Get wet, stay up late and play as hard as you can!

Well, there is no more denying it, school starts tomorrow!  Sob, sob. With heavy hearts we said goodbye to the cabin on Saturday night.  Later than we expected because well, the boys were playing in the lake - one last time.  

 The kids had a bunch of fun making their own bouncy balls with this kit I bought.  They were pretty cool.

 They loved playing with the punch balloons.

• We grew some pretty cool crystal trees.
• We also tried this exploding baggie thing, did not work out so much like the computer said.  But we got a pretty good laugh when it looked like it would blow, and all we got was a small *pop*.  Kind of like our excitement to get up for school tomorrow. 
• We spent A LOT of time getting wet.  I think the only people to not run out of clothes were Haley and I (Diedre).  
• We saw our favorite birds this week at the cabin: blue herons, pelicans, and 3 osprey.
• We saw mama deer with their fawns running across the beach.  Love seeing them in nature!
• We went star gazing. (Can you tell the camera's battery died and thus no photos?)
• And finally my most proud mom moments of the final weekend of Summer:
• Caleb getting up on the water skis and knee board!!!!!!  Such fun to watch.
• Caleb learning to drive the boat.
• Caleb pulling of his lesson for Deacon's quorum on dating.  He did a good job of preparing it the morning of. 
• Peter is pretty good at the backstroke for swimming.
• William  can be a really great brother for Haley (playing with her, drawing pictures for her.....)
• William is getting better and better at swimming.
• Haley is becoming more brave in the water and getting used to swimming.
• Finally, introducing my kids to who Shaun White is and getting them excited to watch snowboarding!

Oh Summer, why must you end?  We loved every minute of cabin time and being together.  Making up games, reading books just because we wanted to, sleeping in (Caleb and Haley especially), taking time to relax and have fun.  

Fun is where you find it

Summer is AWESOME!  We found some fun things to do the last couple of days.  Got to take advantage of it before school starts.

 We found it fun to watch the polar bear swim around at the zoo.

Caleb found it extremely fun to finally get up on the water skis at the lake!  Go, Caleb!

 We found some fun going to Donut Falls and being together.

 Peter, the king of the silly face, found some fun all on his own.

 We all found it really fun to watch the otters play and eat.  Otters are one of William's favorites!

 The poison dart frogs are so small.  They are one of Caleb's favorites.

We did not find it fun to have our truck battery die in the parking lot of the aquarium!  But thankfully Pa came to help us, take us home and while we waited for him to check out the battery (2 LONG hours of waiting) the kids were very patient.

We all had a lot of fun in our water war!  Everyone got wet, had fun and the three boys wanted to try the ice bucket challenge.  Water wars make it hard to take photos, but this one is pretty good.

Why must summer end?

Man, Summer is too awesome to just have it end!  Why must school start so soon?!?!  It is not cool.  We ran away to the cabin.  As soon as soccer was done Thursday night, we headed for the lake.  It was terrific!  We all loved it.  And you will have to suffer with these horrible phone photos, because the camera was left behind at home.
We have been watching some of the Olympics, and getting really excited to see USA win and cheering them on.  The boys and Haley decided to stage their own Cabin Olympics.  There were events for the kayak and swimming and jumping/diving.  It was super fun for them to get into it.  They made medals for the winning contestants (of course we made sure each kid got something).

 Haley got in on the action of kayaking.  She did pretty well out there rowing.

Even learning to steer herself around out there.

 And just using the power of her feet. Such a cute girl.

 Gold medal went to Caleb for the best jumping pose.

Silver went to William.

 

 The medals ceremony was held in the bathroom.  Something about Peter had a game going on in the front room and there was not enough space to set up the seating and podiums.....so we had it in the bathroom.  All the more memorable I say.

 After the medals ceremony we even capped off the night by having our own Olympic torch relay.  Each kid took a turn running the "torch" (our flashlight) up and down the road.

 Haley loved it and wanted to do it again and again.

 Such awesome times!!!!!!  But now, the school district is going to ruin it all and make us start to think about homework and schedules, instead of watching the deer and star-gazing at 10:30pm!  HOW RUDE!  So, in open rebellion; we are going to the lake one more time.  And celebrating Wacky Week!!!!  The lineup is as follows:
Monday; silly rules, backwards hour, eat under the table, sweets for breakfast
Tuesday; crazy hair day, crazy cookie creations, crazy pictures
Wednesday; Wacky Wonky Dinner
Thursday; Water War Day
Friday; EXPODE! (posits, poppers, alka-seltzer rockets, crystal garden, make rubber balls)
Saturday; Easter in August
It Will Be Fun, and I will try to enjoy every moment with these awesome kids!

I wish we were at the lake

If it were not for soccer, we would be there.  So Much More Fun!  Last week the whole family got to go, yeah; even Rob.  It was very fun.

 Deer came down to the beach several times and we just chilled on the dock watching them.

 Miracle of miracles, we put the boat in and used it!  The boys had fun tubing and jumping in the water.

 Haley liked cruising around on the boat and feeling the wind in her hair.

 William even got on the tube and had fun.

 Caleb tried the water skis and knee board.  He almost, so stinking close, got up on the skis.  But then he got tired or something and it will wait till another time.

And, I have titled it the "miracle of the cabin", they use their imaginations in the best of ways to come up with games to be together and have fun.  This is a picture of a bead game Haley and William played for a good hour.  Something about, building barns, ponds, pig pens and earning points to get the animals and food and more stuff.  They wake up first thing in the morning and generally come up with some game for all of them to be involved with.  Time at the lake is always an option.  They are just good siblings up there, for the most part.  Yes, there is contention.  Yes, they still get bored.  But I will always believe, this is the best place ever for them in the summer!

KEEPER!

So, a few weeks ago Caleb had is Utah Glory soccer tournament.  We were excited.  The new gloves were washed, the jerseys were in, spirits were high.

 

This is the team, before our first game.  These boys are pretty cool kids.  And Caleb's defense, they are strong and tough.

 After game one, he felt like a million bucks.  The score ended 0-0, the whole team was bummed that we did not win.  But Caleb got a win, he got a shut out!!!  That is awesome!  He made some good saves.  But it was our easiest game of the tournament.  Shots taken on Caleb, 16.  With 11 saves and 0 misses.  YEAH!!!!

 

The rest of the tournament, so FREAKING different and hard!  I share this photo only because I love how everyone on his team was watching him, hoping beyond hope that he would catch the ball.  He did it, at the time and so many others.  But really, those last two teams were fast and fierce.  Caleb and his defense were good, they tried so hard.  But Game 2 ended 1-7.  Our team took a total of 3 shots on goal.  We scored 1/3 of the shots we took :(  Caleb (and his defense) took 27 shots on goal, with 22 saves by Caleb but 7 misses.  And Game 3 our team took 4 shots on goal.  Yeah, you read that right.  But Caleb took 17 shots on goal, with 9 saves and 5 misses.  He tried so hard!  My favorite save was in the second period of Game 3.  Such a hot game, our boys looked tired and they were beaten.  But I told Caleb, give it all you have.  Fast kid was moving at Caleb, aiming at the goal.  Caleb took off and charged the kid, slid on the ground and fell on that ball.  Preventing the goal!!!!!  The other kids dad was cheering for him, and I was cheering just as loud for Caleb.  Good moments.

 One more proof, he is a KEEPER!