Seth sent me this picture from his phone tonight. When I got it, I showed Dash, and said, “I had no idea how strong you are. You have a total 6 pack.” He didn’t know if I was being serious or tricking him, so he went with it. He said, “I know — I am SO strong, and I didn’t even know it!” Then he got a devious smile on his mug and walked away a little taller.
Pippi was a mess this evening. She couldn’t quite get it together. And when her “BYU” was in the wash after camping, she literally fell apart. Good thing we saved her “Nigh Night” in a secret hiding spot! Navy asked if she could get it, and then told PIppi to close her eyes for a big surprise. Pippi yipped in delight for the first time tonight, and hugged her nigh night all the way to her tent.
Micah heard from someone, that their favorite place to camp is Idyllwild.
So, off we went to check it all out.
Good campsite — check.
Raging bonfire — check.
S’more stackers — check.
Fun adventures — check.
Great people — check.
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We all agreed that Idyllwild was pretty cool. It actually reminded us a lot of Yosemite Valley. But then again — nothing can compare to Yosemite. But we did get up high enough to see snow, there was a little town to walk through, the kids were in their happy place, and Micah was in Heaven.
My favorite part was the drive home.
It was so beautiful, it was insane! We have had so much rain this year, that people are dubbing it #superbloom.
This particular hillside was amongst lush green hills. It was so bright, we had to drive over to check it out.
And then, as a major bonus, we drove home through tons of orange groves that had the most fragrant blossoms, you could smell them from inside the car.
They were tasty too.
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I usually send Micah off to camp with the kids by himself. Not because I mind camping, but because it gives me the opportunity to get lots of things done without kid distractions. But this time, I was glad to have gone, and see all of my kids be awesome campers, and great adventurers. And especially to see Micah proud of what he has created…mini campers!
Scout has been getting up before scriptures, to run the neighborhood for a few weeks. It has been so impressive to see. And when his buddies heard about it, they too have been getting up to run with him. They all meet in front of our house at 6:00 am, and then run 2-3 neighborhood laps which is about 2-3 miles. Afterwards, they come over for a morning dose of scriptures and breakfast. Little did I know that 6:45 am would be such a hopping social hour in our home!
Apparently these kids were all in the middle of a mean game of handball, when Leana — my neighbor stopped them for a photo shoot.
She said that even though they all griped and complained that she ruined their flow, they put on smiles to get it done with!
Ha Ha.
Scout is an old pro at these piano recitals, and Navy dominated her first!
Navy was the opener of the show, and was so confident and calm.
And Scout was stuck somewhere in the middle, and nailed his piece.
Nice work you two.
With the first signs of spring, I decided to go and get some flowers for my kids and I to plant.
After, I asked the kids to clean up a few things while I watered the plants.
I looked on our front yard with such admiration for a job-well-done for all involved….it was almost too good to be true!
After getting the mail the next day, I waled toward our yard, once again admiring our spring flowers.
Just as I almost passed our neighbor’s yard….I spotted what I almost didn’t even expect.
Clearly, the sweaty work and beauty fogged up my brain!
Obviously, my kids didn’t clean the way they should have.
Obviously there containers were in our neighbor’s yard — just out of sight of ours.
Obviously my kids were slammed with our “lazy kids are working kids” rule, and were all assigned another job, on top of this one done properly.
Jokers.
This is Scout’s first time being in a professional’s chair for a haircut.
Nonnie has been the barber until now.
(She has been awesome, and we will return to her, but she is currently out of town.)
Scout’s only comment was, “Wow…that was so fast.”
What do you expect from Jade — the highest ranked table tennis player in Vietnam of her age division!?
Scout is doing a project about entrepreneurship. He needed to find a small business owner, and interview them. He picked Auggie — Founder of “So Jam Good”, and told me we needed to drive down that day, because the interview needed to be face to face. I followed directions, and he got his interview — and 30 mini sample cups to give out when he gives his presentation on her. (He is hitting up Nonnie for freshly made rolls to go with the jam!)
I was thrilled with his enthusiasm over the project. I was also glad that we could get it all in when he needed to. then about four days later, I asked when he was going to need the sample jams because they were taking up a lot of room in the fridge. That’s when he told me his presentation was three weeks away.
HUH?
He said that when we went down, that was the first day they got it, but he just wanted to make sure we didn’t wait until the last minute.
What a con man.
Good thing the jam is freezer jam…cause back in the freezer it went.
I wasn’t quite sure what to say when I saw what Scout had completed with his pocket knife.
So I went with the obvious — “Nice work…if you are ever in prison, you are going to be just fine.”
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