Fall Camping Trip - 2013 Edition

Our camping trip last year to Willard Bay was so much fun that we decided to plan another fall campout over UEA weekend.  This time the Eckardts decided to tag along for the adventure.

We headed out shortly after the kids got home from school on Wednesday afternoon and set up camp in the same spot we used last year.  The campground was almost entirely deserted, so it was nice to have the place all to ourselves.

Being so close to home is both good and bad.  Good if you forget something at home or if you have a fun activity that you would have missed out on if you were far away.  Ben, Korbin, and Claudy were still able to attend their YM/YW "Fugitive" activity on Wednesday night, and Emily, Elise, and Maddie went back home on Thursday afternoon for their Activity Days Halloween Party.  Bad because it meant a bit less time together, but we still managed to have a lot of fun.

On Wednesday night, we all piled into our trailer and watched "Iron Man 3" after they boys and Claudy came back.  Thursday night we split up and the boys watched "X-Men" in the Eckardts' trailer and the girls watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" in our trailer. 

One of our favorite things last year was riding bikes all around the park since there are so many paved paths to ride on.  This year proved to be no different.  The kids all got lots of time riding, and the parents even joined in for a couple of rides down to Pelican Beach.  Abby made huge strides in learning to ride.  She started off not knowing how to ride at all, but by Friday, she had gotten to the point that she could ride all by herself (with a little help to start off).  Claudy promised her a Hershey's bar if she learned how to ride, and she sure earned it!  Jason and I got a lot of practice patching tires since the kids couldn't stop themselves from off-roading a bit.  One of these years we'll have to get some puncture-proof tires.

Down at Pelican Beach we skipped rocks and explored the beach at Sunset (with the water lower than we've ever seen it).  The beach closer to our campground was fun, too.  Ben and Korbin took their  BB guns and we did some target shooting (even though we found out later that it wasn't allowed). 

On Thursday night, before we went in the trailers to watch movies, we had a fun time around the campfire singing songs.  The Eckardts weren't so excited to sing with us, but we kind of made them join in for at least some of the songs.

All in all we had a great time.  The weather turned out to be pretty nice overall, and with our electric heater, night time in the trailer was actually quite pleasant.  After two years of successful UEA weekend campouts, we think that this will be a tradition that lasts.

Camping at Mantua

We took our first camping trip of the season this weekend.  The girls hate to miss Activity Days, so we didn’t head out until after 5:00 on Thursday night.  Ben wanted to go to Mantua Campground and the rest of us didn’t really care, so that’s where we went.  We found a great little spot right by the river with a good amount of space, some privacy, and about 17,000 mosquitoes.  Nate set up camp while Elise and Abby took cover in the trailer and Ben, Emily, and I made an emergency trip to Brigham City for some bug spray.  Once we were all sufficiently covered in DEET, we had a great time. 

Here are the fun memories from this trip:

• Seeing three deer on the hill coming back from Brigham City
• The kids sliding down the steep hill on their feet/bums
• Playing Boggle, Ticket to Ride and a never-ending game of Phase 10
• Emily and Ben using 27 matches to start the fire
• Scouting out all of the best campsites so we know which one to reserve for next time (and getting scolded by the grumpy, chain-smoking camp host)
• Catching Box Elder bugs in the Boggle cube (aka “extermination cube”) to get them out of the trailer; we’re not sure how they were getting in, but they were EVERYWHERE
• Playing the Geography ABC game round the fire, making s’mores with star marshmallows, and teaching the kids a few new camp songs
• Cooling off with a cold water foot bath in the cooler
• Abby doing chubby bunnies with grapes
• Watching a squirrel lick the leftover pancake batter out of the bowl
• Going “down in the river to play”
• The kids (mostly Elise) making up a song called “Chill Pill” that they dedicated to and performed for their mom
• Emily’s ankle swelling up to twice its normal size because of a mosquito bite
• Abby bringing home a small zoo . . . a caterpillar and a giant slug (named Jabba); she was disappointed we wouldn’t let her bring the squirrel too

And, my two favorite quotes of the weekend:

Ben- “It’s not a bad word; otherwise Mom & Dad wouldn’t be saying it.  Well, maybe Mom.”

Abby to Mom- “I can snuggle you… if I plug my nose.”

Life's a Happy Song

We had our ward lip sync on Saturday night.  Each organization was supposed to provide a number.  Since Nate’s counselors were both going to be out of town, he recruited the kids to help him represent the Elders Quorum.  They lip synced to "Life’s a Happy Song" from The Muppets.  It turned out super cute.  (Don't mind the stack of chairs falling over at 1:50.)

I do laugh a little at how seriously we take things in this house.  We certainly don’t have a “throw things together at the last minute” mentality.  We started planning weeks ahead of time.  We made cool props and Nate borrowed not one, but two light blue suits to use (he ended up going with fit over color since he didn’t want to split the pants of the one that was a better blue).  We couldn’t find a Walter puppet, so we bought a Walter doll on Amazon, opened the seam on the back of his head, pulled out the stuffing, and glued finger grips in so Nate could move his mouth.  We had nightly practices before bedtime for two weeks and went to the church twice to practice on the stage.  Nate even borrowed a 20 foot extension ladder from our neighbor and climbed up to the ceiling of the cultural hall to adjust the spotlights since they were pointing straight to the floor instead of toward the stage (this wasn’t just for our family; it has bothered him for years that the spotlights were pointing in the wrong direction).  It doesn’t seem that crazy to me, but I’m sure other people would laugh to know how much effort we put into this little 2 minute skit.

I have to admit that when Nate first suggested a family lip sync, I tried to talk him out of it.  I’m such a shy girl and so hate being in the spotlight that I couldn’t understand why the rest of my family would want to get up and sing and dance in front of a bunch of people.  Nate argued that we only have a small window of time where the kids will think it is cool to do a lip sync with their dad and he didn’t want to pass up the opportunity.  I’m glad that he persisted.  He was right.  The kids had so much fun and I’m sure it will be a favorite memory for years to come.

Easter

We had a great Easter this year.  The day started with the kids finding their baskets.  Apparently the hiding places the Easter Bunny chose were trickier than normal because it took the kids a really long time to find their baskets.  They’re going to have to step up their game. 

The girls picked out their own Easter dresses again this year and did a great job.  They looked so pretty for church and Ben looked handsome in his new tie.

After church, we had my family over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt.  It was lots of fun to visit with everyone and catch up a bit.  Jody brought a little scripture activity that we did together and the kids spent some time around the kitchen table making welcome home signs for Bryson.  It was a great night!

Abby's Birthday

Abby turned six years old on Saturday.  We had a great time celebrating her birthday as a family.  She chose Kangaroo Zoo for her birthday activity.  We went on Thursday morning to avoid the crowds.  It worked out great.  The kids bounced and slid and played hide-and-seek.  Abby made a boyfriend.  There was a little boy there who was visiting from California and he followed Abby around everywhere she went.  If he couldn’t find her for a minute, he would come over and ask me and Nate where she was.  It was pretty funny.

We didn’t do anything fancy on Saturday, but Abby had a great day.  She got to open her presents in the morning since it wasn’t a school day.  We gave her a new camera (since hers broke last month), a Perplexus maze ball (a huge hit with the other kids; hopefully Abby will get a chance to try it out soon), The Adventures of Frog and Toad book, some cute socks, and a little lip gloss and nail polish set.  She got a polka dot fish Webkinz from her brother and sisters and an Animal Search puzzle from Aunt Jody.  Grandma Reatha gave her a dolphin Pillow Pet and penguin Dream Lite (her favorite gifts of the day), and Grandpa and Grandma Nelson gave her the Lego Friends City Park Café.

Since it was the day before Easter, the kids colored eggs in the afternoon.  We tried out a new technique I had seen on Pinterest for ombre eggs.  Some colors worked better than others, but it was fun to try something new.

Abby originally requested BBQ chicken for dinner.  I was feeling too lazy to cook, so I suggested Arby’s instead.  Luckily she was a big fan of that plan.  We came home and watched Rise of the Guardians while I put curlers in the girls’ hair and then had strawberry-rhubarb pie for dessert.  Abby had never tasted strawberry-rhubarb pie, but when Ben took one to school for pi day she insisted that was what she wanted for her birthday treat.  Turns out, she doesn’t love rhubarb.  Oh well. 

While were eating our pie and ice cream, we took turns saying things we love about Abby.  Everyone was in agreement that her best trait is that she gets super excited over little things; her face lights up and she does the cutest little giggle.  It is fun to have an easy to please kid.  She was also voted the best self-entertainer.  She can play all by herself for hours and never get bored.  We sure love our Abby and are so glad that she is part of our family!