Into the Woods

Last weekend, we took the kids camping. We went to a fun little campground up Hobble Creek Canyon. The kids talked about it the whole week before. Zac loved the fire and was anxious to help cook stuff in it. What is it about little boys and fire? (What is it about big boys and fire?) He loved looking for bugs and just getting dirty. He was a little disappointed that they did not have better luck fishing in the small creek that ran by the campground.

Sariah's favorite part of our camp out was sleeping in the tent. She was one of the first ones to fall asleep. All three of the big kids did a great job of settling down and going to sleep. They even slept through the night. Sariah did wake up well rested as indicated by the giggles and whispers that woke the rest of us. Brook was a different story. She had a stuffy nose that we are thinking may have come from allergies. She could not get comfortable. Joseph was the hero and took her outside to help her calm down. She finally fell asleep with us and did OK. So much for hauling the play pen all the way up the canyon.

Ally was just Ally -- she took the camp out at full speed, 100% intensity. At about 6:30 she started asking to go to bed. After an hour of whining and crying we finally convinced her that it was too early. She settled down enough to play a round of UNO and then get ready for bed. She was actually very cute was the meltdown ended. She loved "exploring" the campground with Zac.

Grandma and Grandpa Anson came up for dinner and visited with us. Dad even helped Joseph set up the tent so I could keep an eye on everyone. Thanks, Dad! They also cooked a yummy peach cobbler for dessert. It was perfect.

S'mores, anyone? No camp out would be complete without them. The kids had more fun roasting the marshmallows than they did eating them. It was a ton of work for one night of camping, but well worth all the effort. I am so grateful for the opportunities to make fun family memories!

A Fun Surprise

After I finished by 4th of July post, I could not figure out how to put these pictures in the right spot, so they get their own post now. At the parade we were able to meet up with the Bills. Since they live in California now, we don't see them very often. It was fun to see how much their girls have grown. Sariah and Kaylee are exactly one week apart. I think they remember each other and it was fun for them to be together again for a few minutes. Thanks Eric and Marisa for making the time to get together. We miss you guys!

A Star-Spangled Tradition

One of our favorite family traditions is the 4th of July. The Smiths let us join them one year and we were hooked. They save a spot at the Freedom Festival parade in Provo. That includes sleeping on the parade route overnight. (Carol, you're my hero.) This year Joseph joined them to offer his protection. The kids and I got to the parade by about 8 am. We had a great time visiting and eating breakfast. And, of course, we all wore our matching flag shirts from Old Navy. Emily, Chris, and Grandma and Grandpa Anson joined us, too.

Since we were in North Carolina last year, this was Brook's first 4th of July parade and she loved it. She spent most of the time on Aunt Emily's lap or on Grandma's lap. She was happy the whole time. She especially loved the baby contest winners. She kept saying, "baby, baby" and pointing at the cute babies. We even think she said, "Baby bye-bye." That would be her first two word sentence.
Sariah always loves the parade. She is old enough to remember years past and anticipate all the fun we are going to have. This year she said her favorite part of the parade was the princesses. After the parade we went to Brick Oven for lunch. The kids sat at the cousins table and felt so grown up. While we waited for our food, Ally dumped pepper on her garlic bread and drew all over her face with blue crayon. Zac cut his crayon in half with his knife and as far as we know, Sariah was well-behaved. After lunch we went to Grandma and Grandpa Anson's house for naps! Then we had a cookout and headed to the fireworks.
This year we had glow sticks for the kids to play with and they were a hit. Zac had a blast running around with the big boys, Skyler and Easton. I think he has a bad case of Skyler worship. They played pickle until it got too dark to see the ball. When the fireworks started Ally and Zac said, "They're blowing up the universe!" and then they wanted to know if there were bad guys shooting bullets at us. Sariah kept waiting for the yellow ones. Once Brook was snuggled with her dad she liked the fireworks, too. She just laid on his chest and watched them. By the time we were packed up and back to the van, she was asleep.
It was another perfect 4th of July. We feel so grateful to live in a free country where we can be together and make great family memories.

The Marc and Liz Game

For quite awhile, the kids have played the Marc and Liz game. Zac was Marc, Sariah was Liz and Ally was Rachel. They had a great time pretending to take trips and do all kinds of things. Lately the game has changed slightly and Ally is Marc, Sariah is Liz, a stuffed animal is Rachel and Zac is Chipper Jones. ( I am not exactly sure how Chipper Jones found his way into our family, but this is Zac we are talking about.) Well, the morning we told the kids that Benjamin had been born, the game changed again. This would be Marc (Ally) and Liz (Sariah) on their way to the hospital to have their babies. (Note the stuffed animals under the jammies.)

Here they are in the hospital (Ally's bed).

Here are the new babies, Rachel and Benjamin. Oh, the innocence of youth. We really are excited for our new cousin, Benjamin and can't wait to see him -- we are pretty sure he does not have blue fur and long ears, right?

Brook's "Bling"

So I finally caught Brook with her "bling" on. She does this almost everyday, I just don't always have my camera ready. She loves to get the cookie cutters out of the drawer in the kitchen and wear them as bracelets. She just toddles around with her arm out, loaded down with bracelets. Lately she also likes to wear her hat and her shoes. Some mornings she brings her shoes to us as soon as she wakes up and wants us to put them on. When she hears us say "outside," she runs for her shoes.
Brook also reminds us of her cousin, Rachel. The two look alike and are almost the same size. Last night we had chicken alfredo for dinner. She inhaled it and then put the sauce in her hair. We knew it had to go on the blog to match a very similar post on Marc and Liz's blog. What cute girls!