Oh man, I have SO much to catch up on! This summer flew by with no time to even think! We had company most of the summer which was so fun and so exhausting. I love having company and I love cooking for big groups and having dinner parties, so I loved it (but I'll admit, I was tired and a little stressed too by the end. Sorry, guys, if I was grumpy or short with any of you!). So, to simplify all that's been going on this summer, I'll break it down into several posts. First off, camping. One of our visiting families this summer was the Andrews family (Brice's sister Melissa and her brood). Melissa and Wes had a great opportunity to attend BYU-Idaho's Education Week for free so I agreed to watch their four kids for a few days.
(Also pictured: Liliana. I watched my friends' two-year-old a few mornings a week so she could finish up her last semester at BYU. With 7 kids already, what's one more?)
(Also pictured: Liliana. I watched my friends' two-year-old a few mornings a week so she could finish up her last semester at BYU. With 7 kids already, what's one more?) It was a busy few days for Brice and I decided that, rather than try to keep 7 kids entertained at my house for a few days, I'd be better off taking them all camping. That was an adventure! But WAY better than staying home, for sure. It took me HOURS to get all the food together and try to get all the kids to pack their own gear. It was a good lesson in going without. Raelin didn't pack herself a darn thing. No sleeping bag, no clothes, no pillow, nothing. What was she doing all that time? Anyway, she lived (fortunately it was plenty warm even at night). We finally got the Suburban all loaded up with 8 people, 2 dogs, food, clothes, and gear for two nights and two to three days in the canyon. We had pizza in the dutch ovens for dinner. I must say, that was genius. Two pizzas divided into four quarters and everyone gets to top their own section. No complaints that night! We got camp all set up and everyone fed just in time to send them all to bed late enough that they zonked out. 
In the morning, we went for a hike near a creek and the kids had a blast playing in the water.
My brother's dog, Lady, who was with us, loves the water and the way she plays and bites and talks to the water is hilarious! Zuma thought the water was too cold (baby!). But Mckay and Elias didn't!
Mckay worked himself up until he was brave enough to dunk his head in the frigid water, but I missed getting it on camera so I made him do it again... Hee hee hee.
And Elias kept falling off this log over and over again! It was hilarious and he didn't seem to mind at all. And since we were camping, neither did I. Get as wet as you can, kids! There's no house to muddy for miles!
I love wearing Alaina all different ways, but this is by far my favorite way to wear her (as long as we aren't in a get in get out kind of situation. It takes a few minutes to get her secured back there). Nothing on my shoulders, no buckles or straps--just a rectangle of cloth! I can carry her for hours this way and it doesn't hurt at all. She likes it enough to fall asleep there too.
When we got back from our hike, I had some crafts for the kids to do. When I was in girl scouts, we used to paint rocks, make key chains out of lanyard, and all kinds of stuff out of yarn and embroidery floss. I remember loving all that stuff (and wishing we could throw in some canoeing and archery like the boys scouts as well), so I came prepared.
Other than that, I just let the kids do pretty much whatever they wanted. They came up with all kinds of games and found things to climb. I even let Ryker play with the hatchet (as long as no one was within a hundred feet of him)! Leah loved Zuma a little too much, I think, for Zuma's liking. I did have to put a few time outs on play time with Zuma now and then.
Mckay and Raelin had a lot of fun coming up with games to play together.
Ryker pretty much just tormented everyone. I can't count how many times I heard, "Rykerrrrrr! Stop iiiiiiiit!"
And poor Elias got plumb tuckered out! Here he is passed out on the edge of the outside of the tent (with Zuma curled up by his head). At first, he was laying face down in the dirt, but eventually he moved so that part of him was on the tent. I missed getting the picture of him with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed.
I got all kinds of awesome funny faces from all the kids:
In the morning, we went for a hike near a creek and the kids had a blast playing in the water.
My brother's dog, Lady, who was with us, loves the water and the way she plays and bites and talks to the water is hilarious! Zuma thought the water was too cold (baby!). But Mckay and Elias didn't!
Mckay worked himself up until he was brave enough to dunk his head in the frigid water, but I missed getting it on camera so I made him do it again... Hee hee hee.
And Elias kept falling off this log over and over again! It was hilarious and he didn't seem to mind at all. And since we were camping, neither did I. Get as wet as you can, kids! There's no house to muddy for miles!
I love wearing Alaina all different ways, but this is by far my favorite way to wear her (as long as we aren't in a get in get out kind of situation. It takes a few minutes to get her secured back there). Nothing on my shoulders, no buckles or straps--just a rectangle of cloth! I can carry her for hours this way and it doesn't hurt at all. She likes it enough to fall asleep there too.When we got back from our hike, I had some crafts for the kids to do. When I was in girl scouts, we used to paint rocks, make key chains out of lanyard, and all kinds of stuff out of yarn and embroidery floss. I remember loving all that stuff (and wishing we could throw in some canoeing and archery like the boys scouts as well), so I came prepared.
Other than that, I just let the kids do pretty much whatever they wanted. They came up with all kinds of games and found things to climb. I even let Ryker play with the hatchet (as long as no one was within a hundred feet of him)! Leah loved Zuma a little too much, I think, for Zuma's liking. I did have to put a few time outs on play time with Zuma now and then.
Mckay and Raelin had a lot of fun coming up with games to play together.
Ryker pretty much just tormented everyone. I can't count how many times I heard, "Rykerrrrrr! Stop iiiiiiiit!"
And poor Elias got plumb tuckered out! Here he is passed out on the edge of the outside of the tent (with Zuma curled up by his head). At first, he was laying face down in the dirt, but eventually he moved so that part of him was on the tent. I missed getting the picture of him with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed.I got all kinds of awesome funny faces from all the kids:
"Hey, Ryanne" "Huh?"
Elias is so funny!
Why do they all make the same face? It's like they're related or something...
Alaina, I think, had the least amount of fun. She didn't sleep well and I didn't hold her as much as she wanted me to or feed her right when she wanted me to. With six other mouths to feed and food prep that was extra time consuming (except for the roasted hot dogs--oh, no, I had to build a fire for that one--it, too, was more involved than popping them in the microwave), sometimes, she just had to wait and it did NOT make her happy!
Ryker with rocks and sticks as usual
Brice came up late the second night and stayed until we left the third afternoon. Here, Ryker has been doing something naughty (again) and is getting a stern talking to from a daddy that just woke up. Nice hair, huh.
Ryanne somehow managed to fall asleep in the chair for a good long nap one afternoon.
Alaina cuddling with Daddy in the hammock (sorry about the picture quality on some of these. I'm not sure what was going on...)
All the kids at the end of a fun and very dirty campout. Bath time!!!
2 comments:
AWESOME pictures!! First of all, hello Wonder Woman:that's a big group of kids. Second of all, the one of Alaina's sad face is too darling. And the pic with Daddy doing a stern talking-to, while he sports an impressive bed head, cracks me up. You have such a great family. One last thing, I remember my mom letting me pack the food for our family campout once when I was about 12 or something, because I wanted to make it a YW personal progress experience, and we ended up all surviving on basically just bagels and apples. Planning ahead takes practice. Anyway, good job Raelin for just getting yourself there. That's all that really counts in the end. lol.
So fun!!! You are so brave!
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