Yuba...

Our first trip to Yuba. It was awesome being to park the motor home right on the beach. Scott anchored the boat right in front of our campsite. Unfortunately, it took him over an hour to get the anchor secured and the water wasn't that warm. Glad he didn't end up with hypothermia!

Eli digging a hole to China.

The mighty warriors kayaking out to fish to bring back
to feed the tribe.

Asher had some success on the wakeboard.
Hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon!
Those hard landings are no fun.

Asher takes his responsibility of driving
the boat very seriously.

Boys Summer Book Club...

Our very ingenious neighborhood had the idea of creating a Neighborhood Boys Book Club for the summer months. There was a new book to be read every three weeks and then a party was hosted at one of the houses at the end of reading each book. Oakley and Eli chose the book, "The Templeton Twins," for our book. For the party, we rented a giant inflatable waterslide to play on. Half of the group was on the waterslide and the other half was with Jana Nelson, who was helping with the party. She would ask them questions about the book and if they could answer the question correctly, they earned a water balloon. For the grand finale, we had a water balloon fight with all the balloons they earned answering questions.

 

The boys said they would definitely want to participate next summer. Two thumbs up for such a great way to spend some of those long summer days.

Ragnar...

 Tiffany asked me if I wanted to be on their Ragnar time June, 2012. At the time, it seemed like a good goal and would help me keep my running up. As June, 2013 approached, I began to dread it. I wondered why I ever signed up and was pretty sure I would die on the trail. Since I'm here writing now, I am alive to tell the tale. If I'd known then how much fun we were going to have, I could have saved myself a lot of anxiety. There were 6 people in our car and the only person I knew was Tiffany. But the rest of the team were all really fun and after over 24 hours straight in a car together, it's a good thing.

The card Scott and the boys made for me.

Some people chose to wear some interesting
costumes on the race. I cannot imagine running
in such a get-up...

We decorated the car a bit,
"Girl's Night Out
Run All Night,
Sleep All Day"

We'd sleep any chance we got, on school
lawns, in the car, anywhere!

After we'd all run 3 legs 24 hours later, we crossed the finish
line with the rest of the team.

I will absolutely run Ragnar again if given the opportunity. When Tiffany was checking our team in and another guy heard our team name was Girl's Night Out, he said, "You think this is a girl's night out?!?! You have issues!" Who would have thought running a relay through the night with a car full of sweaty people could be so much fun?

Anything for Sleep...

This is the note Scott taped to our bedroom door in hopes of not being woken up by kids at 6:30 in the morning. It's summer! Please! Can we ever sleep in?!?! He mentioned we needed extra sleep because we were going to be up late at the BNL concert that night. Did the note work? Sort of, there were at least three times we were woken up by tattle-tellers.

Saddle Sore...

Although the boys were really excited about horseback riding, I was hoping to wake up on the day of our scheduled trip with some kind of sickness requiring me to stay in bed. I woke up fit as a fiddle, so it was off to Blue Sky Ranch near Park City. I get myself all freaked out when I'm riding a horse, which they sense and then take off and do whatever they want. The guide promised the most gentle and easy-going horse. I hoped the horse wouldn't take on a sudden personality change.

The boys were all fearless.

I got to ride right behind Eli on the trail.

"Please let me live!" was racing through my
mind most of the ride. 

It was a beautiful day and the scenery amazing. Once I calmed down a bit, I did enjoy the ride. Especially seeing the boys loving it so much.

After the ride, we took the long, scenic way home through the Uintahs. It was the perfect time of year, everything was green and lush since the real heat of summer hadn't hit.

Asher had seen Scott cross the stream without getting his feet
wet, so he tried it for himself.

On the way home, we drove through the town of Oakley.
Someone was quite thrilled.

Tana and Maxx...

Asher and I love it when our best friends can come up for a visit from Toquerville! Tana and Maxx were able to stay with us for a few days and we had some fun activities.

Hiking to Timpanogos Cave

Living Planet Aquarium

The Stage Is Good....

Asher and I were at a local frozen yogurt shop the other day and were sitting next to a couple of high school girls in the next booth.  Their conversation was centered on a girl they knew and were somewhat friends with.  They were discussing how mean the girls friends were to her because she was "fat."  They talked about how the girl wouldn't go to any activities like swimming or boating or sitting in a hot tub because she wouldn't be seen in a swimming suit.  They said how unhappy and miserable she was and that they should try and be friends with her because they didn't care if she was a size 0 and that even if she was a size 4, they could still be friends.  SIZE 4?!?!  Her "friends" were telling her she was fat because she was a size 4!?!?!  I was dying inside...

Then I had a new appreciation for my stage of life.  Please don't ever make me re-live high school again.  I thought it was tough for me then, I can't imagine what it's like now.  I'm grateful to have sons and not have to deal with all the body-image issues that girls do today.  I'm so happy being the overweight housewife who puts on a swimming suit no matter whose around because I just really don't care what anyone thinks anymore.

Oh, the joy to be the overweight housewife with a house full of boys.  My life is just perfect....

Protection From Cartoon Characters...

There is a popular cartoon character named Diego that the boys used to like watching when they were younger.

They have recently decided that they are too old for Diego and like to make fun of him and say he is for babies to watch.  Scott likes to tease them and tell them that Diego comes with him on his overnights for work and hangs out with him at his hotel.  Scott makes up big elaborate stories about all the things that he and Diego do, which gets the boys all riled up and it leads to a lot of bantering between them.  One night Asher got all mad at Scott and was telling him he hated Diego and that he didn't believe he was real.  Scott told him he would find out just how real he was because Diego was going to come and beat him up that night. (How quickly a parent drops to the maturing level of their children...)

That night, when Scott was checking on the boys before we went to sleep, he noticed that Asher had a knife next to his pillow.  Our guess is he took it to bed to defend himself against the all-powerful cartoon character Diego.

Scott felt bad he had upset Asher that much that he felt like he needed to take a weapon to bed with him.  He had to come clean and the boys now know Dad does not have Diego to hang out with on his overnights.

Generosity...

Today when Scott picked Asher up for kindergarten he told him, "I know you're kinda mean, but you still get a Father's Day present I made for you."

Third and Final...

My third and final trip in my Turning Forty Celebration was out to see Ellen in Virginia. We didn't stay at her house long, she was ready for a get-away. I don't envy the stress of her senate job. She had heard about his darling little town in New Jersey called Cape May. We were both delighted at how unbelievably wonderful it was. The town was all Victorian homes that were immaculate maintained and right next to the beach.

I saw this billboard on our drive and had to send a picture
of it to Scott because it made me laugh. 

This is the gorgeous bed and breakfast we stayed in.

The B&B even provided bikes for us to ride around town on.

The beach was gorgeous and the weather couldn't have been better.

Meanwhile, Scott kept me posted on what was going on at home. Asher celebrated Friendly, his stuffed dogs, first birthday. Asher baked cupcakes and the family sang Happy Birthday to Friendly.

We had bought a new dog bed for Harley, which Harley wouldn't go anywhere near. He would make a wide berth even when he walked by it, the weird dog. Unfortunately, we threw away his old bed before we realized there was no way he was going to sleep on the new bed. Well, Harley may not have liked it, but Asher loved it! He got some blankets and pillows and slept on it himself. At least Asher and his stuffed dogs like it. Like we've said several times, we think Asher is part dog. This serves as another  confirmation.