Pre-Trek

Well, Travis and I are leaving in a few hours on a five day Pioneer Trek with all the youth in our ward and stake. We have never been away from the kiddos this long and our hearts ache at the thought of leaving them, but we are excited for the experience. Bless her heart Grandma Jo will be here soon to take care of everyone while we are away.

We wanted to take the kids out for some fun before we left and so we went to Lakeview Pool. Justin thought we were in heaven. It is the perfect place for all our kids. The girls can touch everywhere and there is a big sprinkler type playground for the little ones. Jake required the attention of the lifeguards 3 times! Twice for falling, and once for thinking he couldn't touch when he totally could! Oh Jake....

It wouldn't be a family outing without Amber/Ambo (as Meg says)

Jake was so tired from the day that he walked in the house and immediately crashed on the chair.

We have started the tradition of a family four wheel ride on Sundays. Apparently, Justin and Megan weren't up for it today :)

Saturday

On Saturday we decided to have the Garretts over to share some steak with us. After eating the kids decided to run through the sprinklers fully dressed. Keiser even got a turn, and at six months old he didn't even flinch!

Travis kissed Keiser's cheeks raw (they are soooo hard to resist)

Justin was not very interested in eating with us. He was very focused on the dirt. He was taking it by the fist full and throwing it on himself. Despite the look on his face here, he had a great time.

Justin and Megan LOOOOOVE to ride the four wheeler with their Dad. Trial and error has taught us Justin need to be in front of Meg. She likes to hold on to him and he does not like her hair blowing in her face. It annoys him enough that he tries to throw her off!

These two were thrilled to have matching pajamas.

We needed to set up the tent to make sure it will work for our trek. There were five little campers happy to give it a test run for us.

There was only one camper who made it through the entire night and it was.........

JAKE!!

...

The Great Escape

After multiple failed attempts to take a mini-vacation just the two of us, Travis and I went on a slightly last minute trip to McCall and Cascade. It was exactly what we needed. We left on a Thursday afternoon and went the long way up the mountain to McCall where we ate and drove around. Then we went to Cascade where we stayed at the Ashley Inn. We walked around Cascade and had forgotten bug spray. Oops! We purchased some at a gas station and I couldn't bring myself to look at the price. There were movies at the hotel, but as usual my idea of a good movie and Trav's idea of a good movie are completely different. He just kept mumbling, "I don't see how you call this entertainment...". On Friday we got up at our usual hour and went on a beautiful walking path. We leave in one week with our stake to do the Pioneer Trek in Wyoming. We have been doing a lot of walking so we will be prepared. The bugs were thick on this walk too, but this time we were prepared. After our walk and some good breakfast we headed back for Boise where we went to Roaring Springs--just the two of us! We felt guilty the entire time and are planning to take the kids very soon. It was a blast.

This is how our trip began....

Our walk:

Travis checking the markets as they opened (seriously)



The bugs were THIS thick:










There are plenty of people out there who take there own picture and succeed. We are clearly not included in the successful group

Our room and yes, he is checking the markets again :)

We Love Walmart

Justin still doesn't say much, but he doesn't need many words for his big personality to shine through. He fell in love with this hat at Walmart. Every time I tried to take it off he would cry. This morning he had Amber put a bib on him and he had it on backwards like a cape until his nap--even then he wasn't thrilled for me to take it off.

Annie and Emma's Swimming Lessons

Annie and Emma did very well in swimming lessons this session. They are really progressing. It is amazing how they can fight like they do at home, but when they are in lessons together they are like a couple of good friends offering encouragement and enjoying each other's successes.

Annie is very graceful in the water and cautious. Emma is determined and tries to do exactly what they teacher tells her. Both girls really enjoyed watching Jake's lesson after theirs and I think we spent more at the snack bar than we did on lessons!

Here are both girl's jumping in and swimming on their front then switching to their backs. Emma is the first video, Annie the second.

Jake's Swimming Lessons

Jake has reached the perfect age to start swimming lessons. He was thrilled, so thrilled in fact that he REALLY struggled to listen and follow instruction from his teacher. Every day was a new adventure. To his credit, he never repeated past bad behaviors after we talked about them (i.e. spitting pool water on his classmates, giving all the moms a nice splash, heading from the kiddie pool to the big pool unsupervised...)

Today as it was my turn to meet with the teacher and discuss the progress all our children have made, she looked at me at said, "Let's see we have Annie and Emma and.....Jake. Are you sure he belongs to you? How can two mild manner sisters have...well, on the first day I thought he was hard of hearing." I explained that although his ears work fine, he really does not hear when he is focused on doing a task--good, bad, or otherwise. Needless to say, Jake spent his fair share of time in time out, and "turning on his listening ears".

Looking for Jake in the videos of his class? He is the BROWN one

Watch as they finish motor boat, and as the teacher tells them to gather back in a circle he heads entirely the wrong direction! He never did master that concept.

Go Bye Bye

Justin is a man of few words. Well, he talks quite a bit, but says little that is recognizable. His chatter is the best and I am truly going to miss it when he forms those German/Chinese babbles into English words. One thing he says very clearly is "go bye bye". Sometimes this phrase comes in the form of a stern statement as in, "I am going with you". Often, it is a question. He would rather I not go anywhere without him, loves to come along anywhere I am going, and asks over and over again if he will be coming along.