We went on our first "official family"
campout for
Ekco's birthday. Despite the Gods-of-thwarting-family-vacations being after us from the very start, we managed to have a wonderful time. We had high hopes of getting on the road directly after Brian got off work so we could pick up
Ekco and be to our camping spot by 5. But... one thing... led to another... and we were on the road a wee bit later than anticipated. No worries though, life is good, we just trudged along with hopes of getting there by 6. Then we realized that we (and by we I really mean Brian) forgot
Ekco's clothes. Then we stopped at
Walmart (just for a minute.. in and out) but as
Walmart trips go, it set us back another hour. Still, with clothes, supplies, food, cooler... oops... we forgot ice again. I guess one more stop can't hurt right? Okay, now we have it all... except fire wood. So we picked up
Ekco and then ran to Brian's parent's house. But the kids have to get out and say hi so we make it really brief and Brian throws the fire wood over the fence and we head up the mountain... without the fire wood. Nevertheless, it is still going to be a blast, just ask anybody. So we go to the "spot" and somebody is already there. I discovered that Brian is picky about where he camps which doesn't surprise me, but is new to me regardless. So we drive a bit more, and a bit more, and a bit more until... 7:00 he brings us here....
And while he sets up camp I hurry and make dinner. The girls gather firewood and we eat, roast
marshmellows, and hang out and all the frantic trip dissipates with the smoke. Life. is. good.
The next morning we woke early and Brian headed down to the water to fish. I hung with the girls and had breakfast and built a fire (on a side note... I'm not much of a fire builder. It never did get very big). Then he retrieved us and we went down to the water with him.
Where the girls fished for roughly 60 seconds as usual.
But looked awfully cute doing it.
and Brian proceeded to catch and release about 20 fish while the girls looked on in what seemed to be a blend of amazement and disgust (particularly as
Ekco repeatedly sang, "fish just wanna have
fu-
un").
Xiana thought it was pretty neat, but she freaked whenever a fish got anywhere near her. At least she comes by it honestly because fish really scare me. Their slimy
flappy bodies writhing in the water..
eww... as usual I digress. It's exciting to watch when he catches fish after fish, but the really interesting part is watching him release them without injuring them.
then
Ekco convinced me to swim in the melted snow.... I'm pretty sure it melted just last week, but we grinned and bared it and it was refreshing if nothing else.
then we walked over to the dam where we find this delightful sight.
then we had some lunch.
Shot some guns (I hit the cup 7 out of ten times...I'm quite proud). And then took advantage of the photo op in this beautiful greenery.
Seriously ridiculous right?
Family photo compliments of Brian's extraordinary ability to take timer shots.
Then we drove around on a scenic and exciting (Straight up and down mountains) drive and headed back to Brian's folk's house. The next day we did the cake and presents thing and
Ekco seemed genuinely happy for her celebration.
and all the kids were thrilled for cake and ice cream... even Harley.
Grandma managed to find a mermaid necklace which is perfect because
Ekco LOVES mermaids. We got her a bunch of stuff and then later a mermaid poster. Again... life. is. good.
Life sure has changed.
My nephew Rowan came over and played for a couple of days and he and Xiana are kindred spirits. They covered themselves in dirt for hours and loved every second of it. I let them run free in the backyard only later finding out that the "dark dirt" is not wet; it's oil. Oops. The next day I opted for more structured play time. Still, they were cute and you should have seen the ring around the tub.
Rowan had to throw in a nose pick just to help illustrate how filthy they were.
Day two.... see, I told you they were much cleaner.
Xiana wanted flip flops like mommy so I bought her some. They lasted all of two seconds before she complained about them hurting her feet. She doesn't like the feeling between her toes. At least I got a pic first. We'll try again later.
We went to play group in our new ward, shortly before we discovered we were attending the wrong ward. Xiana loves play group though. Any one will do.
The next day we revisited our old ward's play group. Soon we might have 3 ward playgroups to attend.
Brian is in a trap shooting league and one night he was telling his fellow gun club-ers about how Xiana had taken a little bite out of every donut in the box. The following week his good friend Al brought this for his little buddy....
I went to get a plate for it so I could cut some and turned around to this.... She put down probably half the donut. Brian's friend is a genuinely nice guy. He is so kind to Xiana and always shows her around and entertains her. It is interesting that she immediately took to him. It didn't take her long to get past her shy hiding and start bossing him around. Kids really do have a sixth sense sometimes.
This is froggie pool take one. This didn't actually work, but much to my surprise, I took it back to Target in a plastic bag and they exchanged it. I have had such horrible experiences trying to return stuff there that I was really surprised. The next one worked much better.
Remember last summer when every post involved fountains, Xiana, and swimsuits? It's baaaccck....
She must be older because the cold really bothers her a lot more now than it has in the past. She gets frigid fast and then bails. We'll see how the rest of the summer goes. I guess it's only just begun.
My dear friend Hillary came to town for her annual visit and I got to spend my yearly park day with her and other friends. It is wonderful to see her and though we grew apart for a long time, I still feel like I know her so well, and her life (thanks primarily to Blog world). Isn't it remarkable how when you've known someone for so long, the details of the decades are less important than your intimate knowledge of who they are and vice versa? We were best friends growing up and though our lives change, the integrity of our characters never changes. Thus, those who knew you as a child, often know you as well or better than your adult friends. It's interesting.. I'm just saying...
It really was great. Thanks Hill!
