More of that Summer Groove

I just do not know what we will do when Summer ends.  SO SAD!  Late nights, sleeping in at the cabin, relaxing way too much.  The only thing I do not think we will miss will be all the layers of sunscreen we put on every single day!  Summer is just too much fun! Why must it be so short? SO SAD!  So, more cabin fun......

 We have gone through several rain storms at the cabin.  It is so fun to watch the water run down the road like a river.  Not fun to hear the HUGE claps of thunder right overhead.  Also funny, all those clothes that you are trying to dry out from lots of lake time?  Yeah, just does not happen very well with monsoon like rains.  Tough life.  Wink, wink.

 Beaver sightings!  As well as deer, bunnies, squirrels, marmot den, blue herons, ospreys, and fish!

 Speaking of fish, one morning the boys spent their time catching baby minnows.  Haley was loving it and they had to keep catching more so that she could see them.  They also caught a few baby craw dads and a couple dragon fly nymphs.  So much fun!  I, as mom, was lucky enough to have the minnows and all other creatures safely returned to their natural habitat of the lake.  I did not want the pressure of trying to raise those fish at home.  No thank you.

Lake time!  With the dock fixed, thank you Rob!!!!!, the kids are loving their time to jump and splash!

The mandatory Summer zoo trip

You know it is going to happen.  Even if you go to the zoo during the school year, everyone needs to have the Summer zoo trip.  The one where you splurge on the train ride (fun time seeing the little zebra run like a baby goat), carousel (had to make sure Haley got the tiger), and maybe, just maybe that souvenir that really is not needed but is fun anyway.  Yeah, we took our trip and it was great!

 We saw the big enormous bugs that were cool to the boys and freaky to Haley.  The only one she would get close to was the ladybug.

 Saw really cool birds at the bird show.  Like, we got the best seats we have ever had and several birds of prey just whooshed right over our heads!  Inches away!  And it was awesome!

 Plus when they brought out the eagles and the flag Caleb mentioned that he was an Eagle.  He is so proud, and darn right he should be.  So, we took a quick photo moment to remember his terrific accomplishment!

Last but not least, we saw the tigers!  Oh yeah, Haley's tigers. And she was happy.

Birthday celebrations at the lake

In all of Caleb's awesome 14 years of life, he has only been home to celebrate his birthday one year.  The one year was when we were evacuated from the cabin because of a wildfire.  We hate fire season.  Other than that year, every year he has been at Scofield, dipping his toes, or all of him in the lake.  Watching fireworks from the island.  Playing in the water and having as much fun as possible.  That is how you do a birthday!  

 Caleb started early by getting a ride behind a neighbor's boat.  Fun ride and awesome way to start things off.

 The day before we headed to Manti so Caleb could go to the temple.  He is such a good, faithful boy.

 Shakes and fries for our Temple Treat.  I am not sure they will ever sway from Oreo shakes.

 Pretty scenery on the drive back called for a photo.  Shortly after this photo a bee somehow got in the open window of the truck as we were driving through the canyon and freakishly stung Caleb in the back!  How rude!  But Caleb was fine after awhile and no harm done, except to the bee.

 Birthday time!  We started off the day with a birthday breakfast.  Then we headed out on the lake for fun.  The boys all took their kayaks out to the island and explored a bit.  While they were there, Haley and I chilled on the water and she was delighted to soak me with her water squirter.

 14 and loving it!  He had so much fun playing at the lake!

 After dinner, of country fried steak of course, we went on a hike together.  We loved the views, we did not so much love all the mosquitos and flies that were swarming all around us.

After returning to the truck we were so excited to see 4 fawns!!!  Love baby animals and we get so excited to see the fawns.  This little mama and her twins were kind enough to pose for a perfect deer family photo!  Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Before ending the night we shot off Alka-seltzer rockets!  

I love my first born!  He is such an awesome kid!  He has his quirks, as we all do.  He can become majorly distracted which can be to his downfall.  He can have attitude sometimes.  He can put things off.  However, he is also so awesome!  He is faithful to Father in Heaven and worthy to hold the priesthood and call the Holy Ghost his companion.  He is a terrific friend and tries to be kind to everyone.  He is such a wonderful brother!  He loves each of his siblings so much and just has fun with them.  He may be 14, but he is still such a kid at heart who enjoys the simple side of life and has not lost his imagination for play or creating things.  He is intelligent!  He can be a great helper and worker.  He still loves to read and play soccer, they are just part of him.  He also continues to be a wonderful peacemaker in our home.  He has also started to learn how to change his temper or attitude and make it better, he is becoming a better person each day.  We love him and are so glad that he is ours, forever!

Rescue Mission 2017 - AKA, The Dock's Resurrection!

In the beginning, there were 2 docks.  Water levels were high and everyone was excited.  One day, a very windy day, Mother Nature decided to play mean.  The docks were thrown around and turned on their side, and thus began the Rescue Mission of 2017.  Thank Heavens for good knot tying, STRONG neighbors/cabin friends and smart ideas - the docks have been rescued and cheering could be heard!

 The beginning, it was so very sad to see our dock like this upon arriving one day!

 The water started to go down and that meant we could try to work on the dock.  Our neighbors tried to pull their dock out, only to get it really close to ours and realize they needed more help.  We also realized that some of the metal on one gang-plank had been torn.  This resulted in a lot of smaller boards falling out.  Thankfully, they did not float off but they sank close by the "death site" of the dock.  The boys and I spent some hours finding all the boards and getting them out of the water.  We also spent some time finding the missing poles to the dock.  Caleb used his awesome scout knot tying skills and we tried to pull a pole out on our own.  Again, we realized we needed more help and muscle.

 Introduce the muscle ~ our neighbors are strong and great people.  We all spent a good portion of July 4th weekend raising the docks from the dead.  We got Jessie's dock out with muscle, knots and Jessie's truck.  Then came our dock, which was harder because our dock is bigger, longer and heavier.

 Lots more muscle, some good ideas, several sunburns and Jessie's truck again......

and our dock was up and partially functioning again!!!!  YEAH!!!!!  So thankful to the McCallisters! So thankful for Rob and not giving up, but also being willing to fix the dock, again this year.  Also thankful for my cute kids who looked for the boards and poles, who took sticks and placed them in the submerged poles so that other boaters would not crash into them and who waited patiently for their dock to be rescued so that they could once again jump off of it and use it for reading and lounging and playing.  And so, so happy that our dock is rescued!  Now on to fixing it and making sure Mother Nature parties nice from now on. 

Cabin Time - our favorite time!!!!

I have always said, the cabin is the BEST place in the summer.  The temps are great, and even if it does get hot - go jump in the lake, that will help you feel better.  The view is 100% better than anything you can get in the city.  It is the best!

 Now that Haley has her own kayak, they can all play around - together or separate.  Haley does really well with paddling too.

 Peter has had a lot of fun with the bugs this year.  He especially did well one week and caught several butterflies for the others to hold.

 Going across the lake for the first time this year!  Like I said, Haley does so well with her kayak.  She did not even need a rest stop along the way, she kept right up.  Or maybe the boys slowed down a bit for her. :)

 Cabin friends!  They make the days a little more fun!

Especially when the cabin friends are girls, and they have a bunny, and they let you hang out with them all day long!  Haley and William were able to go on several boat rides, which included tubing, the e-z-ski, trying to surf or just going to the scout cove and jumping in the water and swimming.  

And let me say, we have been soaking up our time at the cabin.  Probably way more sun than we need, lots of bug spray and sunscreen and way too much time in a life jacket.  But also lots of smiles and time to relax and be together.  Cabin time is the best!!!