what we did over summer vacation...

...and then some

Science Camp for Daylon

Visits to Capitol Reef

4th of July

another visit to Capitol Reef

Daylon's 11th Birthday

Pudge - May he rest in peace

day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 of our annual Fish Lake Reunion

and the 24th of July right in the middle of that

Daylon's Arrow of Light

Fremont Indian State Park

Back to school for Daylon and Rianne

garden goodness

Fremont Indian State Park again

and again

The New Harmony fire that darkened our skies for a few days

Western Governors UniversityWGU - I'm a college student again

Labor Day vacation

Sam's first day of school

and inbetween all of that, there was
family, more family, even more family, and even more family... and more and even and more

and inbetween all of that, we managed to have time for:

movie night

and pool time

WHEW! it's been a heck of a summer. I'm actually glad to have the school year back again.

First day of school

Today was the first day of school for Daylon and Rianne.
Daylon is going into the 6th grade... middle school.
Rianne is starting 2nd grade

Now i have kids in two different schools, which means:

*a whole new level of chaos in the morning to make sure each kid gets to school on time.

Rianne's school is a few blocks away ~ Daylon's is across town

*which also means that i won't be able to have Daylon and Rianne look out for each other

*they won't be walking to school together or walking home from school together

*two different time schedules all together (although it might make homework time easier?)

*and so many more i'm sure i'll find out about later

The kids are super excited, so i am too, and i get one on one time with Sam again... and me time during his naps! YAY!

Lets just hope that school goes smoothly this year and middle school isn't as scarey as people/parents tell me it is.

and just for fun because i saw it here: be different act normal

Daylon

Rianne

and because Sam couldn't be left out of the fun!

Daylon's Arrow of Light

After spending almost a week up at Fish Lake, my parents were gracious enough to stay another few extra days to stick around for Daylon's Arrow of Light ceremony. In fact, when Daylon joined Cub Scouts, my dad offered to do Daylon's Arrow of Light ceremony when and if he earned it. I was not about to let that opportunity fall between my fingers. So when i found out that Daylon was going to receive his Arrow Of Light, i snagged my dad and made sure that he he still wanted to do it. I've seen dad do several Arrow Of Lights while growing up and was pretty thick in the scouting thing. Nothing pleased me more than to have the honor of Dad sharing that milestone with Daylon.

Getting ready for things to start

Before the ceremony started, all the boys had to get their awards. Daylon and I worked our tail ends off and ended up earning ALL of his merit badges, a belt full of belt loops and several other awards. I'm quite proud of the little guy. I'm sure he did most of it to make mom happy but he sure did look pretty slick up there all decked out in his awards!

Getting the mother's pin for earning his Webelos award

The begining of the Arrow of Light ceremony.

Dad had all the kids gather up in front of him while he told them a story...

Dad was right on the ground interacting with them. They had a cool "campfire" going with indian music in the background and a teepee backdrop.

The three boys, Kyle, Daylon & Tyson, who received their Arrow of Light awards that evening, pinning on their mother pins
... and the big hugs (and kisses?) that go with it

The Weblos leader talking with the boys about what a great honor it is to receive this award.

... and being welcomed into the Boy Scouts

Our family and dad

(don't mind our faces... all part of the ceremony... although i'll never understand why Daylon thought it was so funny to put a green mustache on me LOL)

Thank you dad for making this such a special night for the boys.

It was special for not only us but also for the parents of the other boys.

Fish Lake - Day 2

The actual start of Vacation!

Everyone was up bright and early that morning to get packed up and off to Fish Lake. It's super nice that it only takes a hour tops pulling campers to get there from my house. Since i had to work, Kaye decided to give the kids a taste of country life and joined me at work. I'm guessing it was a bit of culture shock for them with all the comments LOL. After work we headed up to Fish Lake to meet up with the rest of the family. We spent the afternoon setting up camp, fishing at the beach for yellow perch and roasting hotdogs and smores over the fire. Later that night, I took Kaye and her kids down to my house for the night. They had to be on the road back home the next morning.

Tattoos galore... my mom has always got something great for the kids. Last year it was butterfly nets. VERY cool Grandma!

Kaye behind the camera... always. Howerver, not complaining at all

Uncle Gary and his one eyed wookey dog

my dad teaching sam on how to pull apart worms...

...and Sam NOT liking it one bit!

Uncle Gary showing Daylon where fish are supposed to go

... showing Sam where worms should go

... and how to properly kiss a fish

The evening fishing for yellow perch with the kids... absolutely priceless

Daylon's 11th Birthday

Boy has he ever grown up.


We had a really small get together Pool Party for him on his birthday which ended up being even a MUCH smaller get together than we had planned for. I guess that is one of the hazards of having a weekday birthday party.

He didn't ask for much this year and we were able to fulfill all of his birthday wishes this year:

*Hiking in Capitol Reef - we enjoyed it the weekend before his birthday

*Go to the afternoon movie to watch Monsters vs. Aliens - It turned out that they had the matinee on his birthday so it made his day a little bit extra special

*a lava lamp

*Bedtime Stories DVD

He also got $25, a "Got Dirt" John Deer t-shirt, and a few books.

...and not once did he complain that he wasn't having fun or that it wasn't the best party ever.

You gotta love that kid

Capitol Gorge

One of Daylon's birthday wishes was to go hiking back up to Capitol Reef. I have to admit, it was as much my wish as it was his. I love Capitol Reef and have plans to go back and do as many as the hikes as i possible can with the kids in tow, and then do as many as i can when they aren't.

This time we went on the Capitol Gorge trail.

I had hear a lot about this one and since it was one of the easier trails, we thought we could tackle it pretty easily. However, it was HOT and there was NO shade at all. It was still quite amazing anyways. Sheer rock walls on either side. Petroglyphs if you were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them. The Pioneer Register was interesting but the modern day graffiti over the top of it all really took away from it. But the highlight of the trip and the reason why we went on this hike in the first place was the "tanks".

They were REALLY cool.

And they would have been more amazing if the tanks were really full.

There were three tanks in all (or at least that was all we could find).

The first tank we came to was almost dry. It was sustaining life for a few tadpoles.

Second tank we came to was fuller and deeper.it took a little tiny bit of scrambling around to get to the top part of it.

This tank was chuck full of tadpoles. The kids LOVED looking at them.

Third tank we came to we had to climb down lower to get to it.

It was harder to find but was completely amazing. It would have been even more of an awesome sight if they were all completely full.it was an awesome sight to look down into them

(and i would have loved to have jumped in them if they weren't so gross and could actually find a way out of it once you got into it)

Looking down into the lower tanks from above.

(top is the lower larger tank, it emptied into a smaller tank and then ran through a bridge into more crevise like tanks)

DarRell climbed up to the lower tanks from the bottom of the canyon since we couldn't get into them from the top.

All in all, it was an ok hike. It would have been SO much more enjoyable if it weren't so hot. Obviously July and August are not the months to go hiking up there. However, come September when the orchards are ready to be havested, we are going to go up for another easy hike with the kids and then get our fill of fruit.

Next hikes on our list:

*Surprise Canyon

*Headquarters Canyon

and then, if there is ever a chance to go without the kids:

*Sulpher Creek

*Cassidy Arch Trail