Into the Woods

We decided that as an ending to our summer, we would go camping for a few days. We have a camper (see below-stylish, isn't it? But it does keep us warm and dry) and we haven't gone since Aidan was really little. So we packed up (it took a week of cleaning and packing to get ready) and took off for the woods.

At the campsite, getting things set up. I told Aidan and Wyatt to go find sticks to help make a fire while we were busy getting everything together. I should have taken a picture of the pile. That was a very popular activity. Their wood pile would have started a forest fire! After things were all in their places, we cooked dinner (in the fire-Aidan thought that was really cool), roasted marshmellows and tucked everyone in to bed.We woke the next morning to sunny skies, orange rolls and hot cocoa. And silly grins. It was a good night. I was amazed how well everyone slept cramped up together in a camper out in the woods.(The shoes that Lydia is wearing in this picture were my shoes from so many years ago. Aunt Kellee-do you recongize them?
After breakfast, we went exploring. This is the dock in Island Park that we were going to float to the next day. Here is the old railroad bridge that marked the start of the river float. We later came back to this place to wade a little in the water. The water was COLD, but it didn't stop the kids. We also took a hike around our campsite (it was a beautiful campsite-it really was. We are going back next year for sure! Aidan, Lydia and Mom Lydia-she decided that she had gone far enough and sat in the grass protesting. It was cute, so I snapped a picture.

Wyatt-getting his shoes all muddy. We couldn't keep him or Lydia clean for anything!

Aidan-he wanted to jump into this creek. He kept spotting little fishes. It was a very pretty place. I tested out my budding photography skills with some really nice scene shots. Maybe sometime I'll share.

We also brought along Barky-he was such a good dog! He played hard. We thought he would keep us safe from bears. I guess he did, since we didn't encounter a single bear. We did have a buck wander really close to camp. I saw him and he scampered off as soon and we saw him. We went and found his hoof prints later too. He came really close into camp.

Later that afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa Barnes and the Rawlings family came up to keep us company for the next couple of days. Josh and Ellie came up the next day too. It was so fun to have cousins to play with! Aidan got to sleep in a tent with Dillan and Ian and he thought it was awesome to be included with the big boys.

We went floating on the river on Saturday with everyone. I do not have pictures of this because I wanted to keep my camera working and not soak the thing, but it was a lot of fun. Wyatt loved being out on the water! I eventually got the hang of paddling our little boat. We also spotted 2 moose-one right in the water and the other next to it. The boys also saw a bird swoop down over the water and catch a fish in its beak. It was really, very cool.Aidan, Wyatt, Izzy and Ashley playing with some playdoh.
Pancake breakfast! Yum!

By Sunday, we were kinda ready for ammenities like flushing toilets and hot tap water, so we decided to drive the 20 miles to West Yellowstone for a few hours (Plus, it was raining, and we wanted to stay dry). The kids loved meandering through the stores and finding treasures. We didn't buy anything, but we did have a lot of fun looking. Next time, we are going to plan to go to the museum and to the IMAX theater. We might even take them to Old Faithful sometime. Wyatt liked all the toy guns that were around. He really like this pop gun.I liked the Davy Crockett hats. Doesn't Liddy look cute?!Aidan just liked everything. "Can I get this?" was his favorite sentence of the day. Smile! It's a tin buffalo! Aidan also really liked all the stuffed bears and other animals that were in all the shops. He posed for alots of pictures in front of them. When we got home from West Yellowstone, we decided to pack up and call it a weekend. We had such a fun time. It was great spending time with family, and eating yummy food (new potatoes and peas. . .). It was nice to have some fun down time as a family before having to start the new year. Camping was a great success. The kids loved it, we loved it. I am so excited for future summers that we can do this more. I am excited to start a family tradition.

Green Canyon

To continue with our fun Independence weekend, we went swimming at Green Canyon. We love going up to Green Canyon! The pool is warm and has a nice shallow area for the kids to walk in. Plus, it has a hot pool too. We had so much fun! Really, it was a blast. I was surprised how well all the kids did. They were just like little fishes!

Aidan was having so much fun enjoying his "freedom." For the first time, he was really adventurous and even dived off the diving board a few times! We had a couple of boogie boards and he just kicked around on those all by himself. He was sure proud. As were we.

Wyatt was a bit more tentative, mostly just wanting to stay on the stairs and throw things in. But, he loved the hot and cold pools and kept running outside to dip his feet in and laugh. I was surprised how much of a fish Miss Lydia was! She loved being in the water, as long as someone was holding her. She didn't want to be in a float, she just wanted to be held and splash. She was so happy and looked so cute in her little swimsuit! Say Cheese! My silly, floating family.

Green Canyon is also a camping place, and it is beautiful there (I think that we are going to try to camp there sometime this summer). We packed sandwiches and chips and had ourselves a little picnic. Because after 2 hours of swimming, we were hungry!
On our way back, Aidan was asleep before we reached the main road. Since Wyatt and Lydia slept on the way up, they were happy and kept jabbering. I am glad that they understand each other, because we sure can't understand their secret language! We got home late, and we were tired, but we had so much fun together.

The Strawberry Jam Adventure

I asked Aidan if he wanted to go on an adventure today after Church. Always up for a challenge, he said yes. So, I gave him his mission-turn these strawberries into jam. He accepted and made Wyatt his second in command. We got right to work.Their first order of business was to taste the strawberries to see if they were tasty enough for jam. After deeming the fruit, "way good," we discovered we had a little sister problem. After discussing the issues, we decided that she would help taste test.So, we put her in her high chair and fed her strawberries and waffles. It kept her happy. These are the 16 lbs of strawberries. Aidan and Wyatt had a big job ahead of them. Since Aidan can't use sharp knives yet, he put me to work cutting the tops off and chopping them up. Aidan took this picture of me slicing up the strawberries.

Wyatt eating "apples". His duties mainly consisted of eating every other strawberry that I cut up. He insisted on calling the strawberries apples-even when we told him over and over again that they were strawberries. In fact, he would "correct" us, "No, mama, apples." He ate a lot of "apples."
Aidan's first big job was to crush up the strawberries. This handy dandy little tool was heaven sent in our strawberry jam making adventure. Even Aidan could turn the handle and it really helped him to feel apart of the process (since this was his adventure and all).

Wyatt wanted to help too. He got tired of eating his "apples." He turned a few cranks. This really was a family project. (Jeremy got out the big container of sugar for us. That was his contribution. Oh, and he helped clean the kitchen after we were done too.) Here Aidan is adding the strawberry puree to the sugar and pectin. He really liked to say the word "pectin." Again, Wyatt helped.

And here is the fruit of our labors. 8 lbs of strawberries turned into 11 1/2 jars of freezer jam. I would have done the other 8 lbs, but I overestimated how many strawberries I needed, and I ran out of both pectin and jars. I guess I am going to the store tomorrow (perhaps that is tomorrow's "adventure"). I was so proud of Aidan. He really stuck through this project, asking questions at every turn, wanting to know why we did that and how that worked. This was a lot of fun to do. I might have to make "adventures" something we do more often. Aidan and Wyatt really seemed to enjoy it and I had fun watching them learn.