One weekend we got back from a cabin trip in time to go watch a dirt bike race. I thought that it would be something mostly for my husband, and sort of interesting for the rest of us, but it was actually awesome. We are going every year, I hope! They had races in all sorts of categories: amateurs (who feel down a lot and made my kids laugh), little kids, BMX racers, and even mules. At first I felt bad laughing at the wrecks, but they are all wearing so much padding and they all wreck so much that I got over that. This was clearly the way they expect things to go.
I wanted to take a picture of Tyler watching them line up, but obviously he just wanted to show off his can of pop.
My kids are discovering selfies . . . oh dear.
My poor iPhone camera had trouble with the dark lighting and fast movement, but I was impressed that it locked on while panning. Here's a BMX guy heading into his flip.
So much fun!
The next weekend, we took the trailer out for another trip. We didn't go far, actually, since this campground was only 10 minutes or so from our house. At first I was a little put off by how close together the campsites were, but it actually wasn't an issue at all. We had a blast hanging out by the river and going on walks, and never really noticed the other campers much.
(Jasmine loved throwing rocks into the water, and really wanted me to take a picture every time she did so!)
Of course the best part about this campout is that Grandma and Kylie Q came along!
Since we have four bunks in the back and three kids, Grandma came and took the empty bunk. I'm so glad she was able to come! I think she enjoyed having a little trip and spending time with our family, and we sure enjoyed relaxing with her.
Though it was funny- I forgot to pack one thing for each meal she spent with us! My favorite was when the roll of "non-stick" foil ran out, and I remembered that my sister-in-law left tin foil from when they borrowed the trailer, so I just ducked in to pull that out. And there was only 1" left! We cooked breakfast in a pan and moved on, but it was just so funny.
I brought a Kiwi Crate along again. I can't believe how much use we have gotten out of those few boxes my mom has bought us. I love them any time, but they truly shine on trips. This was the third time I have brought them on a trip, and it is so amazing to just pull out a little box and have everything they need to create a toy. We made kites out of paper, stickers, crepe paper and yarn, and they played with them for hours and hours.
I can't convince her to keep her shoes on, sorry! I'm trying.
They even came with us on our walk, dragging along like limp pets when the kids weren't running fast enough to keep them aloft.
The next weekend was Labor Day, and we tried to pack a few vacations into one weekend, it seemed. Christopher's family wanted to camp out at his Grandmother's land in Indianola. He has such fond memories of picnics and campouts there as a kid, and he was excited for our kids to go. I just couldn't believe how much stuff we needed! I'm spoiled by cabin trips (where I pack food and clothes) and trailer trips (where I pack food, clothes, and make sure everything else is stocked) that packing two tents and two cots and 5 sleeping bags and everything else was a shock. We had a funny miscommunication- Chris spent over an hour getting the trailer cleared out and parked, and then told me he now finally was ready to pack everything in the truck, but I had already packed it all in the Pilot. All his work for nothing. So we got down there with barely enough daylight to set up the tents and left after breakfast (hence, no pictures).
Then we came home and quickly got everything ready to host friends to watch the BYU game. I'm always glad when we win if we have people over, because having a party and losing makes it all just sad. We took the kids on a bike ride that night, went to church the next morning, and then headed right up to the cabin for the evening. Then we came down in time to go to a birthday party swimming at the reservoir, and left that in time for a party at Grandma's house before we could head home and unpack.
And that is why I was content to stay home this weekend! Besides, home has kept me busy lately. Along with all the prep work for those trips, I am entering "family pictures" season, with four families booked in the next three weeks, and I have a new toy to play with.
I've wanted an embroidery machine ever since I borrowed my friend's to make the Frozen costumes last year. And it is absolutely as much fun as I thought it would be.
I've been embroidering towels, my hoodie, quiet book pages, t shirts, handkerchiefs, and even a door hanging. Christopher's only condition with my purchase was that I had to find a way to make money with it, so I'm working on that part slowly. For now, I'm still mostly learning it myself.
The kids are adjusting well to school, I think. Kaitlyn has had to step up her game in her class, but she is such a smart girl. Tyler's teacher reports that he is doing well . . . if he focuses and stops talking about zombies and Minecraft. And Jasmine loves her school with all of her friends and her little backpack.
Funny story about the backpack! One day she asked to take a snack to the store with us, and since I knew she should be hungry, I helped her find a pre-packaged little snack the kids usually take to lunch and then went upstairs to grab my shoes. Halfway through the store, she solumnly tells me that "I think it is time for a snack" and opens her backpack . . . to pull out an entire package of strawberries that should have been in our fridge. It turns out that she also packed the entire carton of blueberries just in case! Punk.
In fact, there are other fun stories that I really should write down. On day, Tyler accidentally dropped something on his own foot while we were at the cabin one day. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! . . . that I dropped that . . . on my foot!" When he hobbled over to the couch so Daddy could look at it, he saw a little dangling piece of skin ready to come off. So he yanked it off. And Tyler shrieked and said "I'm going to be sad about that!"
Another time, Daddy was being silly and instead of tickling Tyler (which Tyler loves) he popped Tyler's toes. Tyler apparently had never experienced that before, because he was laying on the floor, crying in agony that his feet were broken and he couldn't walk. I tried to comfort him, but I could tell he probably needed an apology from the one who did it, so I told Daddy to come in. And Christopher, in true guy form, just told him "Tyler! It's time to go! Stand up or I'll pop your toes again!" in a silly voice. Well, Tyler didn't care for that, and actually started swinging punches at Daddy (which I told Christopher he totally earned.) Christopher is not allowed to do that again, that's for sure!
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