Nicholls Reunion

This was our big summer vacation. On Friday we left for Cheyenne. We made the customary stop at Little America. Last year I remember the dinosaur was missing, and they had raised the price of ice cream cones to .50 cents, but this year there were some new changes as well. The cones are now self-serve (so I can make them as big or as little as I'd like!), and they put in a new playground. That's definately an improvement over the dinosaur. We left early enough in the morning that we hit Little America at 10:00 AM. Brandon was a little too excited to be getting ice cream that early! Here are the girls playing on the slide:

We got to Cheyenne and hung out with the grandparents for a while. We got the tent set up in their backyard and everything ready before heading over to Nicole and Doo Sung's. We tried to go outside, but it started to rain just as we went out, so I only got a couple pictures, but the lighting was awesome. I love shooting in overcast weather. So, we went inside and Chloe had a blast playing with Cora. Her boy cousins (Evan and Eli) don't respond to her quite like she wants, but Cora was so happy to have her to play with. I was happy for Chloe that she had that opportunity. Then we were treated to dinner before heading back to Brandon's parents.

The next day we drove over to Vedauwoo for the reunion. It's always been held at Grandma Rosemary's house before, but they thought they'd give her a break and move the location. It was a nice spot and gave us a little more to do than just sit around. The girls had fun chasing chipmunks and climbing the rocks. I took lots of pictures. Here is one of Nicole's family, but for those who are interested in seeing the rest of the relatives you can check them out at my picasa album.

After the reunion we headed over to the Snowy Range. We camped at Ryan Park. Brandon was grateful he didn't pay the extra $9 reservation fee, because there weren't that many campers there. They had half of it closed off due to a pine beetle problem that's killing all the trees and they're cutting down a lot of them. Sophie is posing here with a bunch of the piles of dead trees.

Our camphost came over and talked to the girls about Smokey the Bear. He gave them a comic book about him, some activity books, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, buttons and stickers. We roasted marshmallows, but I forgot to get the other stuff for smores. We just camped there one night and headed home Sunday morning. Now we're on the last leg of summer before school starts again. We'll try to make the most of it.

Tibble Fork Reservoir

Saturday our family accompanied Chloe on a hike with her Liberty Girls group. It was originally planned as a campout, but thankfully was changed to a day hike. They've been reading the Josephina - 1824 - series of American Girls books. The idea was that we'd rent these pack goats and have them haul all our stuff. I certainly wasn't going to take care of a goat, Brandon had no interest, and we just couldn't see Chloe taking charge of her goat all by herself, so we opted out of the goat (and they were $50 each!) When we found out the place they had picked for the campout was hike in only, we were not too excited about carrying all our stuff for how many miles? That's why we were grateful it was changed to a hike -- now all we had to carry was a backpack with water and our lunch.

We went up American Fork Canyon, to Tibble Fork Reservoir. We were supposed to meet there at 9:45 even though we didn't start the hike until 11:00. In case you don't know, not starting on time or being late is one of my biggest pet peeves. So, we went on our little hike. Even though we didn't have a goat, everybody else's goat was a pain to try to hike with. They have no manners whatsoever.

We hiked a couple miles before stopping for lunch. Then we hiked another 1/2 mile (at least) before realizing that we made a wrong turn. So... backtrack that 1/2 mile to where we should have been, and instead of finishing the loop like we had planned they decided it would just be easier to turn around and go back the way we had come. So, we hiked somewhere between 5 and 6 miles. Now keep in mind, this hike was designed for a group of 6-9 year old girls, and their families with lots of little kids. The trail was pretty steep, but worse was the fact that it's mostly used by mountain bikes and horses. It was so dusty! The kids were completely covered in dirt, the adults were pretty good from the waist up. I was so impressed with all the kids. I heard very minimal complaining. Our girls far out did Brandon and I -- and I should also mention how well Brandon did. He had to take a couple pills, but he did it!

When we got home it was a race for the shower. We had dirt everywhere. We beat our clothes out and they were still so nasty. I tried to just rinse my feet off in the sink, but that was no working, so I had a shower and had to SCRUB it off. Even after that, you could see dirt embedded in my feet (Brandon too). Brandon washed his shoes, but I think I'm going to have to get new ones (I know, how sad!) I didn't take my camera along because I knew I wouldn't want to tote that thing, but I'm working on getting some pictures from the leader. I'll post them if she sends me some.

[Edit: here are the pictures I just got!]

Swimming Lessons

I decided this summer we were just going to do swimming lessons. I can't bring myself to put my kids in all kinds of different activities, and I thought it was time they learn how to swim so that was our goal for this summer. The girls kept going back and forth about their interest in it -- one day they were excited, the next they didn't want to do it. After the first day of class, they decided this was kind of fun, and only wished the lessons were longer (45 minutes just wasn't enough). They think they only played games the whole time, and didn't get to learn anything. Yesterday was the last day and they got their certificates -- both passed level 1. I only wish I would have signed them up for 2 sessions, but it was expensive and I wasn't sure how burned out they would get. I think we'll just go to the pool once a week until the end of summer.

Sophie's birthday

Friday was Sophie's birthday. She turned 6 years old. Can you believe it? She is definitely growing up. I can see her maturing and she's become such a fun person to be around. We love you, Soph!

She got her one wish -- to have a sleepover. Grandma & Grandpa Bateman came Thursday night. She wanted to share her cake with them, so we did the cake ceremony that night. I forgot to get her picture with them, but at least I got her blowing out the candles.

Friday she slept in until 10:45. Chloe was so worried Sophie was going to miss her whole birthday, but I thought it would be a good idea to let her get as much rest as needed. Since it was so late by the time she got up, I told her to just go get ready and then it would be lunch time. She wanted to go to McDonald's for lunch, so we treated her to that. They have a Redbox DVD rental there, so I also let her pick out a movie to watch. After we got home they wanted to do water balloons. Our neighbor, Jacob, came over and played with them. They did that for over 3 hours! We literally had to pull them away to come inside and open presents. She got fun things. Thank you everyone who sent things to make her day special! She really appreciates it. That took quite a while as well, so we were now scheduled for a late dinner at Carl's Jr. Good thing her birthday is only once a year.

Also, as part of her birthday present, I took her shopping on Tuesday. She loves new clothes -- the whole shopping experience, trying things on. It's really cute to watch her. Chloe hates it, but she's the one who needs all the new clothes. Sophie can get by with hand-me-downs, but I thought I'd treat her to a day of shopping. That was her gift from me, and we had a good time hanging out together.

Photoless Week

Last Monday my mom treated us all to Cherry Hill, a water park next to our home. This was Chloe's birthday present from her. I was a little hesitant to take my camera to the water park, but after seeing the fun pictures my friend Kristin took of her kids I thought I would be brave and give it a try. But guess what? I forgot my camera! My mom and sister-in-law both had cameras and got pictures, but so far no one has shared any with me. It was a fun day, though. Chloe's a little more comfortable in the water than Sophie is, but Soph warmed up rather quickly. We really liked the lazy river.

I had to leave the water park a little early to run home and shower. I had a date with my husband that night! We went to the "Low-dough Country Show." $5 tickets to go see Josh Gracin, Collin Raye and Joe Nichols. Totally worth it! It was held at a baseball field, and we just laid a blanket on the grass and sat down. Once the sun went down, it was a perfect evening. I would love to show you some pictures of the event, but you guessed it... I forgot the camera!

Friday was my grandma's 91st birthday. We drove up to Idaho to spend the day with her. She thinks it's great to have her birthday on the 4th of July. Her small town has an annual breakfast, a program at the tabernacle, parade and fireworks -- all just for her. After the parade we headed over to Bear Lake for the afternoon. It was a nice day -- much cooler than we were used to, but nice to sit outside and not sweat to death. Do I even need to mention about how I forgot my camera? I missed my grandma's birthday, fireworks and beach pictures! I am really hating myself for this. I'm shooting a family reunion in a few weeks. Do you think I'll remember my camera for that!?