Sophie's 6th Birthday

 On our camping trip to Split Mountain, Sophie turned 6.  She wasn't thrilled about being gone for her birthday, so we tried to make up for it when we got home.

The day after her birthday I took Sophie and Aspen to the theater to see "Boss Baby".  Then I took them out for ice cream on the way home.

On the Monday following her birthday we had her friend party.  Sophie wanted to have a "Pajama Party", so I sewed pillow cases for all her friends and they decorated them with fabric paint.  We had donuts for breakfast.  And I also made a donut ring toss game, had a scavenger hunt, and had a dance party with Aspen's party machine.  She got lots of great crafts from her friends and has enjoyed all her presents.

Here are a few things about Sophie:

• Sophie is seriously such a sweetheart.  She is always thinking of other people.  She draws pictures and writes cute notes to people.  She always tells me how much she loves me.
  
• She is a good big sister and really helps a lot with Luke.  He definitely likes Sophie and it's fun to watch them interact.
• Most of the time Sophie and Aspen are best friends.  They usually play really well together.  Of course they have their moments when they fight, but most of the time they run around playing pretend together all day.
• Sophie loves crafts, drawing, painting, sculpting, and all things creative.  I think she is really talented.
  
• She is becoming such a big kid and is a lot better about eating her food and taking care of herself.  It's really nice to have her learning more independence and becoming more capable.
• Sophie is just such a happy girl.  She is so pleasant and smiley.  She makes friends with everyone she meets and is so accepting of everyone.
• Sophie is excited, but nervous to start first grade.  The other day she asked me if I knew what home school was and wanted to do it.  I explained that we don't home school and she could go to school with new friends.  She started crying and said "but I'm going to miss you!".  It was so sweet.  We talked about all the wonderful things she would do at school and she made a checklist that I have to give her 3 kisses and 1 hug when I drop her off every day.
  
• Recently I started reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" to Sophie and Aspen to get them excited for our trip to Universal Studios in December.  Sophie has loved reading it and it's become my favorite part of the day.

Sophie is getting so big.  I can't believe she is already 6 years old and off to 1st grade.  I know we are all going to miss her while she is gone to school all day.  We love our Sophie girl.  She is so smart and beautiful inside and out.  I always tell Isaac that she inherited all our best traits because she's just so amazing.

Flaming Gorge and Split Mountain

Our family has thought about going camping near Flaming Gorge for a few years.  So this year we actually made it happen.  Isaac planned a trip with our families to go to Flaming Gorge so the kids could raft Red Canyon.  Then we would go to Vernal and raft the Split Mountain day section.  After some difficulties planning and getting people to commit to the trip, we were finally ready to go.

On the way to Flaming Gorge we stopped at Fort Bridger for lunch.  We then walked around the historical site.  My dad said that my kids weren't impressed because they see that type of old farming stuff every time we go to the farm.  I get bored with museums, but it was still a nice place to stop and let the kids run around for a while.

Then we drove the rest of the way to our campsite and set up.  My dad picked the campsite because it was high elevation and he wanted something with trees and shade.  But we were really close to the road and could hear the cars rushing past all night.

The first night at this campground was a nightmare.  First we couldn't get Luke to sleep.  My kids never sleep or nap in different places, so we tried to rock him to sleep.  We got him to sleep a few times, but every time we tried to set him in the pack-n-play he would wake up and start screaming.  We finally decided to fold up the pack-n-play and just let him sleep on the ground.  Isaac had taken Luke out of the tent to try and rock him back to sleep.  And Aspen said, "I don't feel very good".  I asked if she was going to throw up and she said yes.  So I yelled "not in the tent, not in the tent" and grabbed her and rushed her to the door.  She ended up throwing up a couple inches outside the tent.  It was so gross, but she didn't get it on anything.  We hoped that maybe she was just a little car sick from driving in the canyon or something, but she ended up throwing up 7 or 8 times that night.  Every 30 mins or so she would start moaning.  I would fumble for the flashlight while Isaac dove across the tent to hold her head over a bucket.  It was horrible!  But at least we survived the night without getting vomit on anything.  I don't think Isaac and I got any sleep that night.

The next day was stormy so we decided to go for the dam tour.  We drove down to the visitor center (they had the cutest stuffed otter) and took the tour.  It was fairly interesting.  At the bottom of the dam we let the kids feed the fish.  They really liked that.  It was a good activity to do since we were all exhausted and Aspen still wasn't feeling great.

Then we drove to a rim overlook trail and pond for lunch.  It was still a little cloudy and kept sprinkling on and off.  Since the kids were pooped we went back to camp and I got them down for a nap while Isaac went hiking with his parents.

Then we made dutch oven for dinner.  It took forever to cook because everything was wet  and the rain started to pick up.  I was worried that my kids wouldn't have enough warm clothes because I wasn't expecting so much rain.

The next day was still stormy, but it was our last day at Flaming Gorge so we had to run the river anyway.  We got to the river, got the boats ready, and ran shuttle.  We even took Luke down the river.  I was worried he would be climbing all over and trying to get in the water the whole time, but he just sat calmly in my lap.  He even fell asleep a little before the take out.  It was raining lightly the whole time down the river, so it wasn't the greatest experience, but we had warm clothes and umbrellas so it was ok.  Sophie loved trying out the inflatable kayaks with Isaac.

Then we met Jarem and Tressa at the visitor center and did another run.  I stayed off with Luke and ran shuttle this time.  We stopped at a lookout and Luke had fun chasing some lizards around.  Then he played and threw lots of rocks at the takeout.  I was worried he would try and go in the river, but he was really good about staying at the edge and throwing rocks.  This time the sun was out and it was a lot warmer.  Isaac said the kids had a lot more fun playing in the water, swimming, and paddling the IK.

After that run we drove through Vernal to our Split Mountain campground.  It was kind of like moving to a different world.  Flaming Gorge was chilly and rainy, and Split Mountain was insanely hot.  Jamie and Hannah met us at this campground.

The next day a group went down the Split Mountain section.  I went first to see if it was safe enough for Sophie and Aspen.  I thought they would have been fine on most of it, but there were 2 or 3 rocky rapids that made me decide they were still too young.

Later that afternoon we went to the dinosaur quarry and looked around.  The girls did the requirements to get their junior ranger badges.

And after dinner that night we went to some pioneer woman's cabin and walked around and went for a little hike.

The next day was Sophie's birthday!  Long before we planned this trip Isaac asked Sophie if she wanted to go camping for her birthday.  She was so excited.  But then as it got closer, she kept crying and was sad that she would be gone on her birthday.  So we explained we could take all her presents and she could still have her party with friends a few days late.  So first thing in the morning she opened her presents.  We gave her a microscope, the new Beauty and the Beast movie, some books, and a little stained glass window craft.

Isaac ran the Split Mountain section.  I stayed with the kids and Tressa.  We tried to go to a shop and get some ice cream for Sophie's birthday, but the store was gone.  So we drove to the takeout and let the kids play in the river.  They had a blast.

Overall it was a fun, but stressful trip.  It was really hard to get Luke to sleep in the tent every night.  And the temperature swings were hard to adjust to.  But I think the kids had a lot of fun and it was nice to watch them play.  But camping with kids has really made me curious to see what it would be like with an RV...maybe we'll try it out next summer.

Farm Trip

In July we went on a short trip to the farm.  We were supposed to go by ourselves, but later found out that Jarem and Tressa were hoping to go up at the same time.  So we invited them to join us.

The first day up there we were alone.  Isaac decided to make Moana boats for the kids to float in the canals.  He told me he wanted to do this before we left, and I thought it sounded very time consuming.  He guaranteed me "I can make 3 boats in half an hour with my tools".  Um NOT.  He spent forever on those boats.  Finally he borrowed my pocket knife and it made the process much easier.  So even though I was annoyed with how long it took him, all the kids were so excited to paint, decorate, and test out their boats.

We also went for a hike up Praytor Canyon.  We'd never been over there before, but it was a really nice hike.  We probably hike about 4 miles, but you could drive all the way to the trailhead to shorten it (we couldn't tell how rough the dirt road was and didn't want to get our van stuck).  It was a nice walk with short ups and downs, but remained fairly flat, until you reach the Valley View Overlook where there is a bench and a nice view.  It was just about the perfect length for the kids.

Luke even hiked quite a bit of the trail.  He is actually a really good hiker for his age.  He usually keeps walking and doesn't get distracted by every blade of grass.  His biggest problem now is that he doesn't like staying on the trail.  He's always trying to bush wack it every time we stop watching him.  Sophie has really become a big kid this summer.  She's able to go for longer hikes and bike rides.  She can keep up much better and not complain.  Aspen is still really hit and miss.  If we are hiking with friends/cousins and she is the leader, she will be the best hiker ever.  But other times she has a bad attitude and we have to drag her along until we cave and end up carrying her.

Then Jarem, Tressa, Afton, and Heber arrived.  Our kids were so excited to play with their cousins.  We gave them their Moana boats and the kids decorated them.  Then we walked to the canal to see if they float.  Aspen fell in the mud and got her bum all wet.  She was screaming and crying the rest of the time.  Afton even sat in the mud to make her feel better.

The next day we decided to drive to the Tetons for a hike.  We got there right around lunch time so we stopped at a lake to eat.  Then we let the kids play in the lake for a while.  I think they had more fun doing that than anything else at the Tetons.

We were hoping to hike somewhere new, but the kids wanted to hike to a waterfall.  So we tried to hike to the Jenny Lake Hidden Falls.  The sign said it was 2.2 miles one way, but I swear we walked forever and weren't even close to making it there.  The kids were dropping like flies and we had to turn back.  Hopefully Jare and Tressa aren't mad at us for taking them on a death march.  We were about 1/4 mile from the car and Sophie was quietly crying.  I asked what was wrong and she said she was so tired.  I felt bad that we pushed her too hard, so I carried her the rest of the way and made sure she got lots of water and wasn't dehydrated.

The other really fun thing we did was take the kids to float the canal.  It was challenging getting all the kids to the canal, we had 5 kids under the age of 6, life jackets, a raft, etc.  And the grass was taller than the kids, so they really struggled to walk through it and we ended up having to carry them all most of the way.  But we finally made it.

I stepped into the water and it was FREEZING.  I thought it would feel good after the long trek over there, but it was soooo cold I could hardly stand in it.  But those crazy kids, Sophie, Afton, and Aspen, were swimming in it like it was nothing.  They were crazy!

The kids had a blast floating down and playing in the canal.

Our little family had to go home, but Jare's family ended up staying a while after we left.  We had a really fun time with them and it was nice to catch up a little since they lived out of state for so long.  We really haven't done anything one on one with them before, and we really enjoyed it and will have to do it again soon.