This summer was changed from its original blueprint. Instead of heading back east at the end of July with my family and my mom, I was tied up in Utah helping my dad with some stuff. Now that everything has been partially tackled, my Dad is in his new place, and his health seems to be getting good, I have ants in my pants! I want to go adventure! (Yes — adventure is strictly a verb in this family!)
I have had an idea in my mind for a few years that I want to tackle. And although this wasn’t on my radar for this summer…I figured — The is no time like the present!!!
So I woke my kids up this morning.
I told them that we needed to be back in Dana Point for school by the 16th.
We packed up and drove to the bookstore.
I bought a map of the western United States and taught them all how to read it.
I said we are going on a “Choose Your Own Adventure” trip…and they got to choose everything!
There was one caveat….
They weren’t allowed to look anything up! They were only allowed to figure out where to go and what to do…..by asking the locals!
And with excitement running through our veins…we are heading north!
ALWAYS…ALWAYS ON HIS HEAD.
This morning I sat my kids down and talked to them all about random drug testing. I told them that when people are known to do loser things, they get surprise tested to tell important people if they are still losers. I then told them they were going to be randomly tested.
They were confused.
Then I told them I was pretty confident that none of them were taking drugs, but I was also pretty confident that they were all being a little “loserish” in one aspect of their life. Then I handed them each a dark purple pill, to expose all of the plaque they left on their teeth after “brushing” just minutes before.
Navy was our best brusher — with only a few minor spots at the gumline.
Pippi has the front tops and bottoms down to a science. I explained to her that there are also teeth that need attention on the sides of her mouth.
Dash…oh Dash! I’m glad he had a few clean on the top. His bottom adult teeth looked like they had been plucked from Barney — the big purple dinosaur’s mouth!
And the biggest embarrassment to our family comes in the form of our oldest child.
Is he kidding?
Since we were trekking down to Papa’s place, we decided to make it extra fun by visiting the nearby water park. Truth be told…I actually went to visit a sick friend, and Tristen took my kids and Blush to Papas. About an hour into it, she texted this picture, and said there was the hugest hail storm EVER, and the water park was closed fora few hours for safety purposes.
When I finally got to my dad’s place, the kids were all in his warm dry stuff, while their wet stuff was in the dryer.
For his new place being just a few days old, my kids certainly christened it.
Poor Pops…who couldn’t have seen this type of crazy coming!
I think his face says it all.
Rose, Navy and Pippi (surprisingly — all of the girl cousins) were baking up a storm today.
And to make it extra cute, they put a sign out that said, “It’s Cupcake Time”.
Their offerings were impressive. Almost as impressive as the state they left the kitchen in — spotless! The boys who were all swimming, devoured these delicacies up!
How fun for Navy to have a girl cousin her age…and the best part is that they totally click!
Lucky them.
Healing is a marvelous thing. Only a month and a half ago, Navy literally had no skin on the inner part of her current wound. But somehow…slowly and miraculously, her skin has formed, and covered an open wound the size of a large marble. We are pretty sure she is going to sport a forever scar. But I hope when she sees her future scar, she sees a battle wound that she never complained about, a painful mistake she immediately fixed, and a mark that didn’t put one hesitation in her fun-filled summer.
I remember playing a get-to-know-you-game at camp once, where we each had to pick a scar on our body and explain the story behind it.
Navy, you are going to have a great get-to-know-you story.
In my list of things I wanted to be when I grew up, Interior Decorator was somewhere on that list. Not because I had any sort of talent for it, but I really enjoy doing it. That being said…my first big project was my dad’s one bedroom place in his new independent care facility. I took a few pieces from his house, found a reclining couch that wasn’t 100% hideous, and tried to run around town to make it work in a 24 hour slot. I wanted to make it simple (to help him get around with poor eyesight at the moment), clean looking, and timeless. I added in fresh flowers, his favorite snack of nuts, and of course a model replica of his favorite car!
Who knows if I hit the mark, but when he walked in to seeing it for the first time, he seemed so happy and said, “It looks exquisite.”
I’ll take that!
Check out the biking ballerina. She was having a blast until she was reprimanded. Then she got herself into trouble. Her punishment was a speech. She needed to give a speech about “Why you don’t say ‘I hate you’”. Her speech was awful at best. I’m assuming she will have to give many speeches in her future, so I suspect our biking ballerina will get better with time.
After driving to Lake Powell, then driving to Uncle Ray’s, and finally driving back to Provo, my kids were getting restless in the car. As we approached Nephi, I recalled the days when my whole family would drive to Utah, and only be 30 minutes from Provo. We were so excited to finally get to our destination, when my parents would pull the family van off the freeway at Nephi and go to the park! We would all get so mad that we didn’t just finish driving the whole way! But like clockwork, we would pull off at Nephi, drive to the park for us all to play, and then my dad would leave and come back with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. My mom said it was for us to get our energy out before getting to Provo. I get it now.
So as my kids were getting restless in the car, and I saw the sign for Nephi, I asked them if they wanted to go to a nostalgic park? They screamed yes…so I pulled the family van off the freeway. When I pulled up, it had certainly changed. What was once a huge grass park with picnic benches and a playground with the most awesome teeter totters, had become a grass area with a smaller playground next to a fenced in water park. We pulled off, and the kids ran to play. Because it was Sunday, the water park was closed. Micah and I stayed back in the peaceful car to enjoy some quiet conversation. When I looked up to check on the kids, I couldn’t see them anywhere. Micah and I scanned the area a few times before we saw this:
On a Sunday (a no-no), behind closed gates (a no-no), was my little Dash climbing the water slide. I didn’t want to honk and cause any sort of attention to the felons, so I sent Scout to summon them out, while Micah and I played dumb.
Next thing I see…Navy was walking the perimeter of the pool, Dash and Pippi were in the pool, and Scout was on the stinking rock wall.
Nice work Scout….NOT!
It was time for Mama to summon.
Naughty kids.
On our way back from Lake Powell, we were lucky enough to stop at Uncle Ray’s house.
Between Uncle Ray having horses set up to ride for us, and Aunt Val making a huge pot of Spaghetti and Meatballs, it was a perfect stop.
Scout and Dash spent their time roping bulls. Uncle Ray gave them a good lesson, and they practiced and practiced…and got themselves some bulls!
Pippi spent every waking moment trying to sneak into the garage fridge, and snuck more and more carrots for the two horses. Every time we told her the horses were full, we would see her sneak off, and come back with something behind her back. Uncle Ray thought it was cute, so he didn’t stop her. But we were all relieved when the neighbor brought his mini horse over for a visit, because she turned her carrot attention to him.
Navy and I perused the garden and fruit trees. She got some of these “Fooled You” Jalapeno peppers. They have the taste and crunch of a jalapeno, but not the heat. She made a video to fake everyone out on her eating jalapenos like it was her job! Bella took the bait, but then we had a good laugh after.
The kids loved their horse rides around Uncle Ray’s property. It is beautiful where he lives, and the kids literally are in a real life fairy tale with all of the fun they get to have.
Finally, we had a sprinkler photo contest. Best photo over the sprinkler won!
And the winner?
Dash and Scout tied.
Although Navy was in a very close second.
Pips is just cute.
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According to Micah, Uncle Ray and Aunt Val are the best hosts known to man.
I couldn’t agree more.
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