AAAH, Summer

Summer's always been my favorite time of the year. You get to live your life outside, go without socks and shoes, drink from a hose. The list could go on and on. I pulled out the slip-n-slide for Koria and Kimball yesterday, and as always, it takes more time to set it up than they actually spend playing on it, but whatever. I'll take ten minutes of kid entertainment.

I just remembered a few shots my sister sent us a few years ago. I'm the the baby sitting on this slip-n-slide with my older brother and a couple of my older sisters. I love the fact that Shanell's hosing me down in the first shot. I must not have minded too badly because I'm soaking myself in the second one. I'm telling ya, there's just something about summer...

Koria's and Kimball's Preschool Program

K&K enjoyed a "stunning" (as Koria likes to say) first year of preschool. They ended the year with a program with songs and an exciting rendition of "Three Billy Goats Gruff". Kimball was chosen as narrator, probably because of his love for talking and due to the fact that he enunciates better than a lot of adults that live in the area. Koria was in heaven towering high above all of the other kids as the sunshine, on a platform. Could they have been cast any more appropriately? Only if Koria could have worn heels and prom dress I guess. Don't know where her girly side comes from ....

I'm including this picture as an easy way of explaining how talk K&K are. All the other kids there in the lineup are at least one year older. Notice the height difference? Story of a giant's life. They might as well get used to it.

They sang a variety of songs, but they told us that their favorite was definately "the one that rocked." We found out that was a literal statement when we watched them sing.

No need to tell you that 2 monkeys are usually jumping on a bed somewhere in our house.

It was a great year and now that the summer's here, I'm trying to be creative with all of our time. Did I mention I'm exhausted? I think I'm the monkey that fell of and broke her head.

The "B" Word

My mom used to have a rule in the summer when we used the "B" word, meaning "bored." She used to make us go out into the garden and weed. It was very effective. Unfortunately, my kids actually like to weed, but they don't really know what the difference is between what they should pull and what they should leave, which equals more work in the long run for me. Cleaning their room, on the other hand, works great. Koria and Kimball have been working on theirs for about three hours now, with only 3 escapes outside (that I've noticed) in between. The moral of the story is, I still don't use the "B" word. Just doesn't happen. Especially in the summer. Here's a few pics of the punks that make me appreciate why that's the case.

The Swell

A few days after returning from the trip to Alaska, we decided to go on a family outing to Buckhorn Draw, an area about twenty minutes away from our home. It's part of the San Rafael Swell and has some great spots for the kids to just get out and run. We saw some freaky singing hippies, that "were NOT MODEST" as Kimball pointed out at the petroglyph panels, got smoked out by some other hippy chick that was either high or drunk, saw Butch Cassidy's old stomping grounds, met a couple photographers/reporters for the Salt Lake Tribune, and enjoyed some sunshine and warm weather.

We stopped by the Swinging Bridge (the only suspension bridge in Utah, if anyone cares) and enjoyed climbing over, under, and around it. Jared, Koria, and Kimball had a rock-skipping contest that I didn't join in. I stuck to keeping K&K out of the river.

Jared did his best to keep Luke and Layne happy too.

In complete contrast to the scenery that I'd just been surrounded by a few days prior to in Alaska, I enjoyed the fact the beauty can be found anywhere you are at ...

... especially with family. (That's a dinosaur track, BTW, not just K&K throwing their hips out of place.)

A few last pics

Totem Poles of Ketchikan

Becky, Dad, Mom, and me

Mendenhall Glacier (where I found dandelions, for Koria)

Contemplating

More of Skagway

More Alaska

Me and some of the Sibs: Derek, Wendy, Becky, Kendra

On the docks of Ketchikan

Flowers in the park

The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show

The sign the could make me a millionaire

Waiting for the show to begin

The Chilkat Mountain Range (maybe ...)

Smuggler's Cove

The ONLY Alaskan road sign we saw

The tracks of Doom

More shots from Alaska

The most enjoyable part of the trip to Alaska for me, other than being with the family, was the opportunity to take as many photos as I wanted. It might take me a few posts to cover some of the highlights, but here's a quick look at some of what we saw and experienced.

On the hike to Yukatania Point, Skagway, AK

The White Pass Railway

Port of Skagway

Mendenhall Glacier

Most common view of Uncle Scotty throughout the trip

So I forgot to mention my Alaskan cruise ... and a lot of other things in between

Oh yeah, I have forgotten to blog about my cruise to Alaska with Becky, Derek, Mom and Dad, and Wendy and Scott. Jared, the super-human that he is, volunteered to stay behind and watch all the kids, with some help from Grandma and Grandpa Black. It was great. Missed the fam, but it was a once in a lifetime trip. Same as the post before: more pics to come at a later date. Gotta run ... again.

The Port of Juneau at night

Hiking to Yukatania Point

Life aboard ship

Skagway, AK

Me

Mesa Verde Trip

We just returned last night from a great trip to Mesa Verde and the mountains of Southern Colorado which is an amazingly beautiful area. Kimball asked us a while into the trip if we were in "Avocado" yet. Nice. Wish I had more time to put more pics up, but life is seriously busy these days. I just got a minute this afternoon (or took a minute....) to check my email (over 300 + unchecked messages from the last time I checked it) and Facebook (first time in 3 years -- literally), but no promises. The babies are crying to be fed, K&K want snacks, I'm covered in mosquito repellant from yard work and entertaining Kor and Kimb on the tramp .... yeah. Gotta go. Here's a couple pics from the trip. Hopefully more to come.