First Ride

Ben is enamored with his Gator, aka his "Old Gal" (thanks Uncle Barry).  He waited all winter for it to be spring so he could drive it to school to pick Annie up from kindergarten.  He kept asking if Molly was big enough to ride it yet, so a few days ago, we let him give her her first ride (with a little holding help from Annie).  Molly didn't think much of it, but Ben was sure proud.  He's quite a driver.

Summer Traditions

A summer just isn't complete without a trip to Bear Lake.  So with newborn in tow, we headed up there one lovely August day.  'Cept for not exactly on the lovely part.  You can see evidence below that it was actually a little chilly.  All kids need a childhood memory of freezing at Bear Lake, right?  We had a great time there anyway, especially after a big windstorm rolled through and left the beach pretty much deserted except for us.  It was a rather exciting windstorm that almost sent me sailing off to the North Shore since I happened to be doing the stand-up paddle board when it rolled through.  My not-yet healed from the c-section ab muscles were no match for that wind (at least, let's pretend that was the problem and not that I am just a weakling), but luckily I have a quite tall brother who was able to wade out and safe me so my little darlings weren't left motherless.

Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic, but it did get my blood pumping a bit.  

And good news!   When everyone else left the beach in a hurry, they left behind all their sand toys.  My kids spent a good hour combing the beach with their cousins and collecting them all.  Their disappointment was great when they were told we weren't actually going to keep them. 

 

Those are the only two pictures I took while at the beach because we have learned from previous experience that sand (Katie) and water (Floyd) are not so good for cameras.  

But, you're in luck because we spent the next two days camping in Emigration and the picture taking was happening full force.  I don't have a lot to say about camping - it was dirty, we ate a lot of junk, nobody got lost, and I even slept for a few hours.  So I except for that there were no Huckleberries to be found (or Huncleberries according to Ben), I suppose it was a success.

Molly really liked being outside.  I really liked her cute little Levi jacket.  

 

 

Oh, and also, Annie picked her yearly quota of wildflowers so phew!

 

 She even shared a few with little Sis.

 

Cole was rarely seen.  

He's growing up, that one.  Hardly even needs me anymore.  Sniff sniff.

 

 

 

Luckily Ben still needs me plenty.  That kid is a live wire and we love every minute of it.  He had a grand time camping.  When you're a 3-year-old boy, what's not to love about camping?

 

It was probably a little crazy to take a 1-month-old camping, but we had a great time.  We just couldn't let summer go by without visiting two of our favorite spots.

Island Park, Take One

  So, our trip to the cabin started out with an adventure.  We got there late at night and after the kids were finally tucked in, Daisy (our dog) started barking and growling.  Floyd and his dad went to check it out and were awfully surprised to discover that a large black bear had cone onto the porch, stolen Daisy's bag of dog food, and was a few yards away chomping down on it.  Luckily, the dog food was the only thing that got eaten and the kids were enthralled with the story when they woke up the next morning.  They were impressed with all the bear tracks left behind in the dusty road. 

 

The rest of the trip was pretty relaxed.  We hiked a bit, rode the 4-wheeler,  Floyd and the big kids (meaning everyone but Molly cause I dare you to tell Ben he's not a big kid) floated the river, and Floyd and I even sneaked away on a little date one pretty evening.  

And of course, no trip would be complete without a visit to Minnow Lake.  The fishing was subpar this year, but we did manage to catch a few frogs and escaped with minimal mosquito bites, so it was still successful. 

Especially once the sun started to set.  

 

 

Ben's a good fishing buddy...unless you are the type of fisherman that believes in quiet fishing so as not to scare the fish.  He's a bit of a chatterbox.

 

Annie found a few wildflower patches.  That always keeps her happy.

Look carefully children - here's proof that Mom really was there.  Thanks for snapping a picture, Cole (Floyd has little use for a camera, unless it's like wildlife photography, so there is very little evidence that I am on any of our trips).

 

And Molly was there too, of course.  I'm not sure what she thought of the whole adventure, but she rolled with it well.

 

We must have had a good time cause I just spent the morning packing up to head there again in about two hours.  Three weekends out of four spent traveling with a newborn - I think I'll need a break by the time we get home!

First Day

Sure enough, school started.  We aren't going to declare summer over yet around here, but school started anyway.  They were both excited to go and couldn't sleep the night before. 

Ben wanted to go too...

 

Notice the bright shoes?  Maybe your kids have some too this year. 

Third Grade.  And way too cool to walk to school with mom.  He was off like a rocket after I took this picture and pretty much refused to make eye contact with me when I walked past him to take Annie to her class.

 

First Grade.  She still lets mom walk her to school and smiles for a few extra pictures.

 

Here's hoping it's a great year!

Baby Love

Little Molly has stolen our hearts.  She is six weeks old and such a joy.  We love having a baby to love. 

Here are a few little details about life with Molly:

-She looks nearly identical to her big sister.  It's easy to forget since Annie is a little blondie now, but they are nearly an exact match.

-She eats and sleeps like a newborn should - lots of both except between the hours of 8 and midnight when she is always bright-eyed.

-She smiles at us now.  Mostly at mom, which annoys some other family members, but really it's only fair considering...

-She has been on a couple of trips already - Bear Lake and camping (in a trailer, but still...) and to Island Park.

-She can roll over from front to back.  She has been able to do this since birth.  I keep waiting for her to get too big to be able to flip so easily.  The funny thing is she likes laying on her tummy so she sometimes is a little mad at herself when she pushes up and flips over.

-Annie can't tear herself away from Molly.  We have had tears multiple times when she is told she can't help with something.  She is also known to sneak Molly away and take her wherever she wants.  And she has changed more of Molly's diapers than Floyd.

-Nursing a baby with older kids has been...entertaining.   My favorite comments include Annie asking why you can't just squeeze the milk out like a cow and Cole asking Floyd if I was still in the "milk room" while we were at church.  Good times.

 -The kids get a kick out of how many people stop us to look at Molly and ask about her.  At first, they would ask me if I knew the people.  Now they just give me a knowing look.  Strangers love babies, it seems.  And we love you, little Molly Magoochie Goo.

Nap Time

Some days, you just need a nap.  We've all been there.  

But maybe not right there.  Some of us use a bed.

A Fish Story

 Just before Molly was born, we headed out to Mantua to do a little fishing.  And success!  We caught a couple.  "We" being the word I chose to describe me keeping the kids from jumping in the lake, the kids eating powdered donuts (who knows how that became our fishing snack of choice- wasn't mine), and Floyd trying to keep four poles baited and not tangled.  

 If you pull out your magnifying glass, you might be able to see a fish in this picture.  We threw that little guy back.  The fish, not Ben.  Obviously we kept him.

 I think Annie caught this fish, but everyone needed a picture with it.  It was a keeper!

 

 

Astute readers may notice the sky looks a bit ominous in these pictures.  Sure enough, shortly after that fish was in the boat, the wind picked up and we decided to head for the dock - and that's when things got interesting.

Actually, the story begins an hour or two earlier.  We stopped at the gas station on the way to fill up the boat, but when Floyd tried to find the marine oil he kept on the boat, it was missing.  He went in the gas station to find some, but they didn't have any.  So, he shook the gas can, it sloshed pretty good, and we continued on our way.  "Besides," said Floyd, "our boat has that electric motor too."

You can probably tell where this story is headed, right?  

So the weather started getting rough, that tiny ship was tossed.  If not for the courage of the fearless crew...

Actually, the weather was rough and the waves were big, which was kinda fun until, you guessed it, the engine ran out of gas.   Remember how we have that little electric motor?  Turns out it doesn't do so well with wind resistance.  It is when we made that discovery that things really got a little dicey on our boat.  Cause even though Mantua is not too big of a lake, I'm not too good of a swimmer.  And there were three kids.  And also I was 9-months pregnant, which probably would have increased my bouoyancy, so maybe that's a good thing.  

With all that in mind, our fearless crew (aka Floyd - it's a one-man crew around here), made the decision to turn the boat around and travel wind-aided to the opposite shore where we would anchor the boat in the trees.  That part of the plan went forth without a hitch.  The next part of the plan involved us traveling to Brigham City to find some marine oil, fill up the gas can, and come back for the boat.  So, we all hiked back to our car and headed for Brigham.  I told Floyd I thought he should stay with the boat, but I think he was nervous about all of us, so we stuck together.  We got the oil (thanks, Wal-Mart), filled up the gas can, and Floyd hiked back to the boat while I drove the car over to the boat ramp to back the trailer up and wait for him (which is always an adventure - you'd think the years I spent driving farm machinery would have left me a little better at backing up trailers - not a talent I possess).  But, when Floyd got there, this is what he found:

Score one for Katie's idea that Floyd should have stayed with the boat.  It seems the waves got even stronger in the twenty or so minutes we were gone.  By now. it was getting quite dark and the weather was not getting any better, so we hiked back to the boat, pulled off everything we wanted to keep (i.e., Floyd's fishing poles and tackle boxes and the donuts of course) and

left.  Floyd took us home and we tucked the kids into bed.  Then he drove to his parent's house to get their big boat.  Very early the next morning (cause it was Sunday and we had a baby blessing to be to by 9:00), he and his brother met at the lake, drove over to the boat, and started bailing.  An hour, many crawdads, and a couple of fish later, they hooked it up to his parent's boat and headed for the dock.  By the time the kids woke up, I was able to tell them that Dad had rescued the boat.  Boy did they cheer - they love that little fishing boat. 

And two good things to end this fun little fish story:

1)  The boat still works.  We all had our doubts, but after a little visit from the shop vac,  it pulled through like a champ.

2)  Floyd sneaked into Sacrament Meeting seconds before the blessing started.  Phew!