Life is BETTER at the Lake

I am not quite sure what it is about this place.  Do not get me wrong.  We have plenty of ugly mom moments, grouchy kid times and such.  It is not totally perfect up at Scofield.  But there is no where else my kids and I would rather be.  Beauty all around.  Go outdoors anytime you want and explore or come up with your own game or go for a walk or get wet.  Time to relax and talk and stay up way too late then sleep in past eight.  Not to mention all the wildlife we see and the cooler temperatures.  It is the best place to spend the summer.

Some of the wildlife we saw:

 On our weekly adventure drive we found a total of 39 deer (10 fawns), 9 elk (2 babies) and 3 foxes!!!!  Pictured above a few of the sweet fawns and the mother deer.

 Our 9 elk with the babies.

It is hard to see in this picture but there is one of the three foxes that we found.  It is so exciting for all of us to go find these animals and enjoy watching them together.

 

Caleb spotted a beaver swimming in the lake one night.

  

William named this little chipmunk Lucky because it found some Lucky Charms out in the road and was having a feast.

One morning while going fishing we got a glimpse of a blue heron.

Some of the fun we had together:

 We collected rocks along the shore and made a fun maze.

A pretty morning spent fishing.

 

Playing in the water!

More fun in the water together.

  Spending some silly time together down at the lake while eating dinner.  I hope amidst all the work and effort and at times grumpiness we are making some good memories of being together in  a beautiful place.  There is no other place we would rather be.

Celebrating and Playing!!!

This is what Summer is.  Hot days spent at the lake.  Fishing, exploring, playing, watching for animals, staying up late, having fun, reading and relaxing.  Oh, and one really awesome kid has his birthday right in the middle of it all.  Perfect.

 We went fishing and Caleb had the luck.  Four fish and he loved it.

 We went for a  hike, which would have been longer but one of the little kids got tired and cranky. Humph!  But along the way we played pooh-sticks, heard an elk call (cool!) and found a lot of rail road spikes.  Good times.

 This awesome kid is the one who planned to have the birthday right during all the festivities and he could not have been wiser.  Every year he gets fireworks and the climbing wall and parades and great food and fun times at the lake and happy days.  It is AWESOME!

 Uncle Steve came to the cabin with us this year and we were so happy to have him along.  He brought water balloons and one hot afternoon the boys went to town.  

 Out on a boat ride.

 Caleb's last moments of 10 were spent on the tube, going faster than he ever has and loving it!  Then that night they went out on the boat to watch the fireworks from the water.  Such a great way to celebrate!

ELEVEN!!!  Can it really be?  Yes, and I cannot say enough good things about this boy.  He is growing into such a terrific person.  It is true, he has his moments, we all do in life.  But overall, I am so impressed and happy with the quality and character of this boy.  He is very helpful, tender-hearted, full of faith and really strives to follow the Spirit.  He tries hard to be a peacemaker (which is great with younger siblings).  He can be a hard-worker when in the right mood.  He is so smart and has great ideas.  He now enjoys trying new things to eat.  He is very creative.  He loves coming up with ways to make us all happy.  He really does want to do his best.  We love him so very much.  Caleb is a kid worth celebrating!

Peter-Parker Day

Last year Peter and his best friend from the cabin started something new, Peter-Parker day (July 5th). Last year they were inseparable, they went on walks together, ate together, went swimming together. This year was no different.  I did not get many photos of them together because they were always somewhere else.  Playing with plants, or doing bead lizards, or creating clubs.  I knew Peter was ok, we just did not see him most of the week.  The few photos I got are as follows.

As happened last year, Otter-Pop Brewing.  Parker has a separate cabin that became club headquarters.  In that cabin they have a stash of otter pops.  These crazy kids found them again this year, opened up a bunch of random flavors and mixed them up.  It makes for some wild kids.

 Last year they painted sun-catchers as an activity.  This year I brought up wooden bird houses for all 7 kids to paint (Peter and Parker, plus Parker's two sisters and Peter's siblings ((whom he does not claim when Parker is around))).  The only trick with the bird houses was that they had to paint them for someone else.  So, Peter painted one for Parker and she painted one for him.  It was fun and they all turned out cute.  There are also a few paint splotches on the road and quite a few innocent ants who were marked for life.

These kids are best buddies.  I sure am glad that they have such fun together.