More fun pictures!

Summer's over ...

I guess I better update my blog. Summer activities will be coming your way. Hope everyone had a fun summer like we did. All I can say is it is no fun to wake up early again.

Another conversation with Chase

CHASE: "Mom, Halloween is on a Saturday this year right."

MOM: "Yes."

CHASE: "Then Sunday is November 1st right?"

MOM: "Yes."

CHASE: "I turn eight on November 7th and that means I don't have to fast until December, right?"

Smart boy! Always thinking ahead and already dreading fast Sunday! What are we going to do with this child.

It's official!

I am a mother of a teenager. I don't know when it happened but it did. My baby turned 13 today. Crazy but true! Have a great day!  

WHAT??

So, I am checking my email today and I had one from Jackson's school. Not thinking much about it, I opened it.  

HOMEWORK!!!

That is what it was. A homework assignment for Jackson to do over the summer.  COME ON!!! School just ended. The last thing I need is a homework assignment that you know very well will be forgotten about until the day before school starts and then it will be a frantic rush to get it done. Plus, we all know that home science projects turn into mom (well, in our family dad because mom doesn't get it) homework. 

Can't I just have my summer? Nothing to worry about. Sleeping late (except when Jackson sets his alarm for 6 am so he can get his chores done before 7 so he has the whole day to play. I made sure the alarm was off last night!) Watching baseball. Swimming. Playing in the park. I do not want to be worrying about a science project! 

Granted, Kaylee and Chase got summer homework too but it was collecting as many box tops as they could. I do that anyway so that's easy. The hard part is dividing them up so that they are even.

So, I guess I will break the news to Jackson and let him know about his homework. I will try my best to convince him that if we get it done now we don't have to worry about it the rest of the summer. Then, hopefully remember one week before school starts that it still needs to be done. Then spend the rest of the week trying frantically to finish it so he can start the year off on the right foot. 

Bring it on!

Covered in shaving cream, Chase and Hunter were having a great time getting whoever they could.

The annual end of the school year shaving cream fight was in full swing. There were double the participants and about triple the shaving cream. Everyone was covered head to toe! The kids had a blast. Kaci even got involved and had a blast, until it got in her eye or someone got her. 

If you just glance at this picture. you'll miss Chase standing in front of Jackson. Everyone was COVERED!!

Kaci was trying to get her dad but don't get her back.
She loved emptying the can on to the ground.
Jason took a shot!
Jackson was pretending to be Birdman from the Nuggets. Of course, the Nuggets forgot to show up that night and got sent home packing. 
Kaci and Maddie were trying to stay away from the fight and played on the street corner. Maddie broke her arm so the objective was to keep shaving cream off of the cast. For the most part, it worked.
Here are Kaylee and Savannah.
After their fight, the kids rinsed off and we had hotdogs and ice cream on the back yard. We sure had a fun night!

A Tale of Two Seasons

Here is Bear Lake at the end of May. We were surprised at how much snow was still there.

Jason's parents came and spent some time with us over Memorial day weekend. We decided to take them up to Rocky Mountain National Park. We had taken my parents there in October and really enjoyed the trip. We were surprised at just how different this trip would be. 

Here is the lake last fall.

There was piles of snow all around the lake. We were slipping around trying to climb some of the snow banks. Kaci was loving being in the snow. About half way around the lake the trail became all snow so we turned around and went back the way we came.

We also did the Alberta Falls hike. This one had snow but not quite as much as the other trail. The falls were going full blast with all of the run off.
We headed to the top of the mountain. The road only opened the day before. They had to basically scrape a path down the road. Snow was higher than the car.  At the summit, it looked like they had scraped out the parking lot. Can you see where Grandpa scraped Jackson and Chase's name?
Here is Kaylee with Grandpa causing problems in the background.
Jason scraped Kaci's name in the snow also.
It was foggy and misty so the pictures aren't that great but the kids thought it was pretty cool to see how high the snow was.
Here is Chase.
We went to the spot where we took this picture last fall and there was a wall of snow higher than the roof of the building at the top. Pretty crazy how much snow was up there still in May.
We had a fun time with Jason's parents. His dad does not sit still so lots of projects were done at my house. (Thanks Dad!) I think the only time he sat still was in the car and at church on Sunday. We will have to make this trip in July and compare our pictures!