Squashing It All In

As is my habit at the end of every summer and school draws ever nearer and nearer, I had a panic attack.  Have we had enough fun?  Have we gone enough places?  Have we been properly sunned? Are the kids beside themselves with joy at what a wonderful summer their faithful mother has provided for them?

Of course not.

I guess we had better cram in a few things for our last few days!

Let's see, what did we do.....we:

...went to the Aquarium:

...went to Seven Peaks:

...went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point:

...went to Hollywood Connection where Bitty showed off her mad skating skills too speedy for me to capture on film and Bundle had her first skating experience ever:

....anywhere else?  Oh yeah, a couple days later we did the zoo with Peter and Sheri and we got caught in a massive cloud burst that trapped us there for a while.  We actually went home and had hot cocoa!!

So, NOW have we had enough fun?  Probably not.  But everyone is tired and crying so that must mean that we have done enough. I hope.

Annual Preslar Family Camping Extravaganza

It sounds exciting, doesn't it?  It's just a couple of nights in the Uinta Mountains but my kids get so amped for this trip every year it feels like the highlight vacation of the summer.  I love that.  They just love being with family, as do I, and it is incredibly satisfying as a parent to see your kids feel that way.

This year's camping trip had its share of rocky roads - we had plenty of rain (totally forgot to bring hot cocoa and enough warm dry clothing - it was August!  I thought we would be warm!  I am stupid!) and a little trouble finding one another as we were setting up camp, but despite that it was as fun a trip as ever.

Stomper and Bitty both caught fish - Bitty's was minuscule, but since it perished after being released from the hook she decided to eat it.  Stomper caught two descent sized trout from his uncle Rick's canoe and happily chowed both of them down.

There really isn't much to report besides the fact that we did what we always do when we camp - cooked and ate and cleaned up a lot, went for walks, enjoyed the lake, tried to fish a bit, and basically just watched the kids scamper around the campground to their heart's content.  Not bad for a summer weekend.

Breaking Out the Old Skills

It occurred to Troy last week that he hadn't been up on a waterski in over six years and that was just too long a time to go without skiing.

We adore our friends the Burnettes and we get fewer opportunities to hang out with them than is desirable so we have been searching for more chances lately. Miracle of miracles, they have a ski boat. Two birds with one stone! Hang with the Burnettes, and go skiing in the process.

Ok, confession. I was super excited to see our friends. I was super excited to see my family ski. I was so not in the mood to get in a chilly lake and get pulled behind a boat doing something I haven't done in a really really long time and I'm not that good at anyway. I reluctantly put on a swimsuit and hurridly put on pants and a top and hoped the suit underneath would be for emergencies only. Ahhh....wishes do come true. I stayed dry and out of the water all evening long. I might as well have dressed in a pink polyester pants suit, a large sun hat, dark red lipstick and brought a martini with me.  I felt a little like the crabby old gramma on the boat.  Don't splash me!  But you know what?  I loved it so don't judge me.

Troy went first - he did great and I was excited that I caught a picture or two of him revisiting his skier self. He still has the moves, I tell ya. Well, mostly. The photos I took (and instantly posted on facebook and instagram) were shot about 15 seconds before Troy took the first of two wrecks. Or shall I call them underwater cartwheels? Either way....not pretty. SO not pretty that he basically got a mild concussion and spent the rest of the trip leaning over the side of the boat and leaving a trail of seagull treats.

It was scary. He recovered in a few days but....we're hoping to not make a repeat of that event.

Despite the rocky beginning, we did have a lot of fun getting Bitty and Stomper up. Bitty took her first ride on the Burnette's very child friendly double ski that basically sends the kid off the back of the boat without them even having to get wet. Stomper did that a few years ago - I think he wasn't even wearing a swimming suit when he tried it out. She had a great time - both with the skiing as well as her other activities which included teaching the three Burnette kids one of her camp songs (which they sang at the top of their lungs for the rest of the night) and spending some time on-shore playing in thick goopy mud.

Stomper's daddy thought it was time for him to try skiing by being pulled out of the water - an extremely challenging thing to learn. I have such memories of trying to learn how to water ski. Stomper did great - he tried and tried, and we finally tried to get him started from the shallows with Mary B. holding on to him. He did finally get up. It was only for a few seconds, but we count it as a major victory and look forward to trying again soon.

Thank you, dear Burnettes, as always.

The Adventures of Bitty

I am so behind! Oh well, what else is new?

Way back in February when Bitty was doing her best to sell as many Girl Scout cookies as she could, she was doing so partly to earn some dollars to spend on summer camps. Thank you to everyone who pitched in on the cookie fund - Bitty earned herself trips to two different camps.

One of them is coming up this weekend - that one is a Mommy and Me camp that we get to go to together. I am really excited to spend a full 24 hours giving all my attention to Bitty who needs it the most, poor little middle child that she is. I am only nervous about one thing - I haven't broken the news to Bundle yet. She is not going to be very happy about it. I know this because she was also very unhappy for the four days Bitty went to St. George and even more unhappy two weeks ago when Bitty got to go to her first ever sleep-away camp up at Camp Cloud Rim.

I think I also got to do a Girl Scout overnight camp when I was young, but I really think I was at least 10 when I went. I was excited to learn that the Girl Scout camps here had programs for gals as young as Bitty, who isn't quite 8. We signed her up with a friend for an art camp called Little Rainbows and looked forward to it all summer.

And then came the week before she left and her mother started to have inner turmoil about sending her seven year old daughter away to reside in the hands of camp counselors for three days and two nights. I don't think I have ever packed so thoroughly for anything in my life. I just had anxiety about Bitty being able to pretty much care for herself and keep track of all her stuff and supplies and....

....she was fine. Totally happy and well cared for the whole time.  Did all she needed to herself.  I was freaking out because she can't even really tie shoes very well but guess what, her counselor taught her how to do it.  I've been trying for years without success and two days in the hands of her counselor and she's got it.  I will be hiring her counselor immediately to teach my kids all the other stuff I can't get them to do, by the way.

I didn't dare send a camera with her but happily the camp has entered the modern world, has a facebook page and posts pictures of the girls there. I found myself checking the page for updates more often than was in any way reasonable, and when her pictures finally did show up I was elated to see her happy face and busy activity. I loved how Camp Cloud Rim ran their show, the enthusiasm and care of the counselors and staff. It was great. I think Bitty had a couple of sad moments, mostly occurring during her first night there. (They slept outside the second night and according to Bitty that was much less scary.) But more importantly she came home on cloud nine and didn't stop talking, singing and gesticulating for a solid 6 hours until I duct-taped her mouth and put her under her covers. Two weeks later she is still singing the songs and teaching them infectiously to many kids around her.

I can't wait for our She and Me camp this weekend.

Upon arriving at camp I walked Bitty and her friend K through a little tour, picked up t-shirts, posed for a pic on the deck of the gorgeous lodge and of course snagged a girl scout cookie

Bitty's enthusiasm as I was getting ready to leave really cheered me up - she was hilarious,  introducing herself to every staffer she could find and positively bubbled around camp.  I'm sure she was making up for some anxiety but that was okay with me!

For Some reason, she decided she wanted to dress up as a nerd one day and wore these glasses around non stop.

Oh my little camper gal - I adore her!!