Father's Day

 We got to spend part of Father's Day in Twin Falls this year. It was nice to be there in person to tell my dad how much I love and appreciate him. I love how fun he is with my kids and how much he loves to teach them about life.

We gave Stephen his Father's Day treats and I made him a video of the kids that we watched when we got home. I interviewed the kids about their dad and threw in some photos and video snippets of Stephen with the kids over the years. It was awesome! Happy Father's Day to one of the best dads. Stephen, you truly are an amazing dad to our four children. You are always there for them playing and reading, teaching and working. You show up for them and they love you so much. You are a great example; the kids are always wanting to be with dad and I love it.

Lucas Turns 9!

 Lucas wanted to celebrate his birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house this year, and since we were already going to be in Twin that weekend for a family BBQ we decided to go up a couple days early to so Lucas could have his birthday with everyone. I had Mom make ice cream cake for me because I didn't want to make a big elaborate cake and have to travel with it to Twin this time. When everyone got there they all asked where my cake was. I guess they were all looking forward to eating one of my cakes, haha, but it was too much work this time. It was perfect. Lucas loved everything he got including a smart watch, a safe piggy bank, and a cook book for kids. It was funny though, I picked up a "water snake" toy last minute to put in his treat bag and that was the toy everyone loved playing with the most. 

Dear Lucas, you are such a joy--a spot of sunshine. You are smart and hilarious, and people love being around you with your smile and infectious laugh. You are witty and kind hearted. I can see how much you love and care about your family and friends. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. We love you very much. Happy Birthday!!

Lagoon Date With Grayson

 Last week Zander, Lucas, and Hannah went to Twin to stay at Joseph and Trish's house, and Stephen went to Phoenix for a training, so that left Grayson with me at home alone. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with just the two of us, but I had plenty to do with the reunion and Father's Day coming up. We had such a good time! One of the days I took Grayson on a Lagoon date. We got there at 2:00 in the afternoon; I followed him around, and we went on all the rides he wanted to go on as many times as he wanted. Of course, the first ride he wanted to ride was the big Ferris wheel; he loves that one. We rode rides for two hours, got ourselves a treat, went on more rides, then went swimming at Lagoon-a-beach for another two hours. It was the perfect day. The weather was just hot enough to enjoy swimming and the lines were small since it was the middle of the week. After swimming we rode more rides. Grayson wanted to try and win a prize playing a balloon game. He had to throw a ball at balloon that had a nail behind them and try to pop the balloons. He got four tries and got one on his last try. He won stuffed mushroom, lol. He loved it; we had such a great day. We finally left at 9:00 that night. 

We went on Puff the Magic Dragon roller coaster and got stuck sideways on the track for about 10 minutes until someone came to rescue us. Then we got to stay on it and ride it again since we got stuck. We went on this ride four times in a row.

American Fossil Dig and Campout

 Last summer I took the kids to the park one day, and for some reason Zander was sitting with me in the shade and randomly said he wished he could find his own fossils. I had just heard about this place that a friend took her family to, so I said, "We can!" That set our camping trip in motion. This trip was a year in the making and I was just as giddy to go as the kids were. This is something I've always wanted to do myself, so check that off my bucket list! I asked several family members if they wanted to come with us, but sadly there were no takers. So I called up Alissa to see if she and her boys wanted to join us, and they did!

We met up at camp about 45 minutes past Kemmerer, WY where the fossils were. We camped right on the Green River. The Jenks brought kayaks, fishing poles, and made crawdad traps. My kids were in heaven. They had a lot of fun with their cousins. We roasted weenies and marshmallows the night we got there. I brought waffle cones to make campfire smores cones and they are my new favorite way to eat smores. 

The next morning was our fossil dig. We got to go dig for over two hours. It was slightly overcast and in the 70s--just perfect for having to sit in the sun hammering at rocks. It was a really dirty job, but so much fun! You just never know what you're going to find. Stephen and I had to help Hannah and Grayson for most of it, but everyone found so many fossils. They had just finished digging up a fresh load of rocks before our time was up, so we found some really big rocks to chisel. Zander, Lucas, and Archer got a great big one and worked on it all together for a while, and it paid off because they found a spot with three fish right by each other and another fish on the back of the slab. Zander was ecstatic. Lucas found a cool one with a dark ring and a fish in the corner of it. Hannah found a bunch of fish scales, and Grayson found a Banana fish. 

When we ended our session they had a cutting station set up with a few different saws so we could cut down the rock and make our fossils look nice for displaying and traveling safely home. While we were in town we had a picnic at the park and then took the kids to Fossil Butte Monument. They had a huge collection of fossils from all the quarries in the area. Lots of fish, birds, amphibians, insects, plants, and mammals. The kids spent some time doing their junior ranger program and became Junior Rangers complete with a badge by the time we left. It was just so fun to get out and be in nature and let loose.

Within the first five minutes of getting to camp Grayson found a dead deer and had to show everyone.