Strawberry Days!

Waiting in line for free strawberries and cream. It was a very long line. Thus the expressions.

Finally!

The weather that night was perfect. The next day, at the children's parade, not so much. It was cold and very windy. Tim is holding the sign in this picture because kids holding it didn't work- it kept getting blown around.

The big parade on Saturday- Emma is settled in for the long haul. Tim went early and found us this great place- on the grass, under a tree- it was beautiful!

I love this picture of Annie and Grandma- the parade went right past her apartment, so we talked her into coming with us! I love that my kids love her so much.

Rebekah's in marching band! We finally got to see why she's been gone for 3 hours every morning all summer!

Can you see her? She's fourth from the left in this picture. They all did great!

Spring Piano Recital

Price and Josh missed this one because they were at scout camp- but the other four kids did a great job! Here's Ethan playing "My Detective Agency" with Grandma:

Emma with her rendition of "Cinderella's Waltz,"

Ethan again- "Long, Long Ago."

Annie did so great- this was the first recital that I didn't at least go up on stage with her. She walked right up and played her song- she just forgot to sit down first! :) Her piece was "Shepherds Count Your Sheep."

And finally, here's Rebekah. She played Handel's Prelude in G Major and an arrangement of "Joseph Smith's First Prayer." She's awesome.

Of course the piano was all well and good- but our traditional trip to Winger's after really made the kids' night!

Scout Camp 2010

Before:

After:

Yep, they had a good time.
(Price's frown is about me taking the picture, not about camp. Josh's grin sums it all up.)

Ethan turns 9!

Ethan's birthday started out just right- our birthday breakfast this year is Nutella crepes with bananas and whipped cream- so good! We didn't wait for presents, either- Ethan got started right after breakfast.

I'm always a little nervous when I ask Ethan what he wants to do at his birthday party. Last year he wanted a Lewis and Clark theme. This year, he opted for civil war. I didn't even know where to start with that one, so I let him take over. He was a great party planner- Stratego, making machines out of K'nex, jumping on the trampoline and capture the flag, and then this great cake that Ethan designed and decorated mostly by himself!

That many 9 year old boys in our house wasn't quiet, but they were great- Ethan knows how to pick good friends!

I sometimes worry about Ethan being overlooked in our family- he is sandwiched right in the middle of the twins and the two little girls, which isn't always an easy place to be. He is such a great kid, though- he is super smart, incredibly imaginative, and just really nice to be around. He is definitely going to do great things in life!

Moab!

The last longish road trip we took was a year and a half ago, when we drove to Colorado. Last summer, we avoided trips to save money, so the kids were extra excited when they found out we'd be taking two trips this summer.

Our first trip started the Monday after school ended!
We packed our bags and headed to Moab with Grandma and Grandpa Steele and Peter and Mary.

We stopped for lunch in Price, and decided to check out the CEU dinosaur museum, too. Pretty cool fossils! When we went camping last year, we ended up close to the lake where they found this skeleton. I think I'm glad mammoths don't still roam the hills around here!

We arrived in Moab with time to preview the park- here are the kids at the visitor's center...

applying sunscreen every ten minutes (or did it only feel like that?),

sego lilies,

and a hot, tired kid. I actually carried her for half of every hike. I must be getting soft in my old age.

Here is the requisite picture of my husband from the back :)

and the object of our design... Balanced Rock.

Prickly pear,

the Windows formation,

and Josh with a Charlie Brown-head shadow.

Double arch ,

and again. The last time I was in this spot, Rebekah was inside me, weighing something less than 7 pounds. When did she grow up?

After our hot, sweaty hiking, we needed a dip in the pool! Unfortunately, the filtration system was broken, and it was closed. We made due with the hot tub. You have no idea how hard it was to get the kids to line up like this. Seriously.
(The pool was open the second day. It wasn't heated. I stuck to the hot tub.)

On our second day in the park, we left the younger kids at the condo with Aunt Mary and hiked the Fiery Furnace. I forgot my camera. It was amazingly awesome. Trust me.

When we finished, we picked up the kids and went back yet again, finally stopping to take a picture at the entrance sign.

Yet more pictures of Arches.

See Delicate Arch in the background? We'll have to do the hike another time. We were way worn out and it was HOT by the time we got to the viewpoint.

On our last day there, we stopped at Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands. Beautiful views, although we only did a short hike. We'll have to explore more next time.

It was a great trip. And now, when the kids' teachers ask them what they did this summer, they'll have something to say besides, "Um........ we went swimming."