Been missing you BAAAD today. I've never gone this long without talking to you and it's driving me insane. Good thing we have 3 beautiful munchkins to keep my mind off of things!
Sorry no pictures, got too busy and kept forgetting to grab the camera.
Morning was mostly spend hanging out with Kalei. She was in the cutest mood, couldn't stop talking, wanted to play all kinds of games.
The boys played at the Shorts.
Headed over to swim lessons. Final Day!!! Both boys got shining progress reports. Tavita's teacher loved how fearless he was. Brayden's loved that he was always so happy, willing to learn, and impressed with how long he could hold his breath. They both recommended they advance to the next level, only Tavita can't until he's 5.
Quickly loaded up after swim and headed straight for the library for lunchtime/storytime. Stayed for awhile after having races down the hills. Checked out some books and headed home.
We had another epic marshmallow war then I shaved Tavita's head! That's right, when your gone and a hair cut is needed only one style is available, and that's a good ole' summer buzz! He looks adorable.
I asked him if he likes it and he said "Yeah, now I don't have to pet Bowzer cause my hair feels the same as he does"
Found yet another gash in his head while cutting his hair (it was on the small side). HOW does that boy keep cracking his head open and us not knowing? At first I thought it was something sticky in his hair and trying scraping it out, then realized it was a scab!
Almost convinced Brayden but he decided he wante to wait til you got back for his haircut.
Went in to make some cookies, we had the idea when it was windy and rainy this morning. When we got around to it, it was beautiful summer weather.
By this time we had the neighborhood gang over and the cookies were disappearing as fast as they were coming out of the oven.
It was loud and crazy but I love it. Lets me know the kids are making memories and enjoying life. Kalei was right in the thick of it. She was running up and down and all around with everyone. Joined right in the gun fight. Wrestled with the best of them.
That basically sums up our day!
Few funny moments:
Found Kalei on top of the counter stealing goodies. I took her down and explained 1. She wasn't allowed on the counters and 2. She can't eat goodies without asking. Her reply in a very matter of fact way, "But I'm KA-YAY!" (She loves saying her name now)
Well in that case, by all means, do whatever you want. Who am I to stop you?
I asked Tavita why he was ignoring me when I was asking him to get ready for bed, "Because, that's what little kids do!"
At dinner, I told Brayden Uncle Tyler and Risa broke up because he was too stinky. Brayden leaned over and smelled him. Tyler asked if he thought he was stinky. "Nooo, she must have a crooked nose or something"
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Memories for Daddy Part 3
One more week and you'll be home!!! Until then, here's another day in the life of the Shum Zoo.
Yet another typical morning of weeding and a bit of preschool.
Then we packed up and headed off to Lowes to purchase material for marshmallow guns. The boys loved helping pick the stuff out and put it in the basket.
Then our little Houdini struck again. Took a quick detour through the garden center. Tavita was there one minute then gone the next.
I ran through all the garden area trying to find him with no luck.
Finally decided (in complete panic) to have him paged. Walked up to the front and realized all the talking I though went in one ear and out the other actually settled in between. He realized he was lost, went and found an employee saying he needed help finding his mom. Only problem is that his cute little voice gets even more difficult to understand when he's nervous/scared. They thought he was saying "Lisa" since he only says the "Rissa" part of my name. Every time they'd repeat what they thought he was saying he'd say "No!" So they weren't quite sure what to announce.
Headed off to swim lessons.
Boys are already going through with drawls about lessons.
Promises of future lessons didn't do much, they want the same teachers.
Went and ran some errands. Gone a total about 3 hours.
Walked in and heard water running.
Brayden had left the hose on FULL blast to water the flowers. The ones right next the window well.
The window wells were full. One with about 4 inches, the other with about 7. The one with 7 was above the window base.
Panicked for a 2nd time that day and ran down stairs imagining more water damage, as if we didn't have enough of that over Memorial weekend.
Luckily just a bit of water on the window sill.
The two heart stopping moments (along with all the other usual daily stresses) caught up to me. I snapped, wanted to through a fit just like the ones I had been listening to that day, but realized I was about a quarter of a century too old for that.
Recovered, apologized, and we were good again.
Had a good lunch, took some naps. During nap time we had a crazy storm. Went from clear skies to howling winds, black skies, thunder and torrential rain, back to sunny skies again. Kept going through the cycles.
Tried to hit a clear patch and plant the flowers (I almost lost a child over them, figured I better make sure I put them to use) Didn't stay all too clear, but they're in.
Headed to the park for some bike riding. Little John didn't think thunderstorm and rain made for good biking weather. Brayden thought otherwise so we went. Sadly he took a pretty bad fall (escaped with only scraped hands) early on and wasn't too into riding after that. Started pouring so we headed home.
It was marshmallow gun making time!
We measured!
Then we cut! (well I cut, don't worry I'm making sure all your kids fingers and toes are intact when you get back)
Then we sanded the ends to make em nice n smooth. (didn't want to cut lips on jagged edges)
Then we lined all out pieces out to make sure we had what we needed. (Well Brayden did, Tavita was having too much fun with Iron Man and the pieces)
We used out big muscles and pused as hard as we could to make sure everything fit together nice and tight.
Then it was time for war!
Two favorite moments of the day. Brayden had jammed two mallows in his gun before I could show them how to use it. I had no idea how fast those little guys come flying out and blew with all my might. They came zinging out and nailed Kalei (who was minding her own business, putting the finishing touches on her gun) right on the forhead. Shocked her a bit, the other three of us didn't breathe for a few minutes we were laughing so hard.
Then we moved things outside where Tavita crammed what I thought was 2-3 marshmallows in his gun. I tried clearing it out and UNLOADED like 10 on Brayden. Tavita had been blowing so long they had all gone soggy. They stuck to his neck, clothes and hair. Another good laugh.
Brayden had fun going around shooting the neighbors as they got out of the car (only ones I cleared first) He nailed Rach and Paul then Paul had him wait and get his sister-in-law as she pulled up.
Tavita is still working on strengthening his lungs to get enough umph behind his blows.
Kalei just like running around with her gun and eating the marshmallows.
Bowzer was in heaven running around eating all the marshmallows off the ground.
Babysat the Shorts. We made pizza and watched a movie.
Then, we collapsed!
Yet another typical morning of weeding and a bit of preschool.
Then we packed up and headed off to Lowes to purchase material for marshmallow guns. The boys loved helping pick the stuff out and put it in the basket.
Then our little Houdini struck again. Took a quick detour through the garden center. Tavita was there one minute then gone the next.
I ran through all the garden area trying to find him with no luck.
Finally decided (in complete panic) to have him paged. Walked up to the front and realized all the talking I though went in one ear and out the other actually settled in between. He realized he was lost, went and found an employee saying he needed help finding his mom. Only problem is that his cute little voice gets even more difficult to understand when he's nervous/scared. They thought he was saying "Lisa" since he only says the "Rissa" part of my name. Every time they'd repeat what they thought he was saying he'd say "No!" So they weren't quite sure what to announce.
Headed off to swim lessons.
Boys are already going through with drawls about lessons.
Promises of future lessons didn't do much, they want the same teachers.
Went and ran some errands. Gone a total about 3 hours.
Walked in and heard water running.
Brayden had left the hose on FULL blast to water the flowers. The ones right next the window well.
The window wells were full. One with about 4 inches, the other with about 7. The one with 7 was above the window base.
Panicked for a 2nd time that day and ran down stairs imagining more water damage, as if we didn't have enough of that over Memorial weekend.
Luckily just a bit of water on the window sill.
The two heart stopping moments (along with all the other usual daily stresses) caught up to me. I snapped, wanted to through a fit just like the ones I had been listening to that day, but realized I was about a quarter of a century too old for that.
Recovered, apologized, and we were good again.
Had a good lunch, took some naps. During nap time we had a crazy storm. Went from clear skies to howling winds, black skies, thunder and torrential rain, back to sunny skies again. Kept going through the cycles.
Tried to hit a clear patch and plant the flowers (I almost lost a child over them, figured I better make sure I put them to use) Didn't stay all too clear, but they're in.
Headed to the park for some bike riding. Little John didn't think thunderstorm and rain made for good biking weather. Brayden thought otherwise so we went. Sadly he took a pretty bad fall (escaped with only scraped hands) early on and wasn't too into riding after that. Started pouring so we headed home.
It was marshmallow gun making time!
We measured!
Then we cut! (well I cut, don't worry I'm making sure all your kids fingers and toes are intact when you get back)
Then we sanded the ends to make em nice n smooth. (didn't want to cut lips on jagged edges)
Then we lined all out pieces out to make sure we had what we needed. (Well Brayden did, Tavita was having too much fun with Iron Man and the pieces)
We used out big muscles and pused as hard as we could to make sure everything fit together nice and tight.
Then it was time for war!
Two favorite moments of the day. Brayden had jammed two mallows in his gun before I could show them how to use it. I had no idea how fast those little guys come flying out and blew with all my might. They came zinging out and nailed Kalei (who was minding her own business, putting the finishing touches on her gun) right on the forhead. Shocked her a bit, the other three of us didn't breathe for a few minutes we were laughing so hard.
Then we moved things outside where Tavita crammed what I thought was 2-3 marshmallows in his gun. I tried clearing it out and UNLOADED like 10 on Brayden. Tavita had been blowing so long they had all gone soggy. They stuck to his neck, clothes and hair. Another good laugh.
Brayden had fun going around shooting the neighbors as they got out of the car (only ones I cleared first) He nailed Rach and Paul then Paul had him wait and get his sister-in-law as she pulled up.
Tavita is still working on strengthening his lungs to get enough umph behind his blows.
Kalei just like running around with her gun and eating the marshmallows.
Bowzer was in heaven running around eating all the marshmallows off the ground.
Babysat the Shorts. We made pizza and watched a movie.
Then, we collapsed!
Memories for Daddy Part 2
Alright here's a recap of our fabulous Tuesday. Only one more Tuesday til you get home!
Spent the morning getting a few chores done, hung a few pictures (when you get home you get to figure out what things I bought from Quilted Bear on my litle date with myself on Friday). Tavita clogged the toilet yet again. Thinking I need to hide all the toilet paper whenever he goes to the bathroom.
We went to the library for the make and take crafts and left with some killer 4th of July star glasses
After crafts we headed off to swim lessons. The boys are both doing great. Tavita can stay under the longest after the "all fall down" in Ring Around the Rosies. He's also getting good at floating on his back. Brayden is learning lots of new strokes and idolizes his instructor. I mentioned putting them in another session in August and he asked me to make sure Austin was his teacher again.
Came home had lunch and let Kalei take a nap. Then headed off for what we thought was a trip to Seven Peaks. Turns out I left the passes in the other pool bag so Seven Peaks was a no go. We turned around, grabbed Bowzer and some bread and headed onto the Duck Park.
The kids enjoyed swiming on their own without huge crowds of people and tubes.
Bowzer liked out choice of the Duck Park far more than 7 Peaks.
Next we experienced a novelty in the Utah Valley area. The ducks were actually HUNGRY today. The duck to kid ratio in Utah Valley is grossly unbalanced and the ducks are usually so overfed you couldn't cram bread down their throat. Yet everytime we go, we try. Today we struck gold! Not only were the ducks STARVING, there were TONS of them. The kids loved being able to feed them and Bowzer loved trying to jump in with them, sadly his leash would only let him go so far.
We then headed over to the playground for a bit. Kalei SCALDED herself on the giant slide. She went a fourth of the way down then sat screaming so I climbed up the slide and brought her down. She wasn't kidding, that slide was HOT. The swings were a much better alternative and Brayden loved snapping pictures of Tavita and Kalei on the swings. Brayden is mastering the art of "pumping" (most of the parks around here don't have swings so he doesn't get much practice) and he's doing great.
Came home, had some dinner and put 3 sleepy little kids to bed. Sadly Tavita doesn't seem to be feeling well and actually ASKED to be put to bed before it was time to go. He has a fever and I HOPING he's just exhausted/had too much sun. But his symptoms are starting to look like he might be getting the virus Brayden had.
We miss you like crazy and can't wait until you get back. Tavita has been telling everyone that you had to go to Samoa to give away some candy. Brayden prays every night that "Jesus will spend some time visiting with Grandma Fou".
Spent the morning getting a few chores done, hung a few pictures (when you get home you get to figure out what things I bought from Quilted Bear on my litle date with myself on Friday). Tavita clogged the toilet yet again. Thinking I need to hide all the toilet paper whenever he goes to the bathroom.
We went to the library for the make and take crafts and left with some killer 4th of July star glasses
After crafts we headed off to swim lessons. The boys are both doing great. Tavita can stay under the longest after the "all fall down" in Ring Around the Rosies. He's also getting good at floating on his back. Brayden is learning lots of new strokes and idolizes his instructor. I mentioned putting them in another session in August and he asked me to make sure Austin was his teacher again.
Came home had lunch and let Kalei take a nap. Then headed off for what we thought was a trip to Seven Peaks. Turns out I left the passes in the other pool bag so Seven Peaks was a no go. We turned around, grabbed Bowzer and some bread and headed onto the Duck Park.
The kids enjoyed swiming on their own without huge crowds of people and tubes.
Bowzer liked out choice of the Duck Park far more than 7 Peaks.
Next we experienced a novelty in the Utah Valley area. The ducks were actually HUNGRY today. The duck to kid ratio in Utah Valley is grossly unbalanced and the ducks are usually so overfed you couldn't cram bread down their throat. Yet everytime we go, we try. Today we struck gold! Not only were the ducks STARVING, there were TONS of them. The kids loved being able to feed them and Bowzer loved trying to jump in with them, sadly his leash would only let him go so far.
We then headed over to the playground for a bit. Kalei SCALDED herself on the giant slide. She went a fourth of the way down then sat screaming so I climbed up the slide and brought her down. She wasn't kidding, that slide was HOT. The swings were a much better alternative and Brayden loved snapping pictures of Tavita and Kalei on the swings. Brayden is mastering the art of "pumping" (most of the parks around here don't have swings so he doesn't get much practice) and he's doing great.
Came home, had some dinner and put 3 sleepy little kids to bed. Sadly Tavita doesn't seem to be feeling well and actually ASKED to be put to bed before it was time to go. He has a fever and I HOPING he's just exhausted/had too much sun. But his symptoms are starting to look like he might be getting the virus Brayden had.
We miss you like crazy and can't wait until you get back. Tavita has been telling everyone that you had to go to Samoa to give away some candy. Brayden prays every night that "Jesus will spend some time visiting with Grandma Fou".
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Memories for Daddy Part 1
Junior is currently in Samoa for his grandma's funeral. We are missing him like crazy over here and it's even more difficult because we can't communicate with him over the phone or Internet. That's one of the beauties of Samoa, you can really enjoy the simplicity of life. However, it sure makes it hard for those of us over here. Figure this would be a good way to record what we've been doing over here.
We spent all day Friday at Seven Peaks. Had a few first there: Kalei learned to jump off the side unassisted. She was so proud of herself and kept doing it over and over. Tavita has gained the confidence to start swimming underwater. He has discovered his ability to hold his breath and he can do so for a pretty long time. Brayden's first wasn't quite as positive but it was helpful. He is VERY confident in the water and can swim quite well. However, he thinks he can tackle the wave pool with no problem. He found himself in rather deep water with waves crashing over his head and tubes plowing him over. He made his way over to me half drowned and pretty shaken. Luckily after a breather he was ready to tackle the water slides again. Next trip we are planning on taking the wave pool back on. I was so sad for him that he had such a scary experience, but glad he had a lesson in respect for water.
We came home from the water park to find that Brayden's new bike arrived. He was excited beyond words. I attempted to put it together Saturday morning, luckily Tyler was here to put the finishing touches on it. He paraded it around to all the neighbors and asks everyone if they want to see it.
We did a little practicing on Saturday and yesterday and he's doing great. His balance is great, just need to instill in him the confidence to go on his own. Little John (our neighbor/friend for all my other readers info) is going to take him to the park tomorrow to give things a whirl. John and Kristi (Little John's parents) stopped by this morning while Brayden was practicing on our driveway and volunteered his services. Thinking it might be better if he's with someone he's trying to impress rather then someone he relies on for comfort/support.
Since I don't have three hands I haven't been able to take pictures of him actually riding the bike but here he is with his now prized possession
Saturday morning was nice and eventful with yard work etc. We did spend the afternoon at Macey's carnival(previous post) then went to the park to ride bikes.
Church on Sunday was quite eventful. The kids sensed they highly outnumbered me and decided to behave accordingly. One of the highlights was Tavita thoroughly saturating a foam puzzle piece with spit then wiping it on the back of John's neck (John being the father of the dear boy that is going to help teach Brayden to ride his bike). Luckily he was more then a good sport about it. He pulled Tavita up with him and kept him company the rest of sacrament.
As I said we spent Monday at the park riding bikes and playing with the Halls and Goods. For family night we made chocolate covered strawberries then the kids filled in as my visiting teaching companion (she's gone for the month)and we stopped by to deliver treats and a quick little message.
We came back had a killer dance party then may or may not have watched movies until almost midnight and chowed on chocolate covered strawberries. Had a sleep over in our bed then slept until 8. Tavita and Brayden to move until 9! Then we may or may not have had leftover strawberries for breakfast.
We spent all day Friday at Seven Peaks. Had a few first there: Kalei learned to jump off the side unassisted. She was so proud of herself and kept doing it over and over. Tavita has gained the confidence to start swimming underwater. He has discovered his ability to hold his breath and he can do so for a pretty long time. Brayden's first wasn't quite as positive but it was helpful. He is VERY confident in the water and can swim quite well. However, he thinks he can tackle the wave pool with no problem. He found himself in rather deep water with waves crashing over his head and tubes plowing him over. He made his way over to me half drowned and pretty shaken. Luckily after a breather he was ready to tackle the water slides again. Next trip we are planning on taking the wave pool back on. I was so sad for him that he had such a scary experience, but glad he had a lesson in respect for water.
We came home from the water park to find that Brayden's new bike arrived. He was excited beyond words. I attempted to put it together Saturday morning, luckily Tyler was here to put the finishing touches on it. He paraded it around to all the neighbors and asks everyone if they want to see it.
We did a little practicing on Saturday and yesterday and he's doing great. His balance is great, just need to instill in him the confidence to go on his own. Little John (our neighbor/friend for all my other readers info) is going to take him to the park tomorrow to give things a whirl. John and Kristi (Little John's parents) stopped by this morning while Brayden was practicing on our driveway and volunteered his services. Thinking it might be better if he's with someone he's trying to impress rather then someone he relies on for comfort/support.
Since I don't have three hands I haven't been able to take pictures of him actually riding the bike but here he is with his now prized possession
Saturday morning was nice and eventful with yard work etc. We did spend the afternoon at Macey's carnival(previous post) then went to the park to ride bikes.
Church on Sunday was quite eventful. The kids sensed they highly outnumbered me and decided to behave accordingly. One of the highlights was Tavita thoroughly saturating a foam puzzle piece with spit then wiping it on the back of John's neck (John being the father of the dear boy that is going to help teach Brayden to ride his bike). Luckily he was more then a good sport about it. He pulled Tavita up with him and kept him company the rest of sacrament.
As I said we spent Monday at the park riding bikes and playing with the Halls and Goods. For family night we made chocolate covered strawberries then the kids filled in as my visiting teaching companion (she's gone for the month)and we stopped by to deliver treats and a quick little message.
We came back had a killer dance party then may or may not have watched movies until almost midnight and chowed on chocolate covered strawberries. Had a sleep over in our bed then slept until 8. Tavita and Brayden to move until 9! Then we may or may not have had leftover strawberries for breakfast.
Macey's Carnival
Wow, six post in 24 hours! Another on the way for tomorrow, just too tired to do it tonight!
I had to have a post that was soley dedicated to our killer grocery store. That's right, I LOVE our grocery store. I have never seen any business to do so much to provide a good experience for their costumers. I have NEVER had any employee be rude, in fact they're always friendly and will go to any end to help you. Their produce guys are always giving my kids apples and bananas to snack on. If that's not enough they do weekly free cooking classes and have TONS of free kids activities. They have pirate day, Dr Suess day, annual french toast breakfast, annual pancake breakfast, free pics with Santa (and cookie decorating and reindeer dress up) for Christmas, trick or treating at Halloween. I could go on an on. The latest thing they had on Saturday was a kids carnival. They had blowup slides, face painting, baloon tying, they only thing that cost was the food and everything was a quarter (hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones etc)
In case you can't tell I'm sold on this store and shop there simply because it's so much more enjoyable then anywhere else.
Bounce house fun
Time for face painting!
A tiger, zombie and butterfly (yes my four year old asked to be a zombie. The girl asked him 3 times to make sure she was understanding him right) My little butterfly didn't realize she was a cute little butterfly. She was roaring and walking like a zombie right along with her brothers!
I had to have a post that was soley dedicated to our killer grocery store. That's right, I LOVE our grocery store. I have never seen any business to do so much to provide a good experience for their costumers. I have NEVER had any employee be rude, in fact they're always friendly and will go to any end to help you. Their produce guys are always giving my kids apples and bananas to snack on. If that's not enough they do weekly free cooking classes and have TONS of free kids activities. They have pirate day, Dr Suess day, annual french toast breakfast, annual pancake breakfast, free pics with Santa (and cookie decorating and reindeer dress up) for Christmas, trick or treating at Halloween. I could go on an on. The latest thing they had on Saturday was a kids carnival. They had blowup slides, face painting, baloon tying, they only thing that cost was the food and everything was a quarter (hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones etc)
In case you can't tell I'm sold on this store and shop there simply because it's so much more enjoyable then anywhere else.
Bounce house fun
Time for face painting!
A tiger, zombie and butterfly (yes my four year old asked to be a zombie. The girl asked him 3 times to make sure she was understanding him right) My little butterfly didn't realize she was a cute little butterfly. She was roaring and walking like a zombie right along with her brothers!
Rode-a-o
Whortly before our campout, Junior and Daryl to the boys to the Pleasant Grove Rodeo. It was more to expose Daryl to some of the crazy Ameican past times. They had to endure some insane wind but luckily it died down for the rodeo to start. They didn't take a single picture of the rodeo but as Junior said, "At least we have proof we were there!"
Palisade Campout!
On Father's Day weekend we headed down to Manti for the famous Mormon Miracle Pageant. We forgot the camera in the car but it was a good time. I loved Manti, it's such a cute little down.
The night before the pageant we camped out with some great friends at Palisades State Park. We have never camped in such a "parking lot" like atmosphere but it turend out to be a GREAT trip. We were right next to a lake that was warm enough to swim in and the kids had a blast. We got there at bout 5ish Friday evening.
First order of business was to blow up the boat. Kalei and Tavita were determined to get that sucker blown up on their own (Kalei is laying down so she could reach the plug to blow in)
Meanwhile Uncle Daryl and Brayden preped the fishing gear
Then we had a crazy pirate wonder into our camp
Tavita and Kalei pausing for a drink (one of the best parts of this trip, these two were total pals, a rarity!)
Daddy taking the kids out on the lake
At first Tavita was excited to go with Uncle Rodney until Rod announced he was rowing to Samoa and Tavita tried to jump ship cause he wanted to stay and go camping. (he eventually settled down)
Kalei LOVED picking all the flowers
Then giving them to Mommy
Beautiful girl, beautiful flowers, beautiful sunset
This girly lived in the water
Her brother would join her occasionaly
Not sure drinking the water was the smartest thing (notice the progession of her clothing, or lack there of a she spent time in the water)
Uncle Rod and Tavita skipping rocks
Proof this handsome little guy was on the trip. Poor kids was still trying to recover from a double whammy of strep and some other killer virus. He'd get a wind, go play for a few minutes then was laid out again.
A couple of posers!
Brayden and Uncle Daryl heading out for a cruise
At around 8:00 the rest of the crew showed up and the kids immediately introduced everyone to the glorious combination of rocks and a lake. (no that isn't Tavita in the front, it's his twin Trent. Even us moms confuse them when we're looking with half an eye. We accidentaly scold each others kids all the time!)
Polynesian blood runs strong in my kids. They NEVER have shoes on (it's a feat just to get clothes on them. bit of a joke in our neighborhood)
Tavita and Trent soon tired of little rocks and moved on to bigger and better
It was an incredible sunset
The campsite didn't have firepits so we smuggled a portable one in. You can't camp and not have smores!
Tavita with his gooey goodness
Brayden chowing down
The next morning Uncle Daryl took all the kids down to the dock while breakfast was being made. The prices to rent these little guys was INSANE, they were perfectly happy just peddling while they were anchored to the dock!
Brayden feeling a bit better and enjoying a nice breakie!
The hard working cooks (Rodney, Junior and Gary, in the background)
Nothing like kicking back in the boat eating breakfast, even better when done naked!
All the kiddos loaded in (this was shortly before Kalei took off streaking through everyones' camp. Any suggestions on how to keep her clothed would be appreciated!
The boys were warming up on the asphalt after swiming and started forming letters. Here's their J
And their T
Daddy and Kalei (she was never taken very far out cause she'd always try to bail out and swim)
Tavita taking Daddy for a ride
Kalei and Maddie were frozen for FOREVER watching a duck. Kalei wanted to go play with it. Maddie just stared it down as if to say, "Don't you dare take a step in my direction!)
Gary found a snake in the water and everyone came running to have a look
As if still having lingering effects of an illness wasn't enough, Brayden managed to rub up against some stinging nettle. We had him take a tip in the cool water to help sooth things a bit. Take a close look at his back. It looked MISERABLE
We spent a good amount of time having some good ol' foot races. Maddie left Rod in the DUST!
The spectators relaxing and taking an occasional dip in the water
Brayden and Adalyn taking of for a race. (even with being sick/stinging nettle his competitive side took over and he left the poor girl in the dust. He needs to learn a gentleman lets a lady win! haha)
Trent would start the races then run a "trophy" to the winner. He was so celebratory as he ran and presented it. HILLARIOUS!
The night before the pageant we camped out with some great friends at Palisades State Park. We have never camped in such a "parking lot" like atmosphere but it turend out to be a GREAT trip. We were right next to a lake that was warm enough to swim in and the kids had a blast. We got there at bout 5ish Friday evening.
First order of business was to blow up the boat. Kalei and Tavita were determined to get that sucker blown up on their own (Kalei is laying down so she could reach the plug to blow in)
Meanwhile Uncle Daryl and Brayden preped the fishing gear
Then we had a crazy pirate wonder into our camp
Tavita and Kalei pausing for a drink (one of the best parts of this trip, these two were total pals, a rarity!)
Daddy taking the kids out on the lake
At first Tavita was excited to go with Uncle Rodney until Rod announced he was rowing to Samoa and Tavita tried to jump ship cause he wanted to stay and go camping. (he eventually settled down)
Kalei LOVED picking all the flowers
Then giving them to Mommy
Beautiful girl, beautiful flowers, beautiful sunset
This girly lived in the water
Her brother would join her occasionaly
Not sure drinking the water was the smartest thing (notice the progession of her clothing, or lack there of a she spent time in the water)
Uncle Rod and Tavita skipping rocks
Proof this handsome little guy was on the trip. Poor kids was still trying to recover from a double whammy of strep and some other killer virus. He'd get a wind, go play for a few minutes then was laid out again.
A couple of posers!
Brayden and Uncle Daryl heading out for a cruise
At around 8:00 the rest of the crew showed up and the kids immediately introduced everyone to the glorious combination of rocks and a lake. (no that isn't Tavita in the front, it's his twin Trent. Even us moms confuse them when we're looking with half an eye. We accidentaly scold each others kids all the time!)
Polynesian blood runs strong in my kids. They NEVER have shoes on (it's a feat just to get clothes on them. bit of a joke in our neighborhood)
Tavita and Trent soon tired of little rocks and moved on to bigger and better
It was an incredible sunset
The campsite didn't have firepits so we smuggled a portable one in. You can't camp and not have smores!
Tavita with his gooey goodness
Brayden chowing down
The next morning Uncle Daryl took all the kids down to the dock while breakfast was being made. The prices to rent these little guys was INSANE, they were perfectly happy just peddling while they were anchored to the dock!
Brayden feeling a bit better and enjoying a nice breakie!
The hard working cooks (Rodney, Junior and Gary, in the background)
Nothing like kicking back in the boat eating breakfast, even better when done naked!
All the kiddos loaded in (this was shortly before Kalei took off streaking through everyones' camp. Any suggestions on how to keep her clothed would be appreciated!
The boys were warming up on the asphalt after swiming and started forming letters. Here's their J
And their T
Daddy and Kalei (she was never taken very far out cause she'd always try to bail out and swim)
Tavita taking Daddy for a ride
Kalei and Maddie were frozen for FOREVER watching a duck. Kalei wanted to go play with it. Maddie just stared it down as if to say, "Don't you dare take a step in my direction!)
Gary found a snake in the water and everyone came running to have a look
As if still having lingering effects of an illness wasn't enough, Brayden managed to rub up against some stinging nettle. We had him take a tip in the cool water to help sooth things a bit. Take a close look at his back. It looked MISERABLE
We spent a good amount of time having some good ol' foot races. Maddie left Rod in the DUST!
The spectators relaxing and taking an occasional dip in the water
Brayden and Adalyn taking of for a race. (even with being sick/stinging nettle his competitive side took over and he left the poor girl in the dust. He needs to learn a gentleman lets a lady win! haha)
Trent would start the races then run a "trophy" to the winner. He was so celebratory as he ran and presented it. HILLARIOUS!
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