Bryce Canyon

Dan decided last year sometime that he wanted to take the family to Bryce Canyon this summer when his dad would be there for his annual Star Party.  He booked the room at Ruby's Inn and posted the trip details on his family website just in case anyone else wanted to meet up.  One by one, each sibling responded saying they'd booked their room too and they'd be there.

Dan and I could hardly believe it, but were happy we'd get to see everyone.  I even bragged about the ease of planning this mini family reunion to my family since we have tried for the past 4 years to work out something similar with no success.

"It was so easy!"  I said.

"We just picked a place and a time!" I said.

"Everyone arranged and paid for their own rooms!" I said.

"Surely this could work for the Abbott's too!" I said.

But about a month before the trip, one by one, each sibling announced they weren't coming after all. By the end, it was down to Grandpa Don, us, and Dan's sister, Rachel's family.  And even though we were fewer in number than originally planned, we still had a really great time.  And I learned that bragging, for any reason, is never a good idea.

We haven't done any camping this season because as a pregnant lady I can't sleep at home in my bed, let alone on the ground in a sleeping bag.  And Finn, isn't pregnant but he isn't really a camping candidate either.  As it got closer though, we thought it might be fun to reserve a campsite, have a place to gather and hangout and have a campfire, and if he was so inclined, Dan could sleep in the tent with the big kids while I took Finn back to the hotel we'd already reserved.

So that's what we did.  The first night we all stayed in the hotel, where the kids were very excited to be after 9 hours in the car.

I took my chances not bringing a pack n play, hoping there would be one available at the hotel.  Unfortunately, a huge family reunion checked in right before us and took them all.  So that first night was a little sketchy as I had Finn on the floor between the wall, the bed, and two night stands.

Luckily the next day we got a crib. And our sleeping went much smoother.

We had talked about Bryce Canyon with the kids for so long, and our first views did not disappoint.  Dan has been there countless times, I'd been there twice, but for the kids it was their first time and it was loaded with anticipation.

The view is awe-some.

 Like, it inspires awe.

 It's full of awe, but not awful.

We'd also long talked about the Navajo Loop hike and the kids were excited and ready.

This is the one of the few pictures I got of Luke.  From here on out he walked far ahead with Grandpa Don, only letting us catch up a couple of times.

In my opinion we all did great, young, old, and pregnant alike.  My knee held up nearly the whole time and at least wasn't irritated enough to bother me the next day.

About half way through I realized that Max had his shorts on backwards and his shoes on the wrong feet.  It didn't seem to impact his hiking ability though, he was a trooper.

And these are some happy faces after a trail well hiked.

It was really fun to have the campsite.  The only thing was, the area was so dry that our site was almost entirely dirt.  Which didn't appear to be an issue until the kids showed up.  And with all those little feet and hands, unable to resist the urge to kick and dig, it wasn't long before we were all, along with every inch of our chairs, coolers, and tables covered in a thin layer of dirt.

And yes, I know I have abnormally long toes, but this picture is for dirt illustration purposes only.  

We weren't about to let a little (a lot) of dirt stop us from enjoying our dinner and the fire.

For better or for worse, I'm not one to keep my kids squeaky clean.  My standards are on the lower end.  But even though we were camping, when it got time for bed, not even I could mentally handle the thought of the kids sleeping in this condition.  We drove them back to the hotel, put them all into the tub, where the water turned brown and I was positive the drain was going to clog.  They got dressed in their pajamas.  We said our goodnights.  Finn and I stayed and Dan drove the bigs back to the site and carried them one by one directly to their sleeping bags.

Ava felt sick in the night and everybody was cold.  You'll have to ask Dan why he didn't want to get the sweatshirts and extra blankets I'd packed in the van for them.


The next morning was Luke's 7th birthday and even though we planned to celebrate later, we let him blow a candle out of an apple fritter that morning.

On Day 2 we went on another smaller hike to Mossy Cave.  This one was also successful though it did have a little more whining than the previous one, probably due to the less than ideal sleep.  But Dan and I were proud of the kids, especially Ava, for their adventerous attitude.  We had to walk on a log to cross this little river to make it to the waterfall.  It wasn't the easiest thing for little legs, for pregnant people, or for parents with baby backpacks on, which pretty much applied to all of us.  But Ava even did it by herself.

And then to get all the way up to the waterfall, you had to climb up a fairly steep ravine covered in loose dirt and rocks, which made it very difficult to get your footing.  I thought they'd give up as I saw the fear on their faces as the kept slipping, but both Ava and Luke made it to the waterfall.

 The stream was a great place to wade because it was cool but not too cold and not too deep or fast moving.

 It was really fun to be able to spend time together with Rachel, Nate, Charlie, and John. We all went out for ice cream later that afternoon, after nap time.

Even though the boys would have camped again in a heartbeat, it was decided that it might be wiser for everyone to spend the last night in the hotel so that we could pack up the tent that evening, in preparation for a timely departure in the morning.

  And as we've been home and talked about our favorite hikes of the summer, Bryce Canyon is everyone's favorite.

Summer So Far

I had major blogging ambitions for this past week while Dan was out of town.  With nobody here to do important things with, like watch The Bachelorette or Food Network Star after the kids were in bed, I figured I might be able to put in a little Q.T. with Big Deal Colton.  Speaking of, this blog's name is totally outdated.  I'll probably never change the URL but as for the header, Max is no longer little and according to the title, Finn doesn't even exist. Not to mention the next little baby nugget on the horizon, who's name ideas are as non-existent as this blog's. I have officially used up all of my boys names on the last three and I am so empty headed right now, I'm really leaning towards Max's vote--Donut.

It's weird to think about all that has changed since I started writing here.  It's been seven years and I've written over 500 posts.  I've had nearly 3 more children.  I've gone from a desperate young mother who felt overwhelmed with the insecurities of inexperience to a desperate older mother who is still in over her head, though slightly more experienced. And maybe that experience serves only to remind me of the magnitude of what I still don't know. Over the years I have learned there is no need to start feeling like I know what I'm doing, because while I may have a good handle on teething remedies and potty training, it will always be my children's job to keep me humble, and the prepubescent tendencies of  9 year old females seem to be my next brand of  resume building/booty kicking.

9 is the new 13 I hear.  Or I might have made that up. In any case, back at the end of May, Ava turned 9.

The boys gave her their homemade cards as soon as she woke up,

And a bunch of girls came over for a pajama wearing, pizza eating, movie watching night.

We were all so excited that the party was a success.  It's hard when you move, you hope and pray your kids can find friends, and she has.

And then a week later, my sweet baby man, turned 35.  (And I left him the same day for England! Sorry, Dan!)

 It's been so long now, that the details of his birthday are getting a little fuzzy. But he did have his traditional cinnamon chocolate chip cake,

And we went on the El Dorado hike, per his planning and request and tried out his new baby backpack.

June 8 was a Sunday and I posted the following picture on Instagram.  I've copied it over here because the day was significant to me.

"I haven't seen Entenmann's chocolate donuts in a very long time, maybe it was because I didn't want to, but on my late night grocery run last night, I did. And I bought them on a whim. 23 years ago my brother was in a terrible accident. He died from his injuries a week later. These chocolate donuts were his favorite. And I haven't eaten one since. This morning I realized it was the actual anniversary of his accident. Our family sat around the table today, ate these donuts, and talked about Aaron. I wasn't sure I ever would enjoy them again, but that donut tasted delicious.#familiesareforever"

The rest of these summer days have also been significant to me but not for the same reasons.  Mostly because they are passing so quickly and I'm reminded of the collection of summer days that live in my memory.  Summer is a lot of childhood.

Luke went to basketball camp and had a blast.  He learned a lot too.  Since then he's spent a fair amount of time on the back patio dribbling.  He wants you to know that his dribbling record, without stopping is 498.  

And if he liked basketball camp, he LOVED soccer camp.  He learned more in that one week than he learned his entire last season.  He could not decide whether his favorite part was the complimentary snack and Gatorade or the actual soccer playing.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got.

But now he kicks the ball around the house constantly.  We've got him signed up for a league here that starts at the end of August and we'll see how that goes.  

We've taken a lot of trips which will hopefully be receiving their due attention shortly.  But in the meantime, it's been a lot of doing whatever we feel like.

I have to admit, that as this pregnancy progresses, my idea of a successful day has become one in which we do not leave the house.

Ava sewed the owl from a birthday present from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Don.

She's gotten to be a fine little hand sewer. Next up is the machine, methinks.

We froze water balloons on a whim and they turned out pretty cool.

At the beginning of the summer, we all set a personal goal we wanted to accomplish by the end.  Luke picked learning to tie a shoe.

And in the first three days, his goal was met.  Come to think of it though, I'm not sure he's tied one since.  I wonder if he can still do it?

We got the overgrown, built in garden bed cleared out from the side yard.  Had a pebble circle laid and our trampoline set up on top of it.  Dan was as happy as any of the kids to have his toy back.

In fact, for Father's Day his only wish was for this jungle gym he'd seen on the internet.  The kids thought Father's Day was their day!

We have been loving the soft grass here.  After 9 years of Texas grass, it's been a long time since I've actually wanted to lay down in my yard.

This right here is a big deal.  I paid Ava $7 to do the same thing (hang upside down without holding on) at a park, the last time we were in Utah.  It's was my incentive to face some of her fears.

But this one didn't cost me a dime!

We have been putting in the time with math practice (Ava) and reading practice (Luke).

This happened.  #poopprints

Another one of our summer deals has been the goal of walking, running, or scootering 45 miles as a family over the course of the summer.  And I admit that my knee problems set us back a bit and we've extended our timeline to until the baby gets here.

But we still have taken quite a lot of scooter walks on the path behind our house.

We've sat around in our underwear,

Worked on mastering our utensil skills, 

And eaten lots and lots of popsicles.