Cannon happy birthday

 

Weekend with the FRYS

We had a good time hanging out with our buddies playing frisbee golf up at the birch hill recreation area... and surprisingly we didn’t lose any- but we did have some close calls with the thick forest and a throw that went too far. 

The mosquitos were pretty thick up in the shaded areas, but as long as you were moving they didn’t seem so bad. By the 7th hole cannon was starting to hit his limit and Cael stepped up and put him on his shoulders to carry him the rest of the way and Cael even finished throwing the last holes along the way.

Saturday evening we met up at Olnes pond to paddle around and have a cookout. It was a gorgeous evening! The kids were splashing around on the paddle board and little kayaks. My favorite was when my three big boys and CC got on the paddle board to play king of the hill. After they found their balance there was squealing and shrieking and everyone had fallen in except Cael- I don’t know how he stayed up. But that didn’t last long and soon the entire board flipped over and everyone splashed into the chilly pond.

 Our cookout included Cheetos otter pops, hot dogs and yummy grilled salmon. Quite a spread, I know, right?

Panning for gold

Drivers license for real?

After waiting for 2 hours at the DMV Cael turned in his paperwork and is now a provisional driver for the next six months.  He can drive solo or with his siblings... this is going to be so great to have another driver to take the kiddos to practice and games— hooray!!

* Except on the first night that Cael took all the boys to soccer practice he forgot his wallet back here at the house with his ID to get back on post, so we still had to go drop that off at the gate! He is still learning and still finding a way to “ruin” my peaceful evenings... jk.

Part of the story begins when Cael took his drivers test and failed the first time after he almost hit a pedestrian in the DMV parking lot. It was at the end of the test and the parking lot really can get congested and people pop out of their cars... so bad luck for Cael. I had really gotten after him in the morning for dressing nicely and combing his hair for his test... which he ignored... so it seemed to me he deserved the little slice of humble pie when he did fail  😂

But seriously how did my baby boy get so big and like a man?!? He’s smart, funny, and tries to do the right thing. Cael really is a fun sport and playful— we have a great time together with him.

Summer solstice midnight sun run (walk)

I have really fun neighbors that decided to celebrate the summer solstice by going on a family run/walk/scooter ride around the airfield which is about 6.1 miles. We had gone camping the night before and I was so tired and so actually I was in my pajamas ready for bed but  Brielle was going with her friend Gwen. When we saw them leave their house and walk down the street I looked it Connor who was also in bed reading with me and we said “we should go too”.... even though I was super tired and ready for bed I have major fear of missing out or FOMO. 

The Bangerter‘s were about 8 to 10 minutes ahead on the trail but Connor caught up to them very fast on his bike but I was walking. It was raining a little bit and cloudy but not in a bad way it was actually quite enjoyable to be out there. There is a nice trail that we stayed on all the way around posts off the beaten path for the most part and really a lovely sunset as we ended there was even a rainbow!! I’m glad that I didn’t let my exhaustion keep me from joining in on a fun evening with my kids and friends. Brielle and Gwen  were in the lead and they saw a baby fox run across in front of them. 

Sunset at 12:20 toward the end of the trail

Cael Sweet 16 Happy!

What can I say about this kid? He’s fun to be around, always the life of the party, and find ways to bring lots of people together and have fun! 

Cael has a job this summer working landscaping maintenance and upkeep on some apartments in town. He is also helping friends mow lawns as a side business— which is really nice that he is working and busy. So after a full day of work- plus some tennis with friends- we picked him up to have a little party in the backyard with our friend the Aiton’s and the Bangerter’s. 

We had mandarin orange Cake and vanilla ice cream, and long spanking machine, and a reverse piñata (Cael swung the piñata while the kids stood around in a circle into hit it) Thankfully no one was hurt and the candy flew out when it broke on its own.

Olnes Pond campout

Memorial Day weekend camp out with friends up to Olnes pond. The weather had really been warming up so everyone was itching to get out of our houses and camp out. The kids go riding on the four-wheelers around the pond and on the trails by the river... they always have a good time while the adults chat around the fire. 

This early in the season the pond was really full of water which makes it fun to take the four wheeler‘s in on the bank that goes all the way around. However, you have to know where the bank goes around or you will go into too deep of water for the four wheeler. So one of our friends tells Ben that you can drive all the way around and he tells Cael to go ahead and try it. I don’t know why they did but of course I did a video the whole event. Cael driving out into the middle of a pond not knowing where to go because the water started to get too deep the he was going in reverse and then our friend going out on her four wheeler to show Cael where to go. Danielle‘s four wheeler ended up going into deeper water and shut down completely so then she  pushed her machine out and Cael  was able to go a little bit under the water and make it out safely hook up the tow hitch/wench to Danielle’s machine to pull it back around the other side of the pond where we were waiting at our camp. The next couple of hours were spent trying to get Danielle‘s four wheeler running again because everything was flooded and it was not turning on or turning over at all. It was about a month later Ben and I went over and took her carburetor apart and put it back together and then it was running again!

This is the yellow four wheeler that Cael took across the pond and it was having issues getting full power because the belt container was flooded. So we pulled the plug and tipped it up in order to drain some more of the water out hoping that would help our machine. Ben actually had to do more work on it at home in order to drain out the rest of the water and get it running to its full power.

This is our 24 foot “toy hauler camper trailer". We have all of our camping supplies and four wheeler’s loaded in this beast... So when we get to camp and unload all of our four-wheelers we set up our beds all inside and try to keep warm for the night. It was really cold sleeping but better than nothing. It is also nice because it doesn’t get dark at night and then cargo trailer at least helps provide some darkness for sleeping.

Cannon was the last want to get out of bed because it was still so cold in the morning I even had on my big pink sleeping bag coat it was just so cold!