First Campfire Cook-out of the Year

In a way it's kind of sad that we are just barely having our first campfire of this year. In years past we've had campfires in March but this year we have started in June! Oh well, we do what we can.

The boys were so excited to have a campfire and roast hot dogs. All five of them we're on site to help get wood ready, split logs, get newspaper for kindling and fire up the matches. Even though we've had this wood for a while now it was still quite difficult to get burning. (We haven't had such a smokey fire in quite some time.)

But all's well that ends well. The wood burnt down to some good roasting coals. The boys did a great job roasting their own hot dogs (except for Aleky who gave a valiant effort and then let me take over).

It was perfect weather and we enjoyed our dinner on the patio. After eating the required amount of food (they didn't necessarily eat all of their dinner) the boys roasted marshmallows. Aleky is still perfecting his technique but at least he did it all by himself.

Quinten finally started getting tired and just wanted to go to bed. Even though the sun was still up it was an hour past his bedtime and he was done for the evening. The other boys, however, thought it was absolutely fabulous that they were able to stay up. The night was extended by showers to wash away the smoke smell. So the boys didn't get to bed until after 9:00 pm! But that's summer for ya.

Family Night by Provo River

It's Memorial Day, a national holiday, but I had to go to work. So Michelle and I wanted to do something with the boys when I got home. The fact that it was raining and hailing meant that our boys had been stuck in the house all day and we needed to get them out (the tomato plants appeared to have survived the hail). But when I got home I was tired and had a headache. Michelle felt similar and we had to pool our energetic resources to come up with a plan.


We decided to run over to Maceys grocery store for their soft-serve twist ice cream cones. After that we were going to visit the mall's playground for some fun. And with 5 minutes notice to the boys we were in the car and on our way.

The ice cream was great and we have plans to go back for more (later). As we left the store we drove down State Street in Orem looking for a sporting goods store that a friend of ours had told us about. The boys had so much pent up energy that they were nearly uncontrollable and certainly embarrassing in both stores! (We love our boys but sometimes...!)

As we walked out of the store and the store clerk "yells" at our kids so that they don't run and play in State Street we changed our minds about the mall and decide that an outdoor venue is needed for our children (thankfully it had stopped raining by then). So we headed for the mountains.

We stopped at the first park we came to and decided to let our boys throw rocks in the river, one of their all-time favorite activities. As we approached the river we noticed that it is much higher and fuller than normal. Because of the increased flow of water I didn't want my boys getting to close.

(Of course, we still let them climb on the bridge...go figure!)

After throwing lots of rocks and a few tree branches in the river we spent our last few minutes of our family night at the little playground. Our boys ran all over the place and were climbing on everything. The last of the pent up energy being released before we had to go home and go to bed.

As we were driving home we asked the boys what their favorite part of the activity was. "Throwing rocks", "Pooh Sticks", and "The slide" and sounded from the back of the suburban. Finally, "Everything!" summed up the family feelings as we headed home for the night.

At The Playground With The Bunkers

The warmer weather means that it's time to get together with our friends and it's time to investigate the various parks in our neighborhood. Today we went to visit the Bunkers. Since our families are so well matched it is always a blast, sometimes more than us parents can handle. The kids went wild and were all over the playground. They didn't stop until it was time to go home.





So the boys didn't have all the fun. I had to jump in too. But since I had the camera there is no photographic evidence of the ruckus and mayhem that ensued. Suffice it to say that we had fun running all over the playground. And I needed a rest by the time we were done.

Ice Cream at Maceys

We've past the deli counter who knows how many times and seen who knows how many people eating ice cream as they wander the isles of the store but we've never actually stopped to check it out. Well, today that changed. We decided to stop and check out the options. The little ice cream cones are only $0.49 each! So we got one for each of the 4 older boys. Quinten got to share with mommy.

These cones are so much bigger than McDonald's and they taste better too. This is something we'll have to do again.

Wrestling With Dad

Wrestling dad has become a family favorite. The boys believe that any time they have an attitudinal advantage they have some prime directive to jump on me. This is especially true around prayer time were I am often humbled by the occasion.

Amazingly, the boys are starting to learn teamwork. Once they figure that out I'm really in trouble. At least we're all having fun, right!?

Ward Missionary Fair

Our ward had a missionary fair. There were about a half dozen activities that helped families to be aware of missionary work and preparing to be a missionary.

The best activity, meaning the one that the boys learned the most, was this clothing station. The boys learned how to hang up their clothes properly (in case they serve in an area without dryers).

We also learned how to properly iron a white shirt. I'll have to admit that I was learning a few things at this station. (Would have been helpful a few years ago when I was actually serving my mission. But better late than never!)

The boys also got missionary savings banks so that they can start saving for their missions. We went home and immediately started the boys on a missionary savings program. The boys are paying 10% for tithing and are now paying 10% to their missionary savings banks. If we start now we might be able to afford the cost of all our family missions!

(finally posted 6/18/11)

Quinten Gets A Haircut

Quinten finally reached that significant milestone in his life, his first haircut. This boy doesn't have thick, dark hair so we've waited quite a while before making this step. But the time finally came. I'd say that he did remarkably well sitting in the chair while Michelle cut his hair.

And he turned out extremely handsome, if I do say so myself.

All Tuckered Out

Poor Quinten! He didn't get a very good nap today and was getting especially awnry while we were trying to get dinner ready. Finally I'd had enough of the screaming and crying, along with the temper tantrums and fussing, so I put him in his room. The immediate peace and relative quiet was heaven-sent. But it didn't take long before we began to realize that it was a little too quiet. I went to check on my little man to make sure he was okay and discovered my little bundle of joy curled up in the laundry basket. I guess it's time to get him to bed.

Provo City's Science-Palooza

We made it to Provo's annual Science-Palooza this year. The boys had a ton of fun since they already had an idea of what to expect. These guys just jumped right in.

Here they are learning about blood, what makes up blood and how important it is for the human body.

David is trying his hand at panning for gold. It takes a few tries but he finally scores his golden keepsake.

Quinten stays contained in his stroller for his own protection and so we can keep track of him with so many distractions running around. He did good for most of the activity but was ancy to get out by the end of the day.

The boys tried their hand at catching carbon dioxide bubbles. They discovered that the glove was the key to success.

A little black light art lighten things up, and not just on paper either.

The video is a brief synopsis of the science palooza and some of the other activities that were there.

Quinten Gets Spotted

Quinten broke out in a rash yesterday and it seems to have gotten worse today. We thought it might have been related to his immunizations that he received recently but apparently it has been long enough that these symptoms are not related. I guess we'll try an antihistamine and see if that helps. If not, it looks like a doctor's visit to me.

Sorry buddy, no church for you today.

Aleky is also feeling sick today. I feel extra bad about him missing church because he has to give a talk in primary. The bad part is that this time we were actually prepared with a talk (as opposed to the last several talk assignments that we let slip through the cracks). Donovan stepped up and said he would give the talk in Aleky's place. What a brother!

Tonight's Dinner Is...

Michelle is always very conscious about making sure we eat well balanced meals. But tonight, well tonight we had some different priorities. A well balanced dinner was not so high on our priority list. And when the pizza didn't turn out so well the boys got chocolate toast, all except Quinten who still had to eat his banana. Our boys thought it was a fabulous dinner and we didn't have a single complaint.

Visit to the Dinosaur Museum

The other day we received an open invitation from my cousin Jessica that she would love to go with us to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. I think she was just a little surprised when we called her up 2 days later and said we wanted to take her up on that offer. They didn't have previous plans so they agreed to meet us there.

While most of the museum was dedicated to dinosaurs, there was a opening exhibit that we were able to visit first. The exhibit was hands on and talked about light (including the physics behind light, light rays, reflection & refraction, etc.). I don't know if the boys are experts on light but they had fun checking out each station in the exhibit.

But the fun really began with the big dinosaurs. They boys could hardly control their excitement as they raced around the museum.

Having their cousins along made it that much more fun. Here they built a dinosaur from the various heads, legs and tails that were hanging on the wall. Who knew this dinosaur would turn and eat them!

We spent a significant amount of time learning about errosion in this hands-on exhibit. The kids built dams and canals, hills and valleys and then watched them get washed away. I'll admit I had a little fun myself at this exhibit.

Here the boys learned all about digging up dinosaur bones. They had fun getting in lots of practice, using paint brushes to carefully excavate these ancient bones from the sand.

This was a shocking exhibit, especially coming around the corner and not expecting it! Definitely a big fish.

Another dinosaur dining experience.


It's no wonder why the dinosaurs were eating our kids. They weighed in at a whopping 300 hundred pounds! Not bad for 6 energetic boys.

We had a lot of fun at the museum and want to go back. We loved it so much we started calculating costs of a year family pass. We didn't buy the pass but we are certainly glad that we could have a fun family outing with our Wycherly cousins.

Quinten Climbing Down the Stairs

Quinten decided that it was time he learned how to crawl down the stairs. After all, that's where all the action seems to happen. The boys are playing and then they're gone...downstairs. So today he crawled down the stairs. My little boy is growing up.

Boys

David and Donovan have rediscovered the computer. The boys have been playing the Wii so much that they forgot about the computer downstairs. Now that time has passed, these computer games are cool again.

Quinten is helping to put away the clean dishes. He feels like he needs to help do his share of chores around the house.

Aleky is always willing to help put the dishes away, especially if he can sort the silverware.

Quinten's Birthday Party

We had a little celebration for our young man. He just turned 1 year old! It doesn't seem like it's been a whole year since Quinten joined our family. But here he is, enjoying his birthday cake and learning all about opening presents, with special instruction by his older brothers.

Stewart Falls with the Bruschkes

An unexpected email last week indicated that some dear family friends would be in town this week and wanted to get together to do something. With no set day, time or activity we weren't sure quite what to expect or how our friend's time would work out. So we took a shot in the dark and named 2 different days and 3 different activities hoping that at least one option would work. Luckily for us today was the day and hiking to Stewart Falls was the activity. This hike isn't too difficult and it's been a while since we've been there but we've been talking about it all summer. And the Brusches hadn't been there yet so it turned to be an excellent choice for an activity.

The Bruschkes were coming down from Park City so we decided to meet just past Aspen Grove at the parking lot (at the trail head). As soon as we got our group picture we headed up the trail. With 4 adults and 10 children ages 7 and under, we figured that everyone could keep up, moms and dads included. The older children naturally headed down the trail first and the little kids hung back with mom and dad.

The last time we had hiked this trail David had gotten so far ahead that we "lost" him and I had to run to find him. So we got smart and decided to bring walkie-talkies so we could at least maintain contact with him. The idea was good but the execution of this plan didn't go quite as we anticipated. I don't know if we have bad equipment or bad operators but we lost contact with David before we made it half-way up the trail. In fact, the rest of the older kids met us as they were walking back up the trail, they also having lost contact with David. We did finally find David, relaxing on the far side of the stream/waterfall, exactly where we didn't want him to be without supervision. As a result, David had to relinquish control of the walkie-talkie, and could past the first adult on the trail (which happened to be me, but that was better than having to wait for mom at the end of the group!). This was absolute torture for David but he needs to learn a lesson about staying together.

When the rest of us arrived at the falls we discovered about 2 dozen other hikers who had already arrived before us. That wasn't too bad, all was calm and relatively quiet. The boys immediately took to throwing rocks in the river and we needed to remind them to be careful and not launch rocks all the way across the river and hit people sitting down on the other side! Aleky had to be reminded multiple times.

While we were enjoying our lunch we noticed some guys coming down the trail at a full run, without shirts on. We assumed they were cross country runners because they were skinny as rails. Then the next group arrived...and another...and another...! Before we could finish eating the falls were swarming with cross country runners (we're guessing they were from a BYU summer camp). Some of these kids couldn't get their clothes off fast enough so they could run through the falls.

Seeing these kids run under the falls put ideas into my boys heads and before we knew what was happening we saw David entering the falls. The Bruschke's kids notice this right away and more ideas began entering young heads. In the end we had David, Donovan, Brett and myself pass under the water fall (through the chilling waters). Bailey approached the water fall but decided that she didn't have anything to prove and retreated.

Aleky didn't make the hike back. Michelle had sent me with the advanced hiking party before Aleky gave up so I was cruisin' with Quinten and the older kids (Spencer, Natalie, David, Donovan and Michael). As a result, Michelle had to pack Aleky out with the remains of lunch, sun screen and other hiking essentials she was already packing out. Fortunately Rachel assisted with packing Aleky out (who was sleeping most of the way!).

Having successfully completed the hike we decided to celebrate and headed to the Creamery on 9th for some ice cream. We had so much fun interacting with the Bruschkes on this little adventure and look forward to the next time we can do something together. The next time will probably be a California adventure of some sort but we'll wait and see.