Cat's Summer Adventures

Cat went to Girls' Camp with our ward in July.  The camp was in Heber and was "very fancy" with hot showers, 3 different lakes with rope swings, and a ropes course.  The girls stayed in tents, which contributed to Cat hardly sleeping at all (the draw of staying up to talk being the other contributing factor).  They went to the lake every day - the water was really cold but she loved the rope swing.  Her favorite activity was climbing to the rock wall without a harness (a no-no!) and her favorite food was when they made a Cafe Rio salad.

When I asked her what she took away from camp she said, "Sometimes you have to apply yourself to situations deeper than the teacher or leader may be putting on. So, if you're in a spiritual place like girls camp, but it doesn't feel spiritual, make it spiritual."

Cat was physically challenged at BYU Soccer camp and she loved it.  It was a great way to compete against other talented athletes and get a taste of a college experience.

ADD NEW PICS!!

"Youth Conference was THE BEST THING in the whole entire world."  So, I guess you could say Cat enjoyed her first Youth Conference.  It was just our ward spending 2 nights at Reid Ranch near Fruitland, UT.

Some highlights: (written by Cat)

- I became a "professional" mini golfer

- found that I have some extra talent in archery

- it rained my second night for 2 1/2 hours and my tent got rained out. I spent half an hour in the cold rain fixing other people's tents with a close friend and felt good about that service even though it was cold. It was really cool because all the girls in my tent whose stuff got soaked in rain were able to find dry pillows and blankets to use to sleep on. So, it was like a fish and loaves situation which was a great testimony builder. 

- lake time was amazing! The second day, everyone on the lake formed non-official teams and spent the whole lake time trying to tip other people and I had lots of fun hanging out with friends and strategizing to bring other people down.

- I rode my first horse! That was a neat experience especially considering my horse wanted to go faster than a slow walk, so it would bite the horse in front of it's butt. Which was interesting. 

- I really enjoyed just hanging out with all my friends (boys and girls!) and playing tons of card games 

We were playing card games and the boy on the table just slid right in front of our game to be in the picture. Which explains my face...

 

Jack's Summer Adventures

Jack had a couple of fun summer activities all his own as well.  In the middle of June, he went to day camp with the Cub Scouts.  (Yes, he should be in 11-year-old Boy Scouts since he is 11 but there wasn't an organized group near us at the time, and since our future with Boy Scouts is unsure right now, he's just continued to attend Cub Scouts as a Webelo.)  They spent the day learning and practicing first aid (for real, when a leader fell and got a cut), hiking, playing in the Battle Creek waterfall, cooking with a Dutch Oven, tying knots, practicing how to handle the American flag, and working on skits.

When the parents (and Suz and Whit) arrived that night, we enjoyed cobbler with the boys and watched them perform their skits.  Jack's group's skit was about a boy who kept catching a lot of fish and the other kids couldn't catch any.  Whenever the boys asked the other one why he was having so much luck, the boy would mumble his answer.  Finally, someone told the boy, "Come on, you can tell me!" and slapped the boy on the back.  A bunch of worms flew out of the boy's mouth and he explained, "You have to keep the bait warm."

Jack had lots of fun.

Jack, the most enthusiastic novelist in the family, also attended a writing camp at BYU.  When looking at the options and choosing which week to sign him up for, I first asked if he'd want to attend all day or half the day.  He said all day.  So I told him that camp was centered on a mystery writing theme.  The half day camp had a Harry Potter theme.  He chose the half day Harry Potter camp.  This camp was long on fun but a bit shorter on writing than I would have preferred.  The writing included coming up with his own spell, his own potion, and a deleted scene from a Harry Potter movie.  Then everyone's deleted scenes were printed and bound and distributed at the week-end BYU Creamery Ice Cream party.

Non-writing activities included being sorted into houses (Jack was Ravenclaw), decorating notebooks with different Harry Potter pictures, creating their own prophecy balls, and celebrating Harry Potter's birthday with cake and butter beer (cream soda + whipped cream).

Luke Funnies

I've been saving up funny things Luke has said since he turned 6. Of course there were many more that I didn't record. But I'm glad I have these written down so I can remember and share them!


A history lesson. 5/6/19
Do you know why we're called Native Americans? Someone sailed with 3 ships and he was trying to go to a place but he ended up in Utah. And he called the people one name but later they said don't call us that. The people he ended up seeing thought the world was flat and he proved that the world wasn't flat. And that's why we're called Native Americans.

Explaining how a swordfish would do if fighting other marine animals. 5/8/19
I think the swordfish would win because the sword could cut through anything. Except titanium. Obviously.

Regarding his friendship (or former friendship?) with his cousin Whit. 6/18/19
He was friends with me for a long time then he totally broke up with me and started liking Liza.

He still loves him a good bubble bath.

When angry with me for making him brush his teeth (which usually isn't a big deal for him). The following should be read in a very threatening tone. 6/18/19
Guess what? CHICKEN BUTT. For YOU. Do you know what that means?

The same night, trying to not brush his teeth. 6/18/19
Luke: Can I have a pass? Cause I can't find my toothbrush.
Me: Have you looked all over the bathroom?
Luke: No.

While pushing away the non-marshmallow Lucky Charms. 6/19/19
Be fwee! Be fwee!

Luke loves stuffed animals so much.  He usually sleeps with almost 20 on or near him.
Froggy is his favorite, though.  One day he was refusing to do his homework so I took his
stuffed animals away for a week, except for Froggy.  I told him if he continued to refuse
to do his homework then Froggy would be grounded too.  He did his homework.

This is probably true. But I wouldn't know for sure. 7/31/19
It hurts a lot when you roll your eyes a whole lot because your eyes start to blur and it hurts a whole lot.

Wardrobe choices. And yes, he does prefer pants to shorts, even in the summer. 8/1/19
Me: Are you sure you want to wear pants? It's pretty warm today.
Luke: Yes. It's my thing. (choosing a shirt) This is a hard decision. (putting out his outfit then laying down on it) Does it fit?

I wish I remember what this was referring to. 8/9/19
Mom, this one's complicated.

Froggy is consistently at the top of Luke's love list. 8/13/19
Jack, if you touch my lightsaber again you WILL be at the bottom of my Love List.

It's very hard to wake Luke up for school in the mornings.

When he demonstrated his floating skills in the pool. 8/13/19
Aren't you gonna clap?

When jumping into the pool with an inner tube float. 8/13/19

I think I dislocated my elbow!

We made a friend while we were out in the garden.

To his 11-year-old big brother. 8/16/19
If you touch me again, I will step on your head.

8/18/19
Luke walked in from church wearing an "I Am a Child of God" crown he got in Primary and immediately sat down at the kitchen table to finish coloring it. I was touched that he cared so much about this crown and the message it represented. When he was finished coloring he stood up and said, "I am the king! You have to do what I say!"

Risking Life and Limb

When we got the boat, I assumed we'd use it at Deer Creek Reservoir (about 25 minutes away) or Jordanelle Reservoir (about 35 minutes away).  Those are the most scenic and most popular places to boat in our area.  Unfortunately, that also means they're crowded, using precious time waiting to have a turn to unload, then load your boat at the boat ramp when you're finished.  An additional strike against both of these lakes is that their water is very cold.

Now, Utah Lake is definitely the biggest lake in Utah County.  It's the most shallow, and therefore the warmest.  We can access the lake via a marina about 8 minutes from our house.  And it's not crowded.  But the reason it's not crowded is the flesh-eating bacteria that riddles the entire 148 square miles of water that people are scared about the algae bloom that's located in a couple of isolated parts of the lake.  (Also, it's not as pretty and sometimes smells bad.)

We decided it was worth putting ourselves and our family at risk, thinking that if we survived the high-stakes gamble, we'd be rewarded handsomely.  I kept telling Ben that if we boated at Utah Lake we'd end up with extra limbs or an extra eye ball or something, but the draw of uncrowded easily accesible warm water was just too strong.

In all seriousness, we knew we could stay away from the affected areas and we'd be fine.  If it was really dangerous, nobody would be allowed in.

Utah Lake has had serious issues in the past and a significant PR problem continues as a result.  I think that's the main reason that most people don't go there.  But I probably shouldn't tell anyone around here that or else our secret lake might become overcrowded like the others.

Anyway, that was a long way of saying that we took the boat out a couple more times this summer, both times to Utah Lake.  The first time was pretty uneventful: we put in, we puttered out of the little harbor, we slowly inflated the tube, and the kids took turns tubing around for an hour or two, then we reversed the process as we headed in.  (Also, I only took one picture.)

But the second day was much more exciting.  First of all, Ben taught me to drive the boat, which meant that he could ride in a tube.  And I took a turn tubing also.  Secondly, it got very windy while we were out, making the tube rides much more exciting.  We even saw a sailboat get overturned by the wind.  And once we finally made our way back to the dock, the engine wouldn't start up to get the boat loaded on the trailer.  Ben tried everything he could think of but coudln't get it to work.  He finally remembered that there was a trolling motor he could try attaching and turning on, and that did the trick.  He slowly directed the boat back to the trailer and that was that.  He found out later that the problem was a blown fuse.  It's fixed now!

Eliza's Special Summer Activities

Eliza and the other Activity Day girls spent half a day at Jeremiah Johnson Cub Scout Camp doing archery, teambuilding, human foosball, a ropes course, shooting BB guns, using sling shots, and slack lining.  Her favorite activity was archery - she came home bursting with pride in her heretofore hidden Robin Hood-like skills.  She said she hit one of the inner rings multiple times.  Eliza also really enjoyed shooting a BB gun, hitting her targets in one or two tries.  She brought two fold-out fans which really helped deal with the heat of the summer day.  She had a lot of fun with her friends in the ward too.

Getting instructions for teambuilding activities

Getting instructions for archery

Human Foosball

Eliza had a lot of fun at dance camp.  The camp lasted for a week and each day was almost as long as a school day.  It included classes in ballet, jazz, contemporary, improv, hip hop, Broadway, and leaps & turns.  Her favorite classes were Broadway and ballet (with contemporary/improv being her least favorite).  She enjoyed learning dance for the first time and felt like she was learning quickly.  Her teachers pushed her, encouraging her to try harder things, in ballet especially.  The dance studio is spread out in a nice outdoor mall, which means she and her friends had to walk outside to get to their different classes.  She felt very mature walking around the mall to class, and exploring with her new friends during their lunch break.  She really liked going to the Crepery with her friends, and they were kind enough to share their crepes with her.  They also walked to a bakery where the employee gave the girls cookies.

Ready for the first day

Eliza had to have her hair in a bun each day.  I ended up trying 3 different buns during the week,
but this one was our favorite.  We love the tease.  And we love the fat bun that resulted.
(And, yes, she had to practice piano in the mornings before going to the camp.)

Dance performance!

It was pretty crowded trying to watch the performance in the studio.  Ben was gentlemanly
enough to take a seat on the floor so women and older folks could sit in chairs.
The boys appreciated having a place to rest their less-than-enthralled heads.

I embarrassed Eliza by bringing her flowers.  I was the only parent who did so.
But I knew it might be my last chance to carry out this dance performance tradition.

When the performance was over, we walked around and enjoyed some of the
artwork for Chalk the Block that was going on that weekend.  It never gets old!