A blog about Kyle and Rebecca's family
One of the cub scout belt loops is for photography. And one of the requirements for earning it is to take at least 10 pictures. So I figured since we were at the zoo, and Ethan like dinosaurs that I could let him take some of the pictures so that he could work towards earning the photography belt loop. So here are some of the pictures from our zoo trip taken by Ethan:
This past summer our local zoo was doing something they called Zoorassic Park, and this was the last weekend they were going to be doing it, so we felt that a trip to the zoo was in order. We didn’t tell the kids where we were going or why, when we got in the car. Ethan was initially mad that we had plans, because he had plans of his own that he wanted to do. But after he saw where we were going and I told him why we had wanted to go there he wasn’t quite so mad any more.
Jeremy didn’t want to get anywhere near the big dino though:
He didn’t care if it was a robotic dino, and not real. He still wouldn’t go anywhere near it.
There was also this cute dinosaur photo-op so we tried to get a picture of all the kids sitting on the dinosaur:
I don’t know why that other little girl is standing there. I guess her dad just saw that even though I was trying to take a picture that there were still a whole bunch of kids on the dinosaur and decided it was ok for her to be standing in my picture. He obviously didn’t realize that all of the other kids on the dinosaur at the time were ALL MINE! 😛
We walked around the zoo and got to see most of the dinosaurs they had scattered throughout. As soon as we mention the zoo the kids always ask if we can get cotton candy. It’s like they think we are going to the zoo just for cotton candy, and seeing the animals doesn’t matter. So when we were about ready to wrap up our visit at the zoo we got some cotton candy to share as we worked our way back to where we had parked the car. And I’m very happy to say that we didn’t lose any of the kids even for a moment. 🙂
Well summer vacation is over and today is the first day of the 2011-2012 school year!!! Kyle took the day off so he could help walk the kids to school, and be here when they got back from their first day. I got up early to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast, unfortunately they took too long to rise and weren’t ready before we had to leave to take Ethan and Tyra to school. Kyle made the kids protein shakes for breakfast while we were waiting for the cinnamon rolls and that ended up being their entire breakfast. Oh well they got to eat the cinnamon rolls as a snack later.
Ethan’s teacher this year is Mrs Quist, and Tyra has Mrs Gustafson. Here they are all ready for their first day back:
Here’s Tyra by her classroom door:
Ethan had been really excited for school to start back up, but as soon as the bell rang, and he had to line up, reality set in and he started being rather sulky:
While the kids were at school, we came home and played for a bit. The little kids ate their cinnamon rolls and Kyle started taking pictures of them since they were being so cute:
Then we went to Costco to get some staples that we had been running low on, and since we had a bit of time after that before the kids got out of school, we decided to stop by the ward garden and check it out.
Remember that picture that I posted back in July when the corn was only a few inches high? Now it’s taller than Jeremy! Check that out. We got to harvest some potatoes and green beans then it was time to get home and go get the big kids from school.
Look at that! He went in sulking and came out with a smile. 🙂 I knew he would have a good day. (Actually I didn’t KNOW I just REALLY hoped he would).
Tyra came out of school with her backpack on her front and this new one on her back. I guess Costco provided new backpacks with some supplies in them for all the kids in 1st through 5th grades. Ethan got one too but his new one was on his back under his old backpack. All in all it was a good day, and the kids seem to like their new classes.
We decided to go shopping for school clothes today. We really didn’t need much, but the boys were both running out of pants that didn’t have holes in them, and Tyra was in need of new shoes. Since the boys are so rough on their pants, and jeans are so stinking expensive we decided to start the trip off by going to Deseret Industries. I’ve NEVER shopped there before so I had no idea what to expect, but we were able to get each of the boys a pair of hole free pants in their size, Tyra got a nice play dress. I love this dress that we found for Dinah:
Cute little Polynesian dress that appears to have been hand made. She just loves it. 🙂
We got something for everybody, including some little jelly sandals for Lydia to grow into. 😉 But the kids were going crazy in that store, wanting everything they laid their eyes or hands on, so Kyle decided to take them out to the car. Since I was alone I decided to check out the clothes in the women’s section and decided to try on a couple of dresses.
I got that dress for $8! Of course, then I had to find an undershirt because the dress alone is really low cut. But I really like it. Kyle likes my hot new dress too, and I really do look better than that, but for some reason my husband makes me feel silly when he is taking pictures of me.
Anyways the rest of our shopping trip was a success, and we got all the things the kids were in need of. We probably also got a few things we didn’t need, but that’s a different story.
Rebecca is exciting about camping. It’s never been an interest of mine, due to having to live out on the dirt, not take showers, and of course, deal with uneven ground and my bad ankles. However, she convinced us to go to the annual ward Father and Son camp out, which happened at the Cherry Campground of Hobble Creek, near Springville. I don’t know why the ward chose that area, but I was glad they did, once we arrived. It was very woodsy and close to the creek, and there were plenty of trees for shade. Considering the weather was overly hot through the past week, it was a welcome coolness.
I got off work a little early on Friday, as Rebecca met me at work and I loaded the boys and our camping equipment up in my car, and then we set off for Springville (after a quick stop at McDonalds for food). I was surprised with how far the campgrounds were into the mountains, as the directions said to simply go to a stop sign, turn right, and continue on to the camp. It was miles past there to the grounds, then miles more to the Cherry Camp.
We arrived and found other members from our ward, then set up the tent. Ethan and Jeremy tried to help (Ethan read the directions, both tried to set up the poles) and eventually we had our tent up.
The boys went exploring up the hillside where everyone else was going, and I just hung around the camp.
The boys found much pleasure in climbing up the hill and sliding down (notice all the dirty back sides?).
After a while, the boys decided they wanted to pee, so we made our way to the restrooms. I was surprised that they were more of a glorified outhouse (brick building with a hole in the ground, and a hollow toilet seat over it). Jeremy refused to use it at first, and we stayed outside whilst Ethan used the room. I showed Jeremy the posters on the walls of the bear and snake warnings.
He wasn’t too happy about them, and wanted to pack up and leave.
We stayed, though. Next time, we’ll probably bring campfire foods (marshmallows, hot dogs, etc) and just roast them, instead of doing McDonalds. They continued to play, and there wasn’t much structure to the evenings’ events. After a small fireside-like message, people started going to their tents to sleep. We ended up trying to watch a movie on my tablet, but the volume wasn’t good, so instead, we played with glow bracelets until we were all too tired.
It was hard having to sleep with a slight feeling like I had to pee. In the morning, we woke up early and all went to the bathroom, then made our way back to the camp to help make breakfast. There was more than enough food (supplied by the ward) and we had pancakes, sausage, hash browns, eggs, and juice to choose from. After everyone had their fill and we cleaned up, and the boys played some more, and we started tearing down tents and picking up random bits of trash, then went home.
No bears or snakes were seen, though.