Happy Birthday Corey!

Happy Birthday to Corey! So here's an example of one of the differences between Corey and I. On my birthday this year, I went to the library where I could be left alone. Other times I turn the kids into my personal slaves. For my birthday meal, we had salad and some cake and ice cream. On Corey's birthday he takes the kids biking! And then takes them out for ice cream and fries at Leatherby's with his birthday cash. He is outward focused on his bday, and for me, that's a time when I focus on what I want and don't feel guilty about cashing in on it. So, there's a little difference showing how Corey is a bit more selfless. But perhaps it could be argued that since I'm with kids all day, it's ok for me to do the opposite and take personal time on my birthday. Anyway, I found it curious. He and I went on a ride this morning to Corner Canyon and then we went out biking again with all the little kids. (Abi Lily and Sophi are still at YW camp, but they got home later this afternoon.) We parked at Peakview and all road along the Draper Alpine Trail to go to Ghost Falls. 

Peter was struggling a bit. Corey stayed with him for a bit, but then we traded cause I wasn't feeling brave to take the kids down the hill. I also thought K, who was on the bike with Corey, would be mad if it was slow and boring. So I stayed with Peter and we did a little bit of Canyon Hollow down. 

He still thought that was a little fast and scary, but he did good and it was a successful first ride in the mountains for Peter. When he was ready, we turned around and returned to the Draper road. We walked our bikes up the hill and got back the car. I checked Life360 to see where Corey and the kids were. Corey was following behind Natalie, Owen and Daniel, with Katharine on shotgun. I think Natalie was leading the way in front. They went down Ghost Falls and then on whatever trail to the bike park. Peter and I drove from Peakview to the bike part and picked them up. After we stopped to take a picture at the temple to send to Wes. But the sun was a little too bright!

Ok, that's better. 

We were all loaded up and headed back home at 12:20. I had to go to a high school reunion meeting at 1. I made banana shakes for everyone first, then left for 2 hours. When I got home, the girls had made it back from camp and Lily was up in her messy messy room... talking to a boy...

And I told her she better clean up or I'm going to text him this pic of the reality of her cleanliness habits. There's always an excuse. She said she had to hurry and pack for YW after she got home from FSY, so she hasn't had time to clean up things. She's got a lot of dirty laundry and mess that she needs to clean and organize. Abi and Sophi  do too, cause they were at FSY and Oakcrest, but their situation is not as big as Lily's. I let them have some time to chill and relax after a long week, and they told us about some of their week. A&S were teaching Daniel's friend Millie how to make friendship bracelets. 

After I got back from my meeting, it was finally time to go get Ice cream. At Leatherby's

Wayne joined us. Katharine studying the menu...

And taste testing the water. Hmmm...

Corey ordered some cheese fries, and I figured out everyone's ice cream requests: 

• Abi got the Annie Lynn with peanut butter cookie dough and Dutch Chocolate
• Sophi - Annie Lynn with cookies and cream & brownie fudge
• Natalie ordered the Emily raspberry chocolate rhapsody 

Thankfully they had a kids menu, so the little kids each got the Gavin dish with one flavor of ice cream: 

• Owen - cookie and cream
• Daniel - blue bubble gum
• Peter - Dutch choc chip
• Katharine - Dutch choc chip

Fries delivered with fry sauce and ketchup. Nice Natalie - 

They ate some fries, and then the ice cream sundae's were delivered. Everyone enjoying their desserts. Corey shared with Katharine (and this time she was willing to share, so that's good) and I took a few bites here and there from kids dishes.

Natalie's "rhapsody" was very very large. There was literally a pool of syrup and sugar in the platter underneath her huge sundae bowl. When she wanted to order something so large, Corey told her that she had to finish all of it or she had to pay for her dish. 

And the mess we left behind. 

Joseph and Ethan each sent him a video that they had made. Here is the video from Ethan ~

And from Joseph (who is up backpacking with Eliza's family for the weekend, they are featured in the video, fun!)

"OreyCorey" is how you say Corey in "Corey-Latin", which is similar to the word conjugation of Ferb-Latin, which Ethan introduced to our family. Several of our children speak it fluently. So when Ethan was in California selling pest control for a few months, in June 2020, he asked a lady that he met to wish Corey a happy birthday, and that is her featured at the beginning of J's video. Now Corey is wondering if Eliza's family will be calling him "Oreycorey" in two weeks at the wedding? Ha, I guess we'll see. That was a cute video by Joseph. We have talented kids, and I'm glad they are skilled at creating and sharing family memories and footage digitally! And as a final birthday tribute, let me sa that I'm pretty much in awe of Corey. He's such an caring husband and an awesome father. I need to find a way to preserve the emails he has sent to the kids on missions. His emails to Wes are so good and thoughtful and instructive. I'm grateful to have him call us all to gather for scriptures every night. 

I would that everyone had a Corey in their life. Happy 48th! Hoping we have atleast another half a century together. 

Lazy Day

Maybe I worked too hard yesterday, cause today I've just felt meh and have been bumming around the house feeling lazy. I woke up at 5:15 and read and stretched for a bit while I waited for Corey to get up, that might have killed my motivation. I think I have to get outside right away, or my engine sputters and dies and it's hard to get it up and running again. But we did leave for a ride at 6:30 and went to Parleys, and I was feeling so weak on the climb. The west side of Granger peak is NO FUN. But I liked it once we turned the corner into the canyon on Pipeline. That was nice. We finished the ride by coming down the road, cause we had to get home. We had been gone for a bit long and didn't have a way to check in on the kids. Note to self: find the home phone handsets. They are all lost and/or out of battery, doh. 

So the boys have been watching a bit of the library dvds today - Alvin and the chipmunks and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. They did 20 minutes of reading as they all sat in time out (they've all been on one today). We cleaned up legos for a little bit in the basement a few times cause the boys' wrestling matches kept turning into fights. They have been working on puzzles though. Tonight Katharine was bossing Owen around and holding him captive, as her puzzle slave. He would make the Bluey puzzle, then she'd break it, and command him to fix it again. 

He was a cute big brother and was being a good sport about it. 

Good news: I finished blogging January today! Yay! I finished December on Sunday, Jan today, and with a bit of continued focus maybe I can finish Feb next week? 

So, we have a wedding in two weeks. I still need to get the final count of people attending the lunch and then need to order the catering. We're going to get the buffet lunch from Whatever Works Catering in Boise. 

Corey and I went out to eat at Bandits tonight. I got my usual: Farmers Harvest Salad with an extra skewer of shrimp. Can't remember what Corey got. But then he ordered a dessert (cause tomorrow's his b-day) of the cinnamon bread pudding. Happy birthday to my sweetheart tomorrow!

Bells Canyon

Corey and I went climbing this morning. Joseph was going to come but then ripped some skin off his palm as he was getting his shoes off the high closet shelf. So it was just Corey and I. It would have been fun to climb with Joseph, so that's too bad. Tomorrow is our last day at Momentum for a few months. After we got home, I took the kids on a hike. I was debating between Bear Canyon Bridge or Ghost Falls or Rocky Mouth. They voiced their opinions but have never been or don't remember going to most of those, so they didn't really know. Owen asked me how long it was to drive to each one, and we settled on the close one - Bells Canyon. And we begin!

K was eating an apple slice as we went. Made it a little harder to hold her hand. They did really good for 5 little kids. Little trips and falls here and there, and I carried K on my shoulders when she'd let me, just to hurry things along, but it was great and filled my cup. We were glad to finally make it to the reservoir, cause once you got there, there was a lovely shaded trail in the trees. We went along that... 

It was so lovely in the shade!

Peter and Katharine looked so cute in their squat on the trail as they looked at potato bugs...

Found some more! Roly-polies!

There have been so many potato bugs this year, more than I've ever noticed. When we've gone biking in Corner Canyon they are all over the trails and I'm sure I've caused many of their early deaths, although I do try to avoid them. I just don't always see them in time. Or when I try to swerve to miss them I probably actually hit them, like when I ran over a rabbit once. Sorry little bugs. 

I like P and K in their little hats. The hats kept the sun off their faces, but made their heads really sweaty! Peter wearing all black probably contributed to his drenched hair...

And the fact that we were hiking around noon. We made it to the Dry Creek Bridge...

And then they were ready to go. They had earned a nice cold banana shake from me at home (cause I don't do Ocean Ice or frosties) and we headed back, after a pic with the valley behind us at the top of the trail by the reservoir.

Good job kids, you guys are troopers! We headed back down. K let me carry her most of the way, so we were a little faster. I suggested that once we got home, we could turn on the sprinkler under the trampoline. They were really excited about that! Back at the car, K's head was as sweaty as Peter's was.

She also doesn't have as much hair to get wet, but the hair she did have was soaked. 

She really liked wearing a hat though. When she was on my back, if I tipped it off she would chastise me and pout until I put her down, fixed her hat, and then we could be on our way again, and then I'd bump it again as I put her on my shoulders, repeat. If Natalie wasn't too far ahead I had her help K so we could try to keep going. When Abi Lily and Sophi are back next week, I'm going to try and make them go on hikes with me and they we'll do it in the morning, OR if they won't get up, then they have to come with me on the afternoon hot hikes! I think that might persuade them to get up and hopefully they'll develop a love for being outside on summer mornings. Short drive home - I made banana shakes while they got on their swimsuits. They invited a few neighbor friends over and I put the sprinkler on under the trampoline. 

I put K in the tub for a bath and while the boys played outside. Natalie took a shower and then worked on a puzzle. And I, after having put in such a good day's work as a mother, have been happily blogging most of the rest of this evening. I finished December Sunday, and today I almost finished January! I have one more post and then I'm finished with Jan! Go me. We are going to place a catering order tomorrow for  Joseph's wedding lunch. I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and that with that I'm happy to call it a close this good summer day. Corey and I will go on a ride in the morning. 

Library Again

I'm 2 for 2 on taking the kids to the library! Go me. 

Boys have a hard time being normal apparently. Thank you Natalie and Katharine for trying to save this photo. So yeah, 2 for 2! That's better than I've done in the past decade. The plan for this summer is to go every Tuesday around noon. So we did that yesterday and it was good! We returned all 25 things we got last week (23 books and 2 DVDs) and the goal will be to finish things by next Tuesday or they're gone. The kids thought that sounded like a good plan. It also helps to limit the amount of books they get, knowing that we'll come again next week. Daniel reading by the kid corner.

And now lying down, Owen reading in a chair. I told Owen to get a chapter book this week. They didn't have Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, so he's going to try and read the Red Pyramid.

Owen is a good kid. 

After Natalie chose her books, she went to play with Peter and Katharine. 

And they had this fun sticker mosaic poster. Something like that might be fun to get for the kids, or for the Park City reunion or something...

Simple dinner last night - homemade fries. And we sat down together. It's been a while since we did that.

Joseph worked at my parent's house, putting in a few mailbox post. He mixed cement! Said "I felt like a real Guatemalan!" Corey had the kids playing street hockey again, but took it up a level - he was on rollerblades, as were Natalie and Peter.  

I stayed inside and read with K, who hadn't taken a nap. 

I was hoping she'd fall asleep and I'd be able to sneak off climbing before our membership ends on Friday, but I didn't make it out. Didn't go Mon or yesterday, going to try and go today. I did get up at 5:30 and go on a hike up Bells Canyon yesterday. That was nice. I walked past these honeysuckle vines on my way - they smell so amazing. I love it. 

Corey and Joseph went on a ride to Corner Canyon. They went up Clarks and down Ghost Falls. This morning Corey and I went out there again - did Ann's, Edelweiss and Rush, not the trees. It was fun. Still figuring out wedding catering - as soon as Corey had a few minutes to talk about it. I ordered him a sleep apnea pillow today that will be a birthday present/father's day present. He showed it to me, said his brother had the same reflux issue at night and he got one of these pillows 4 years ago and swears by it. Get 20% off today #notsponsored haha. We'll end with a pic of our lovely summer roses. 

I love rose season. The kids played with friends a lot today, as I have knowingly allowed them to not do their stuff. Natalie still does her cleaning, they all need encouragement to do their music. I practiced violin today though! I did a review of Book 1. My fingers have forgotten some of it. K didn't come stop me (pic 5) so maybe I can start to pick it up again! I was glad to have time to read and blog as the kids were playing with friends, and then Corey and I left at 7pm to go to the Jordan River Temple for initiatories. We don't usually go together, so it was nice.

Finished December

Hello. Happy Monday. We had a nice weekend with a full house - Joseph and Eliza were here on Saturday and for church yesterday. Eliza headed back home yesterday evening, I think we'll see her next on the night before the wedding! Ethan and Bella are in the Dominican Republic visiting Ethan's mission. Mel is down at BYU for FSY, Hyrum is doing a combination of Mel and Ethan by visiting his mission in San Diego where he will be a counselor for FSY for the next two weeks, fun!

Abi, Lily and Sophi got back from their week of fun at FSY (A&L) and Oakcrest (Sophi) but they are  gone again. They left this morning for a rafting trip with the young women in our neighborhood - rafting from Cisco to Moab. They will be back Saturday. Just non stop fun for the kids around here! I think they'll enjoy rafting even though it will be a lot of work. They LOVED FSY, and that's just a big coed non stop fun party. Here is Abi's group - 

I should have them tell me about their week so I can document it. But I told them to write it in their own journals though, so maybe that's good enough. I can't record everything for everyone. But I do try to do a record of our family, even if it's not a hundredth part of what goes on around here. We're getting the highlights I think. And yesterday I did a good thing in the family documentation department: I finished blogging December! I finished Christmas and a few other things that I was kinda stuck on that last week of 2023. And with that, I have now finished 2023, yay! It only took me six months, ugh. So given the rate I'm going, I'll be blogging missed days of this month of June in December. Time just doesn't pause for me to catch up. But I'm glad that I do eventually catch up. I just have a goal to do five posts for each week. I've been pretty good at doing that for the past 12 years. Not bad, go me. 

Something that helped me blog yesterday was that I did very low key meals - aka nuts and a cheeseball with crackers. I'd like to always do low key meals. It was easier last week to do that with the older kids gone, esp with all the baking the girls do... they're always making desserts! Well, Natalie had to fill in for them today and she had a friend over and wanted to bake something, but alas, we are out of butter. But never fear, your mother knows how to make desserts for vegans - so I found them a snicker doodle recipe that used coconut oil. They turned out quite good actually! 

She made those with her friend Hadley, who came over for a playdate from 1-3. We had a nice visit with with Wes, he has dr appt today for his endoscopy consultation. He hasn't had any problems for a few weeks cause he hasn't been eating much meat (Another plus for some of us around here for going vegan or atleast vegetarian.) What else from yesterday and today... Corey and I ride up LCC, didn't get much in techy, and handle bar hit a tree and I fell, hurt my left knee. Had an RS meeting, tried to figure out catering stuff for the wedding lunch. For FHE tonight, Corey had the kids all play a street hockey game with him. 

He promised Daniel we'd do it for FHE, so it was good. 

Fun to watch them play. And a few more things from yesterday - Wayne came over and we had pistachios out (which the boys were throwing at each other and making a mess with) and we watched the new episodes of the Chosen. When that was close to finishing, I got out a green onion cheeseball with tomato basil Wheat Thin crackers, which we had one other time when Wayne was over, and I remembered that he liked that, so sweet, that's what we did. Oh and a Greek salad cause that's easy. I was even able to feed the kids all by myself and Corey took a nap upstairs, so another point for being a good wife and letting my husband have a break (he is feeling a little sick - says he has a sinus infection). That's 3 points for: children fed, hubby nap, and finished blogging 2023. The kids got the ipad and watched a few kid history videos before scriptures and I didn't stop them. I've been reading a Near Death Experience book by Joyce B. Hunt that Wayne gave me for my birthday - it is not exactly the book at that link - different cover and is an updated version from March 2024. I think he got it at some conference he went to. It's given me a lot to think about. Page 86 - "each of my adversities carried with it a seed of opportunity for growth and improvement. But I needed faith to recognize and continue with patience until the growth was realized. That was the challenge - to persist and look for the good". Trying to persist and look for the good with Corey's work project. Also I like how she was asked by the Lord "What did you do with what you have" (page 75) and when she started to give excuses he stopped her "In life, what did you do with what you did have, not what you did not have?" It's not about comparing with anyone else and any excuses or justifications we have won't stand up. It's just us and  our agency used in OUR circumstances = what we DO. I think I'm doing pretty good but want to do better at making sure my children feel loved and to be sure that I don't make them feel sad over things that are not important (re-read this post today, I'm doing better at not freaking out I think? I hope I have made improvements in the past 12 years). Things she said did make me feel good about keeping a blog (page 119). 

Steep Hike

I went on a hike this morning, exploring a trail close to the canyon. I'm about to complain about it, and I was also about to put that it was so un-traveled that it didn't even have a name, but upon a google map search, I just learned that it indeed does have a name. I'm just going to call it "Steep Hike" but as I'm writing here I just learned I traveled up the Plinko Trail. One good thing about it was that it was fun to see the canyon from a different angle. 

And that was probably the best thing about this hike. Most all of it was hard in a not fun way and a bit stressful. So I learned a few things during this hike:

#1) Just because I see a trail in front of me, doesn't mean it's a good trail. Don't trust a trail unless it is on the map (Trailforks). The "Plinko Trail" or the "Old Little Cottonwood Canyon Road Trailhead" is shown on google maps, but no trail is really named or mapped out. I parked and took this trail because I've ridden past it on my bike, and I've seen a few people go up it over the past 3 years, but after I was a few meters into it, I realized that it was not a good trail. It was quite steep, the ground was loose, it was hard to see the trail (not well used or beaten) and a few times I wasn't sure where to go. I'd get out my phone where I could see a different trail that WAS on the map up above me, so I kept going up. I went up instead of back down, cause it was so steep and loose that I knew if I was going back down, I'd be sliding on my rear end the whole way down. It seemed better to me to go up until I met up with the trial on trail forks. I was relieved when I arrived at that marked trail.

#2) The trailforks map was still just as steep and about equal in loose gravel, but I was relieved to be on a trail that was on the map. Moral of that lesson: You'll still have to work hard on an established trail, but it's comforting knowing that it is on the map and a direction for how to go up and get back down. 

So after I got on the more main trail, I thought I'd keep going up. And then I learned that it still wasn't that established of a trail, cause there was no one on the trial going up except for me for the whole hour I was going up (note to self: find a hiking partner/friend). I was slightly nervous about being attacked by a cougar. It was pretty and green. There were lots of times when I was about to turn around cause I could not tell which way to go. Then I'd think "Maybe it's right there?..." and I'd take a few steps in a certain direction and sure enough, was able to see the trail for a few feet more in front of me. It was stressful not being able to see the trail though! I felt like I was hiking a parable of what work has been like for Corey this past year, on this project that he's doing, but not having great communication with the guy he's doing it with, not having money, not knowing if it's right, not really seeing a trail or path forward... He will go to the temple and pray and feel like the best option is to just keep keeping on, even though he's not sure where it's leading  or if it will be successful (like I didn't really know where I was going) and stuff like that. I did start to see little white rocks up as I got closer to the top. Little white stones of granite. I picked them up and thought of the brother of Jared (Ether 3) and the sixteen small white stones that he carried in his hands. They probably had to be pretty small for him to carry them in his hand. And I didn't molten these, I just saw them and picked them up. But I did get 16+! They were pretty rocks. I guess I'm like my kids in that I like to pick up rocks. I prayed a little bit as I hiked and talked out loud to myself. I thought it would be fun to get to the end of the trail, but I turned around before that because I did finally reach a point where I could not see the trail in any direction. Maybe if I ever come up this trail again and if I'm with a group of friends, we'll try to find the trail past that point and get higher up. But going down was horrible and slippery, even on the trail that was on the maps. So that was when I learned thing number 3 ~

#3) Stick to what you know you like. DON'T TRY NEW THINGS! (kinda joking... but I was quoting Megamind talking to Minion in my head "You were right! Let's stick to what we're good at...") I know I liked hiking the quarry trail and bells canyon and Ferguson and all these popular trails and they are POPULAR because they are GOOD and enjoyable and this trail I was on today is NOT popular because it sucks! It is steep and no fun and I think my knees are going to hurt tomorrow and I'm glad I didn't fall on my tailbone but I had quite a few close calls. And I didn't even look up at the trees and flowers that much, which is why I said I like to hike compared to bike (where I'm almost always looking down at the rocks) but on this it was the same as biking - I was looking at my feet and the rocks and gravel most of the time. To compare it to biking, I did all the uphill climb today with no fun downhill as my reward. I titled this hike on my Strava "I'm never doing that hike again". Go on the hikes where the happy people are (aka the temple and the covenant path). 

So there are some of my insights and take aways from today. I could have gone on a ride, but Eliza was in the basement and I didn't want to wake her getting my bike out. She drove down from Boise yesterday to visit with Joseph. They are getting married in less than 3 weeks! And they haven't seen each other for 3 weeks cause J was in Guatemala, so they wanted to see each other, which I guess is understandable for fiancée's to want to see each other. Corey went down to Provo and picked up Abi and Lily. ALS all crashed to recover from their fun weeks. While they napped, Corey took ODP out to Corner Canyon to ride at the bike park with his friend Eric and his kids. Corey called me a bit later to ask if I could come get them, so I went out to pick up ODP cause Corey wanted to show Eric Rush. It was a very very warm "in the heat of the day" ride for them, but I think they liked it and it was good. The boys were glad to come home and I let them to play with friends. ALS went shopping for some stuff before they go to YW camp on Monday (rafting from Cisco to Moab) and then L went to babysit. O&D were playing with friends, J and Eliza went to the temple and stuff. At 7pm I took ASNPK with me to a wedding reception up at the Snowpine Lodge for a neighbor and family friend. Corey would have come but he was feeling a bit sick - a sinus infection he thinks. It was a lovely reception - very fancy. Nicer than what we did for . Then we came home and Ihad wanted to get dropped off and ride down the canyon, to be able to get that satisfaction that I didn't get from my hike, but it was getting too dark so I went climbing instead. They close at 10pm on Saturday, so now I'm back and I don't mind staying up late on a Saturday cause I can sleep in tomorrow. We did decide to cancel our Momentum membership until winter. I'm hoping that I can do enough calisthenics and pull ups stuff to keep some of the finger and upper body strength that I've gained. So we'll see in the winter I guess if I'm starting from square 1 again or not. K, goodnight! And remember, Don't try new things!

Doctor & Library

I checked on Katharine first thing this morning. She got like 12 hours of sleep! 

That is good for a little growing girl. Natalie is being a good older sister again. I'm glad K didn't have a foot in her face. I've felt a little off with all the older girls gone, so I'm grateful for my phone that keeps me on track. If I wasn't able to set alarms, I probably would have totally forgotten about Katharine's 2 year well visit today. The alarm went off an hour early, and I remembered setting it for that much before, but I was confused cause I thought the appointment was on Thursday. I guess I set the alarm without mentally registering the day and time in my head. But having the alarm an hour before the appointment gave us plenty of time to get ready. Natalie had already been playing with Katharine, so she was slightly overdressed, all decked out in a new princess dress - not the purple gown she slept in, but Natalie's old favorite red and white dress. We all got socks and shoes on. I probably could have left Natalie at home with the boys, but I thought I might take them to the library afterwards so I had them come. But (little parenting tip here...) I didn't say anything about that to them, so as to not commit myself in case I changed my mind. We got there 10 min early, the doctor appt was at 11:30. Kids played on the bead racer toys. 

Daniel had K's Bingo stuffed toy that my mom got her for her bday, Kids also looked out the window and wandered and asked me why it was taking so long.

After waiting until 11:50, I was wondering that myself. I went to ask a receptionist, and she said they were running 45 minutes behind. They had a "45 min wait" sign next to Dr. Shultz's name, but not Dr. Schmidt, but I didn't point that out, we just went back and I told the kids "We've waited 20, we got 25 more!" They were boooored and starting asking me for Wendy's frosties or other compensatory blessings to offset this trial they were facing. I calmly said "no". I feel no guilt for denying them fast food. We did eventually get called in at 12:10, yay. And the nice nurses, probably knowing we'd had a long wait, gave everyone a snack. 

The appointment wasn't long once we got in. And they gave Katharine a new book, and I was feeling good and at this point did tell the kids that we'd be going by the library after.  

Katharine reading over in the kiddie corner on a toddler sized couch.

We checked out 25 things - 23 books and two DVDs. Kids played with the puppet show.

They got lost in their books for the next hour at home, yay! Kids reading in the side room. 

I made them lunch - Peter, Daniel and Katharine wanted pink oatmeal, ham sandwiches for Natalie and Owen. Daniel reading with his pink oatmeal.

"Pink oatmeal" is a summer favorite around here. I cook Steel Cut oats in the morning, then they mix it with frozen berries (to cool it down) sliced bananas, and some rice milk. While kids were reading, I got a little bit done in my room. I came out to smell fingernail polish and found K in the basket of polish that Natalie had gotten down this morning when she got K all dolled up. I put it up high. K got some on her dress and just a little bit on the carpet. Could have been worse! Her fancy dress was getting progressively dirty through out the day. Seems like a good time to wear it to the park. Put K in the trailer - 

Kids got on their bikes...

And we rode down to the school. 

Owen and Daniel rode their bikes to school almost every day. I wonder if Peter will want to ride with them to school in the fall? I shall have to prep myself for that, cause that would mean K and I would probably go with them, which could be fun. I'll just have to get K ready for that every morning on the shotgun seat. As soon as we got there, Peter had to go to #2. 

Yay, so much for reading while the kids played... so I put him in the trailer and took him home, left N at the park with ODK. I got back at 6:15, NOD were done, so they went home and I stayed with PK until P was done. K playing at the top of the slide in her dress and pearls!

When he said he was, K went to get her socks and shoes which she had discarded. Getting so dirty, just like a kid should when it's summer time. Kat, go get your socks and shoes! You ready? "I ready!!!" 

That is probably the sentence Katharine says the most, and usually said with a hop and a jump, "I ready!!" So Peter got on his bike, I put K in the trailer, and we start to leave. We had been at the south playground for the older elementary kids and as we left and rode on the north side of the school, K saw the other playground and said "slide! Slide!" so then we stopped, unbuckled, and stayed a little longer. 

I barely got them to leave in time for when Corey was coming home. Corey and I both got there at the same time and hurried and changed clothes to get ready for a 7pm ride with our neighbor Rob. Since we had stayed at the park for so long, I didn't get the kids dinner. Rob arrived, Corey went out to talk with him as I finished getting ready. I went out, Corey asked if the kids were all taken care of. "Yes. ...it ok that I gave them Lucky Charms for dinner?" He said it was ok. "Ok, then yes, they are all taken care of." Natalie held down the fort while we went on a ride up the canyon. We went to the ruins, I got up the climb after Lisa Falls today! My second time this year. The top with the ruins was all washed over - the river is high from the summer temperatures that are here, and so it was all coming down the trail at the top. We did techy, and I hit everything and felt proud, and Corey wanted to show Rob Techgnar so we did that and I did the sticks bridge on that for the first time. I could probably get to like it, I just need to get more familiar with it. Came home and cleaned up, and tried to get ready for bed. We played a quick game of Great Dalmuti with the kids. 

Katharine played, she was a wild card player, meaning that whatever she did was allowed. She didn't want to do anything except hold her cards though, so that was good for the game, but made her wail when it was time to shuffle. No tears from the boys this time, so that's an improvement. Time for bed, got an early ride with Grant in the morning!