Trailblazer Day Camp

I signed up the boys for Trailblazer day camp. Since I was in charge of organizing the swim team's kick off party, Grandpa was designated to take the boys for the day. We watched the weather forcast as the day approached.... I stuffed the backpack with hats, gloves, an umbrella, snacks and water. Grandpa arrived at 7:30 to pick them up and head out to Elbert. They had a fun filled day of archery, BB gun shooting, hunter awareness, soap carving and branding. When they arrived home, Dallin was so excited to show me his emergency packet that they gave him.

"I have this emergency kit... it has a black trash bag and you can use if when it rains so you don't get wet. I also have this tin foil and you can put it in the fire and use it and it will warm up."

Later that day at the very sight of a rain drop, Dallin ran inside and grabbed his emergency kit. He ripped open the baggie, unfolded the giant garbage bag and put it over his head.

Another highlight was the bar of soap that they whittled (Dallin said, "look what I widdoed").

What was their favorite part of the day? Dallin and Logan both said "BB shooting!" (Logan was excited to tell me it was a 5050 rifle)

Snow Day??

It is almost May and we woke up to snow today. The forecast called for lots of rain, but when I opened the door dark and early to make my way to 5:30 swimming I was shocked to see large snowflakes in great numbers falling from the sky. I thought for sure it would stop, but at noon it was still going strong and the phone rang.... it was the school district telling us that school is now closed. Logan and Dallin were sure happy to get a longer weekend. :)

Our New Family Member

Can we have a dog?

Mom, when do you think we could get a dog?

How much would it cost to get a dog?

I promise I would take care of it!!

I promise to scoop the poop!

This was a recurring subject of Logan and Dallin. When do you think we could get a dog? I think they knew it wasn't in the near future, but they never gave up hope. It wasn't until James called one night explaining that there was a family that was trying to find good homes for their three dogs. After much thought, viewing pictures, we decided to take the plunge. We told the kids we were going to "look" at a dog and have her come stay with us for a couple of days to see how she did. They were ecstatic!! We went to James' work to meet and pick up Belle. She definately was a cute dog and we were surprised to see how mellow she was. After about a half an hour, we loaded her up in our car and took her home.

We are now on day 4 and Belle has attached herself to Logan. She goes wherever he goes. Logan loves to read to Belle and takes her on 2 or 3 walks a day (since he is off track).

To the Emergency Room again

"What happened to your face?" was the common question Dallin had to try to answer with a fat lip and cut gums. I had just told him 5 more minutes and then it would be time to come in for the night. Shortly after I said that, Logan came running in the house saying that Dallin was bleeding all over. After we cleaned up the blood to see where it was coming from, we discovered he bit almost all the way through his lip. James came home from work and took Dallin to the emergency room since the Urgent Care Center was already closed. After a long night and a $150 bill, no stitches were needed - just some popsicles, rest, and time to heal.

Stroh Ranch Anthology Dolphins

Dallin decided he wanted to be a part of swim team this year. So, we signed him up despite the fear that he may not make it down to the other end on his own. After the first meet, he was a pro. No stopping him... he could make it down the pool both on his front and on his back.

Logan had a fantastic swim year as well. Being on the top end of his age group, he took home first and second places every meet. Logan's favorite stroke is fly.

Camping with our Pop Up Trailer

James decided that he was sick and tired of camping in a tent (we all know this already). His dream of camping in some sort of 5th wheel/RV was soon to become a reality. Shortly after camping at the father-son event in the rain (our tent didn't do a very good job of keeping the moisture - or even rain out) he started to look for campers. The deal was he needed to figure out a way to come up with the money and I would be more than happy to camp in a camper (hopefully a small one) of some sort. He decided he would sell his motorcycle so we could buy a camper.

After a few weeks, we finally found a buyer for the motorcycle. With cash in hand, James started the search for a used pop up trailer. Finally, we found the perfect one off of Craig's list. It sleeps 6-8 people with two king size beds and two smaller beds that convert from the kitchen table and couch. It has a sink, hot water heater, fridge, heat and outside shower. (James later installed a air conditioner unit as well).

We looked at our calendar to see when we could use the camper and realized we had to wait a month down the road. We booked our site at Jackson Lake over the Labor Day weekend. When Labor Day weekend arrived, we packed up and had a great time!!

I think James was in heaven to be able to take a nap in an air conditioned camper, play on his laptop and surf the web while camping. No, this isn't the camping I remember, but if this is what it takes for our family to go camping and be HAPPY doing it, I am in!!

The Munsey Reunion

For Shirley's 70th birthday, she wanted her entire family together to celebrate. So, Pat and Sally's family and Chris' family drove from Utah. Michelle and Spencer flew in from D.C. We had a weekend (really extended weekend) planned. The first day we spent at Chatfield playing in the water and having fun on the boats.

We gathered at Lance's house for an "italian" themed dinner with pizza, pasta and breadsticks. The cousins ran around and played games until the late hour of the night.

The next evening, we reserved the park area and pool that night for the big bash. We swam, slid down slides, jumped off diving boards, played games, and listened to the music of "DJ Dynamics".