winnie picked for me in the forest.

Seth on the hunt.

The barrel strapped to a tree that Winnie found in the forest. She was too scared to approach it by herself, so I later accompanied her to it so I could check it out. It was empty.

Summer miscellany

Boxed up and in sync: Friday, May 31

 

Ana wears the box that Miriam's new mattress came in. 

Seth and Andrea wear their thrifted Reading Rainbow shirts.

Homemade sourdough and a feline visitor: Sunday, June 2

Ana holding the loaf of sourdough bread she made. She received sourdough starter as a birthday present from her friend, Addy.

Toad getting pets from Miriam and hanging out on Ana's shoulders after the girls brought him in for a visit.

Yard sale acquisitions: Saturday, June 8

Winnie relaxes in the back yard with Peach. We bought a pair of swings like the one she's sitting in for $5 at a yard sale.

The set of katanas Seth bought as a birthday present to himself at a yard sale.

Toad watching us through the master bedroom window.

Letterman: Monday, June 10

Ana sports the varsity jacket she bought for herself from eBay. She planned to earn her varsity letter in activities by the end of her senior year.

Patched up: Tuesday, June 11

Winnie cleans her scrape after sliding in to home base during a softball game.

Snow cones: Thursday, June 13

Winnie enjoys a snow cone after playing a softball game. Andrea and Miriam were in Washington, D.C. at the time, so Seth filled in as a base coach.

Boxed up: Friday, June 14

Peach commiserating with Seth on the ground after the rope snapped on the swing.

Prayer time: Sunday, June 23

Seth kneels for family prayer with a stack of pillows on his back that the girls decided to put there.

Puppy attack: Monday, June 24

Winnie gets mauled with kisses by dogs at Grandma Susan's house during a picnic.

Chicken legs: Wednesday, June 26

Winnie sports the silly new socks Andrea bought at the Bargain Hunters Bin Store (or "Binlandia" as we like to call it). 

Holy holey shirt, Batman!: Sunday, June 30

Miriam wearing a ratty old girls' camp shirt that she refused to throw away. She only wore it as pajamas, but still ...

I like to look for rainbows: Monday, July 1

Winnie pretending to eat the rainbow visible from our yard.

Three cute girls and a double rainbow all the way across the sky. So intense.

More Rebekah in Nauvoo: July 10-11

Rebekah riding the bandwagon in Nauvoo. We have pictures of us with Rebekah in Nauvoo, but these were taken by Grandpa Scott after we had moved on in our trip.

She's shocked at the antics of the actors during the William Pitt's brass band concert.

Elder Ferrin the band director with Rebekah playing tuba in the background.

Explaining about the flag of Nauvoo during the brass band's ceremony.

Fireplace: Tuesday, July 16

Winnie sits inside the newly framed fireplace in the addition to Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house.

Pets and Rigby Lake: Thursday, July 18

Peach eating her food and Toad drinking his water in the back yard.

Andrea shoots a selfie while kayaking around Rigby Lake. Miriam had a band get-together at Rigby Lake that day, so Winnie invited her friend Annalise and Andrea loaded up Grandpa Scott's kayaks so they could enjoy the lake as well.

Renaissance Faire: Saturday, July 20

Seth wearing an anime shirt and katanas to go to the local Renaissance Faire.

Ana in her princess dress and crown.

Winnie in her Renaissance garb.

Miriam in her steampunk-inspired outfit.

Arlington: Wednesday, July 24

Seth and his coworker Melanie with a distant monument during a work trip. Melanie wanted to go on a walk to see some sort of memorial, but with all the tall buildings in and around Arlington, they ended up walking 4 miles before they saw something. 

Seth with the schnitzel he ordered. He reported that Grandma Scott's schnitzel was better.

Pine Basin: Thursday, July 25

Winnie shows Andrea her bunk in the cabin at Pine Basin. Winnie spent a week at the school district's summer camp with a few of her friends. 

Winnie outside the lodge.

Winnie and the other members of her group performing their cheer during family night.

Allergies: Wednesday, August 7

Andrea's swollen eyes that she woke up with.

Homecoming: Wednesday, August 7

Miriam prepares to hug Rebekah after she arrives in Idaho Falls following her performing mission in Nauvoo.

Hugging Winnie.

Hugging Ana and checking out the balloons. We bought the pack of Bluey balloons from the bin store. (Things that don't sell on Amazon that get bought by this store and dumped into bins and sold by the item for a fixed price each day of the week. After being in the bins for nearly a week, each item costs $1. So we got all these incredible balloons for a total of one buckeroonie. And we put them to good use.)

Haircut: Thursday, August 8

Rebekah using Andrea's phone and a mirror to see the back of her haircut the day after she came home from Nauvoo. Rebekah had to grow her hair out and wear a fake bun to conform to the pioneer hair standards, but she quickly lost her locks as soon as she got home.

Visitor: Friday, August 9

The raccoon that took up residence in our pine tree for a day. We think Peach scared it up the tree early in the morning and we inadvertently kept it up there the rest of the day while Seth was mowing the lawn. It disappeared sometime that night.

A major award: Wednesday, August 14

Ana shows the certificate the district gave her after recognizing the perfect 36 she scored on her ACT. We were invited to the board meeting that evening so they could present her with the award. Somehow they managed to misspell her name. 

Marching band camp: Friday, August 16

Miriam expresses her appreciation for the family's support during the showcase at the end of her fall marching band camp. Miriam played third bass drum.