Extended family fun...

As promised, Mike and his family loaded up Saturday morning to drive back up to Salt Lake.  They had flights departing at midnight for home and had to get back up in time to return a rental car.  We all loved our time with them.  It is so nice when we can see our extended family...we have a lot of family and they are all great (on both sides)!

We made the cousins line up for a quick picture.

We spent the rest of our Saturday relaxing at the house.  The vacation rental is amazing!  Seriously, if you are looking for a house to rent in the Saint George/Zions National Park area, this is the place.  It is a brand new built home with a great pool.  Plenty of space for relaxing and playing.  We had a great time.

Chris and Annette are always excellent hosts.  We played games Saturday night and made plans to visit Will's sister, Charity, who also lives in St. George for Sunday.

Saturday afternoon a storm rolled through the valley around us.  The kids and I sat up on the balcony looking over the pool and the valley behind the house.  We watched the clouds gather and the rain falling far away from us.  The best part was the forks of lightening coming down from the clouds and the chest rattling thunder.  We watched the storm as it started off to the right of our vision and rolled across the vista to the left.  Some times the clouds and falling rain was so thick we couldn't see the buttes out in the distance.  We didn't get any rain at the house we were staying at.  But we got to enjoy watching every second of the show.  It was definitely a high light for me.  I miss summer rain storms here in California.

Letting no grass grow under our feet...

We literally fled our town the second school was out Thursday the 9th of June.  We had been planning a trip out to Utah for the last month.  My brother, Mike, and his family were going to be out from North Carolina to visit my brother, Chris, and my Dad.  My Dad is living in Utah while he is being treated for colon cancer.  We knew we could make the drive out for part of the time Mike and his family were there.  We weren't sure about the location.  Christopher and his family recently finished building a vacation rental home in the southern Utah town of Hurricane.  They live closer to Salt Lake.  Mike was flying in and out of Salt Lake but wanted to spend some time in St. George.  We ended up settling on St. George.  But we were going to need to book it south as soon as school got out.  Lorien had finals the last few days of school and there was no rearranging her schedule so we couldn't skip out of school early.  

So, Adell had a kindergarten graduation, Clare wrapped up 4th grade and Wyatt finished 6th.  We all piled into the van and waited for Lorien to get home from the high school.  The second she was with us we hit the road for our 9-10 hour drive to St. George.  Of course, traffic was tricky in a few places and we had to stop for food so we didn't make it to Uncle Chris's house until about 2:00 am.  But it was worth it!

Chris's vacation rental home is new, large and very comfortable.  The kids had a blast checking out the pool with their newly reintroduced cousins.  We haven't seen Uncle Mike and his family since the reunion in 2008.  After a morning of catching up and swimming we all dressed in our hiking clothes and headed to a spot called Kanarraville Falls.  It isn't officially part of Zion's National Park but it is close and has a lovely slot canyon hike.  

There are several falls along the hike...most of it is through a little river.  We hiked up through two sets of falls.  The first one was very cool!  Except, you had to scramble up a pretty sketchy ladder to get over the first falls.  I wouldn't even call it a "ladder" it was a log with metal ties nailed into the wood.  There was a disintegrating rope attached to the canyon wall with a newer rope competing for attention.  I was mentally freaking out as we climbed up because I knew we would have to climb DOWN on the way back home.  Terrifying.

The second set of falls were really fun.  There was a rock slide down the falls that most of the kids tried out.  The boys all tried it a couple of times.  The water was cold and they were so brave.  

And then, Will took Colter down on his lap.  Colter was not as excited about trying out the slide as the big kids.  

Lets just zoom in on his poor, scared face for a second.  

Not pleased, not pleased at all.

After the second falls we turned around to head home.  Apparently, there are quite a few more falls as you go up.  We all had out paced Grandpa Davis, Aunt Colleen, Uncle Richard, Uncle Chris and Aunt Annette.  We passed them just past the first falls on our way back.  They went up the first falls and turned around too.  

As we headed down the river, our big kids out paced us with the other adults.  Will and I managed along with Colter and Adell as our companions.  We were nearly finished with the hike and I stepped down a set of rocks in the water.  I couldn't see what was under the water and I landed poorly on a rock twisting my ankle.  Smooth move...

Will was super man and carried or supported me for the rest of the hike home while managing Colter and Adell too.  We were all pretty tired by the time we got back to the cars.  It was an impressive hike.  Uncle Mike hung around with Clare and Lorien while we hobbled back down.  The other big kids had gone back to the house with Aunt Erin and Catherine.  Then we waited around for Grandpa Davis and his crew so we could have enough seats between the last two cars.

Back at the vacation rental it was time for more swimming and family fun.  Uncle Mike and his family were planning on heading out the next morning.  It was a short visit but worth every second.

The last day!!

First day of school!  August 2015

                                         

Where did the school year go!  I cannot believe it is over and SUMMER IS HERE!  Well, it will be here after today.  They all look so different up there...so young...so pulled together...

We are off on the whirlwind start of summer right after school gets out.  We are scooping up the kids and driving to St. George, Utah to see my family.  After a few days in St. George we head back home and I leave for a trip to NYC to see some girl friends.  While I am away, Lorien leaves for girls camp and Wyatt heads off to Scout camp.  Will and I will be home together for one day...a handful of hours really...then he leaves to chaperone the girls camp overnight hike.  

It is going to be crazy.  For right now, I will celebrate the last day of school!  

Last day of school June 2016

After this picture we took individual photos of the kids.  For some reason, Adell got super sad/mad.  She didn't want me to take her picture.  We were late (as usual) and we had to hustle off to school.  I told her I'd take a better picture after school when she got home.  (We did)  I wish I knew why Adell gets upset sometimes.  It seems unprovoked at the time but there must be a reason.  Poor kid...maybe she could sense the craziness that is coming our way.

Clare the dancer

Clare has been taking dance classes for most of the school year at a studio that is kind of far away from our house.  We carpool with four other families so it isn't too bad but classes are at the worst time for traffic and we drive with traffic all the way up to dance.  Clare LOVES TO DANCE!  She has tried a few different studios close to home and not felt perfectly at ease.  This dance studio has been different and Clare has had a great time.  This weekend was her performance.  She was so excited!  She has been taking Jazz and Hip Hop and couldn't wait to show us her moves.  

                                         

She also couldn't wait to wear stage make up.  This girl loves to dress up and doll up.  

Her hip hop dance routine was a hip hop version of Dora the Explorer...weird but so cute.  The song was much cooler in the hip hop version and the dancers were full of energy.  Clare is such a star when she gets on the stage.  Just like Lorien, she knows how to ham it up and isn't shy at all.  It is so great to see her shine up there.  We didn't attend her first night's performance but friends who did were full of compliments on Clare's confidence and joy at being on the stage.  

Crummy iPhone pictures only...Clare is the dancer on the farthest left. 

Clare's jazz routine was the song "Shake it up" from the Disney show of the same name.  Clare really shined in this performance.  Something about a fringed leotard brings out the stage presence in Clare.  She was adorable and so confident.  She did an amazing job.  Will and I took Adell to see Clare's show and we all loved it!  Hard work paid off.  

Clare is the second from the right, close to the front.  

Adell the actress

Adell's Kindergarten class puts on a few short plays at the end of the school year.  Mrs. Erickson reads the stories and the kids act it out with a few small speaking parts here and there.  Adell was picked to be the Mother in Tikki Tikki Tembo.  She nailed it!  

False alarm

                                         

Colter woke up this morning and couldn't walk.  I thought he was just feeling sleepy and wanting to be babied but he persisted in not being able to put any weight on his left leg?  I watched him all day, crawling when I couldn't carry him and avoiding a lot of the normal physical activity he usually engages in all day long.  Finally, I called our pediatrician and got him in for an afternoon appointment.  After X-rays and phone consultations our pediatrician said there was a small fracture on is small fibula BUT the orthopedic X-ray reader said there was no break.  Colter was fitted for a walking cast, none the less, and sent home to wait for the Pediatric Orthopedist to check his X-rays and make a final ruling.  

The walking boot made all difference.  He was able to walk around and felt much better.  We will wait and see what the doctor has to say.

                                         

**update**  The pediatric orthopedist said there wasn't a break.  The next morning, Colter was up and walking around just fine.  I have no idea what it was but he could not walk yesterday and is just fine today.  Grateful, grateful, grateful!

Preschool grad

                                         

Colter spent his Tuesdays and Fridays this school year having home preschool with a couple of friends.  It was great!  He got to make better friends with Sofia and Eli and I got to have a little kid free time (when it wasn't my turn to teach).  It was mostly fun, learning how to be a good friend and a lot of mess making.  We will miss our preschool friends and teachers next year.  Eli and his family are moving to Florida this summer and Sofia and her family are moving to another city in the Bay Area.  

Big Sur

It was time for our annual pilgrimage down the coast to Big Sur.  We left early Saturday morning and headed south.  Lorien had left a day before we did (playing hookie from school) with the Wright's.  

Uncle Alan, Aunt Heather and their kids came down to camp with us.  We tried to simplify our Big Sur experience this time and were fairly successful.  We managed to whittle our camping gear down to fit into two big bins instead of one gigantic bin and two big ones.  It felt like a win for me.

Lorien pretty much becomes one of the Wright family while at Big Sur.  I took baby Willow for a walk around to find Lorien and say hi.

                                         

We all loved having baby Willow around.  She gave us something to coo at while sitting around the fire.  

                                          

We took a little hike up to some waterfalls Saturday afternoon.  There was a fire a few years ago down and Big Sur.  It is interesting to see the wild coming back after the fire.  

                                         

Last year, we bought a hammock to bring with us camping (only Big Sur).  This year it was another big hit with the kids.  They figured out how to swing each other really high!  I don't think any of the adults ever use the hammock to relax in...it is purely a toy for the kids.

                                         

Wyatt spent a lot of his time off with friends too.  It was great.  He mostly bought candy at the general store and tried to light things on fire around other family's campfires.  

                                         

It was another great Big Sur trip.  We only stayed one night and headed back home Sunday.  We left earlier than we usually do.  Other years we leave late at night, or at bedtime and have empty roads home.  This year we left after lunch and ended up sitting in traffic for most of the drive home.  It kind of stinks living in such a populated area sometimes.  

One of my friend's did send me a couple of pictures of Lorien.  I seriously do not see her over the weekend.  She is off having fun with friends and I think that is great.  It was nice to see what kinds of fun she is up to when she is away.

She has good friends and I love them.

                                         

Oh, the traffic was so bad, at one point we pulled off the road and went down to explore the seaside.  Well, Will, Colter and I went exploring...the bigger kids stayed in the car to watch the movie.  It was a cool look out spot.  Will climbed the rocks and Colter and I watched for bugs and birds.  You can see a pile of cars on the road to the left of Will's head.  Traffic.  Ugh.  

                                        

This might be the last year we do Big Sur.  The school calendar is changing and next year finals will be around Memorial Day weekend.  It will be hard to justify a weekend camping when our high schooler is supposed to be studying for finals.  Maybe we will try for a different weekend?

Open houses...

Don't tell my children...but...it is my least favorite time of the year.  Open house season.  Ugh.  Nothing like elbowing past 30 other parents to see all of your kids hard done school work...only to see the same school work come home in a big heap three days later.  Can't I just ooh and awe over the stuff on Friday, when they bring it home?  Maybe my dislike started four years ago, when I was as big as a whale, pregnant with Colter and Open House night was on my due date.  I was totally planning on getting a pass because I was in labor or had just had a baby.  Instead I waddled around room after room (we had three kids in Elementary school that year) looking at stuff I knew I was going to see again--real soon.  

Anyway,  this year, we skipped Wyatt's open house (yipee) and Lorien didn't really have one in High School.  She did have an orchestra performance and her art class had their work displayed on the same night (that worked out well).

                                        

Lorien's hand sculpture is the patched up one in the middle.  When she brought it home she went into my sewing room to get a pin and jabbed it into the finger saying "There, it is finally finished."  

Classy

                                         

Kindergarten Adell had plenty to show and tell.  She learned a lot this year and had a fantastic teacher, Mrs. Erickson.  Adell loved Mrs. Erickson and Mrs. Erickson loved Adell.  

                                         

Poor Clare had a fever.  She had missed the last two days of school and so we made her stay home from Open House.  She wasn't feeling well enough to go anyway.  We did go to her classroom and take lots of pictures so she could tell us what was what when we got home (yipee!).

                                         

And now, they are over.  Just a bunch of band performances and dance recitals to go.  

TRAMPOLINE!!!!

We wanted to get the kids a trampoline for Christmas last year.  The timing didn't work out.  So we ended up getting one around Colter's birthday.  We didn't say it was for his birthday--but it pretty much was.  The kids love it!  I love it!  They spend a lot more time outside.  Yay for dangerous yard toys!

Will spend a good hunk of his Saturday afternoon assembling the thing.  It was beautiful once it was all set up.  We got to meet our new neighbors because of the trampoline.  I think it is going to be a very good thing.  

                                         

Please bless that none of our neighbor's kids get injured on the trampoline.  

Amen.