In their words....

We asked the kids to tell us the story of when we were hiking and startled the flock of turkeys.  This is their version of the story....

Mt Nebo Camping

This weekend we headed out camping for a night with Tara and Ben(minus Tara, she was sick), Theresa, and Jason and Lindsay.  We went up to Mt Nebo near Payson.  I had picked this area because there are some mountain biking trails that I wanted to try.  Theresa did some research on camping areas.  We headed up around noon on Saturday and ended up camping in the Blackhawk Campground.  We ended up with a great site that had picnic tables, a fire pit, and running water.  The only problem was the storm clouds!  It started raining shortly after we got there.  It was quite the thunder storm. The kids were afraid of the thunder for awhile but then got used to it.  The rain was pretty light so that wasn't too bad.  At the last minute we had decided to throw in our sunshade and it came in handy protecting us from the rain.  

Putting up our tent

Playing in the dirt.  The kids had a lot of fun doing this.  Audrey was SO dirty, but it was okay, because we had water to clean her off with. 

Building a fire

Coloring

The dogs spent some of their time tied up here. There were 5 dogs on our trip and they definitely had to keep their space.  Simba put some work into making the area comfy and dug up the dirt for hours.  

After the rain; Ben, Jason, and I went for a bike ride.

Campfire!

Our sleeping arrangements: Audrey was in the pac n play, the rest of us slept on air mattresses.

Since we were on a group site there were lots of trails going throughout the site to all the tent areas.  The kids had a lot of fun exploring the site. 

On Sunday morning, Ben and Paul went out for a bike ride.  Afterwards, Tara made it up and we went to the Payson Lakes area to play in the water a bit. It was really nice.  The lake isn't too high so the water was a little warmer than we're used to.  It's small, so no motor boats.  I really liked the area and the kids had a great time. 

After the lake we headed to "the grotto" for a hike.  It was a half mile hike to a really cool waterfall.   On the hike, Paul and Colin startled a flock of turkeys.  There were like 15 of them.  It was so loud when they all took off. I was a ways behind them and I thought a moose was running down the trail.  I scooped up Audrey and jumped off the trail as I saw the turkeys fly away.  

There were a bunch of times that we had to cross the stream on these walkways.  The kids liked the bridges

Waterfall!

Audrey ended up falling in the water and got soaked!  She wasn't too happy.  The kids had a great time.  Saturday was the first time they have ever skipped a nap. Then they went to bed late that night at 9ish and still got up at 630 with the sun the next morning.  We didn't finish this hike until after 2(way past nap time).  I was so impressed with how good they did on little sleep during this trip.  They were great.  

Putting everything together to camp for 24 hours is a lot of work, but it was SO worth it.  We had a great time, the kids had a great time, and even the dogs had a great time.  

What they're saying now

The kids say the cutest things sometimes.  I wish I always remembered to write it down.

Audrey is starting to say more complete sentences.
Her big thing to say is "I want it RIGHT NOW!"

This morning she told me " Mom, I like your shirt, it cool, it my favorite"

She likes to narrate her toileting.  If she lets out a little air while on the toilet she'll say "I farted!" and then it is "I poop lots" or "peeing!!"

Colin says some pretty cute things too.  We went to one of my work softball games last week.  On the way to the game he said "Mom, I hope you win your game.  If you win, I'll be your best friend.  If you don't, I won't"

We actually won the game(our first of the year).  Colin cheered me on from the stands and I could hear him saying "go mom" as I ran to first base.  After the game he said "mom, I'm going to be your best friend forever and ever because you won your game."

Audrey loves to "read" books.  She'll sit and turn the pages and tell you what she remembers from each page.  She had read this book to me 3 times before I grabbed the camera and then I had a hard time getting her to do it again.



Audrey telling us  her ABCs, counting, and Twinkle Twinkle...

4th of July

We had a pretty low key 4th this year.  On Tuesday night, we did fireworks in the driveway for the kids.  

It was so cute how Audrey was saying "blastoff" each time

On Wednesday I worked  and Paul took the kids to the neighborhood parade

On Wednesday night we went with Tara and Ben and took the kids swimming.  They had a ton of fun.

First day of swimming lessons

We finally ended up starting the kids in some private swimming lessons.  We were having a hard time finding lessons for them.  SLC just doesn't have a ton of options.  There are the rec center classes but they are hard to get into and you're only guaranteed a spot for one "session" and then you have to hope to get a spot the next time around.  It's not like you can just take continuous lessons.  On top of it, the times are tough for us.  We had looked into Swim Kids classes earlier in the year but couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money because we didn't really know all that much about it.  Then we had some friends do classes with their kids that are Colin and Audrey's age and they got so much out of it so quick.  We decided to give it a shot.  They are currently signed up for 3 weeks of classes.  2 classes the first week and then 3 classes week 2 and 3.  They're done a lot in a row so that they have good carryover in the beginning.  After this "fast track" session, we can keep them in weekly or twice weekly classes if we want.

This was the first class. They focus a lot on basics, survival.  They are working on being able to float on their back and go under water.  They also work on arm strokes("scoops"), and kicking.  They rotate through these skills for 15 whole minutes each class.

Here's lots of videos of the kids' first class.  I haven't posted videos in awhile and here I've got a ton. I just want to be able to look back at the first class and compare how they're doing.  

Audrey has cried a lot during her 2 classes so far.  She LOVES it but doesn't really like the going under water part yet.  I'm not sure if she'll get as much out of it as we hope but our friend's daughter that did it is doing great and she's only a few months older than Audrey.  

We took them to the pool the other night and practiced some of the techniques and they seem to already be having good carry over.  Audrey was even dunking her own head in the water and jumping in to me with me letting her go under water and she didn't mind it.  

Weekend in cell phone pics

We didn't really get out the camera this weekend but we still had fun, all our pics are just on the phones.  

Colin was excited when I brought him home some batman pj's from Walmart, complete with cape

Friday night we tried to go to the zoo only to find out they close early for "summer hours".  We went to City Creek mall instead to play in the fountains and eat dinner.  The kids had fun anyways

Saturday we went to a bbq at Tara and Ben's

Saturday night I met up with Denice for some drinks since she was in town

Sunday, we made it back to the zoo

Colin with the grizzly.  We went specifically to see the new polar bear.  We did see him but didn't really get any pictures because it was so crowded and he was on the move

Colin trying to take a pic of the bear

Otter masks

Carousel

We ate dinner on the deck Sunday and had some watermelon

And then fudgesicles for dessert

The kids had a fun weekend.  They took 3-4 hr naps each day.  We've been having so much fun I'm having a hard time understanding why Colin is always begging to go to "school".  He loves it there!