Water - to drink or not to drink

Well, I don’t think that we can go on a vacation without one of our children getting sick.  About 2:30am Brynlee starting coughing.  And then vomiting.  Abby and Brynlee are sharing a bed and Brynlee threw up while still in bed.  Dan was able to get her to the kitchen sink to finish throwing up and then she slept with us the rest of the night.  I think that she threw up about 7 times.  We aren’t sure if she was sick or if she got sick from drinking the water in the river by the cabin.  No matter what the source of water is Brynlee will drink it.  Anyway she felt better around 9:00am so we decided to go for a hike until Brynlee was tried or fussy.  She loved being outside and rode on Dan’s shoulders almost the whole way.  We hiked for an hour and then turned around and came back.  Abby collected so many wild flowers she had the most beautiful flower arrangement.  She never complained about the hike because she was too busy finding flowers.  The boys ran most the way back and loved the adventure.  It was a beautiful hike we saw lots of fun things.  The weather got colder tonight so we spent most of the night inside playing games and watching movies.  We also had our traditional Mexican Dinner Night.  The kids love that every time we go camping or to a cabin.  This is so fun.  We love spending time together and being outdoors.

Start of summer

Today was the first day of our summer vacation.  We had a family vacation planned to go and stay in a cabin in Logan Canyon.  Mr. B let us use it for the week.  We were so excited to get up here.  We had to do several things before we left this morning; I thought the kids were going to go crazy waiting for us.  We arrived to the about 1:30.  The cabin is in a beautiful area.  They have green grass around the cabin lots and lots of trees and the river is just feet away from the cabin.  There is a hammock, a swing set, lots of trees and tall shrubs for the kids to play hide and seek in.  We brought our air soft gun and had a best shot tournament.  The boys brought pocket knives and have been wheedling sticks.  We went on a little walk and found a great spot for the kids to play in the water.  They skipped rocks and made mud mountains, we caught butterflies, played in the water, through rocks and just had fun.  Later that night we realized that Britton and Brynlee had a terrible rash.  So we took them into Logan and found an IHC Instant Care and had them both looked at.  They said it was just a virus but to keep an eye on it.  We came back to the cabin and had fried chicken and ate out at the picnic table.  It was so wonderful being here.  I can’t wait for tomorrow’s activities.

Sunday rest

Sunday is so crazy in the mornings.  Dan leaves each Sunday at 7:45am for meetings.  I don't mind getting the kids ready myself I have a routiue and we can get out the door and be on time, most of the time.  But today we didn't even wake up until 8:00am.  It was a wild morning and it just starts the day out bad.  When I am in a rush I need to remember that it isn't the kids fault I didn't wake up in time.  Relax and we'll get there when we get there.  I hate being late.
I read a great quote last night and I would like to remember.

Fear departs when faith endures.

What we are speaks so loudly that are children might not hear what we are saying.

I love these quotes and I hope to apply them to my life.

I love Sunday afternoons.  The girls are napping and the boys are playing with toys.  Dan is working a swing shift today so I am just relaxing and enjoy the quiet.

STRIKERS!!!

Britton tried out for two strikers teams this week.  One Wednesday he tried out for the State division and unfortunately didn't make it.  There were a lot of kids trying out and a lot of them have been on a strikers or competition team before so Britton wasn't picked.  On Thursday he tried out for a district division team and made it.  We are so proud of him and excited for this new opportunity for Britton.  I am also glad that my nerves and go back to normal. 

SATURDAY - no morning plans

Every Saturday we have a schedule.  Some where to be and usually early.  But today was different.  We got to sleep in and didn't have to wake up to an alarm clock.  It was wonderful.  Dan had a bike event for work.  Bryson wanted to go so Dan took him to work with him.  Bryson was having fun so the rest of the kids decided that they wanted to go also.  We got ready and packed up the bikes and went down to the bike trail.  Chick-fil-a was there handing out free chicken sandwiches and munchies ice cream was there giving away free ice cream.  The kids rode on the trail for a few minutes and enjoyed there free food and then we went to the Parkin's to play.  It is Ethan's birthday so Amy filled up her pools and the kids swam and had a blast playing with Ethan and Sarah.  After that we went to Sam's Club and then came home for a calm night.  It was a great Saturday.

Last day of school

Today is the best day.  The kids are finally out of school.  The kids were excited to go and sign yearbooks and say good bye to friends and there teachers.  They each had such good teachers this year.  Britton had Mrs. Smith and she was so good for Britton.  He had an awesome year with no behavior concerns.  Bryson had a tough year.  He was first put into Mrs. Dixon's class, then the school hired a new teacher because the classroom sizes were to large so Bryson got put into Mrs. Welling's class. He liked her but the after Christmas break she called in sick for about two weeks so they had different subs.  Then she gave her resignation so he got a permenant sub until they hired a new teacher, which was Mrs. Waters.  She did a great job and Bryson really liked her.  Parker had Mrs. Farris and loved her.  He had a great year and made lots of new friends.  He also did great in speech with Mrs. Gentry.  Abby had Ms. Debbie at Busy Bee Preschool.  She learned so much and loved to be with kids her age.
 
The boys had a little surprise when coming home from school.  I asked the boys to get off at a different bus stop when coming home.  A bunch of moms filled buckets with water and had water balloons(Mikki and Heather) then the rest of us hid until the kids got off the bus.  When the kids got off the bus they ran through a sign that said welcome summer.  Then we jumped out and started squirting the kids.  It was so fun the kids were soaked and so were we.  It was such a fun idea.  Then we had ice cream sundaes for the kids.  I hope that we do this every year.  After the water fight we had to hurry home because we had another party to go to.  At our house.
To celebrate the ending of a school year we let the kids invite friends over and we had an end of year party.  We filled up two pools, had a slip 'n' slide, had water balloons, foosball, air hockey, darts, popcorn, treats, popcicles, chalk, bubbles, water bombs, dodge ball, and lots of squirt guns.  They had so much fun.  There were so many kids.  The neighbors all joined in.  Then we had a block night games party with the entire neighborhood.  We had a camp fire at the Smith's house and roasted marshmallows and made smores.  The kids played by the creek and in the Smith's backyard.  Then when it was dark the boys played steal the flag and kick the can.  This was the best way to celebrate the ending of a school year and the start of SUMMER!!!

Mom's nerves

I decided that being a mom brings back a lot of emotions and feelings as a kid.  When christmas time comes you get the childlike feelings because you are so excited for your kids and the excitement that they feel is absorbed into you.  The same with most holidays.  It is a lot more work being on the parent end but the results are so wonderful and watching your children light up because of something that you have created or a memory made is unforgetable.
Todays feelings are not on the excitement level.  I feel so nervous for Britton and his tryouts.  I have the butterflies in my stomach.  I don't want him to be disappointed or let down.  He has a love for soccer.  I know that he is good enough but it is the coach that needs to see and feel that.