For the second year in a row, our ward has done a Ward Campout up at Camp Zarahemla, which coincides with a service project that is needed on the camp ground. Usually when we go up to Zarahemla, we choose to use a tent and gain full advantage of a Family Camping Experience. But this year, we decided to cheat. Our tent has a hole in it and we didn’t want to buy a new one just yet, and furthermore….these cabins have always looked fun. So, we decided to book one of the cabins and I am so GLAD WE DID.
Because IT RAINED ALL EVENING and ALL NIGHT!!!!! And when I say rained I mean POURED!!!!! UGGGH!
But…..we stayed tidy and dry….so all was well.
Before the rain hit, Ky prepared the fire pit like any good scout would do. Can anyone say BON FIRE. This was his kindling pile. You should have seen the pile of wood he had prepared for it once it was started. :) 
Upon waking up, we noticed that the rain had passed and pleasant temperatures graced us. Dan went to do the service project of cutting wood, with the help of Alaina and Ky. The rest of the family stayed behind to clean up the cabin and pack up the car.
When the service project was done, we spent a little time hiking around and having fun by the lake. Although it was a quick trip, with a wet night…..we had fun and hope the ward continues the tradition.
Oh yeah…..lets not forget the story about the poor man who got chased up the tree by a mama bear. Hudson saw this on our drive up and was worried about the guy up in that tree all weekend. On our drive home we stopped and the kids went in for the rescue. Those brave souls. :)
Ky 5th grade age 10
Hailey 3rd grade age 8
Kase 1st grade age 6
Hudson preschooler age 3
Alaina is having her individual picture taken on a different day so I don’t have a copy of that one yet.
Anyway…..it is a manners meal at the Ostlers where some of the glass dishes get used rather than the normal paper products that typically adorn our table. They get some bubbly sparkling cider to drink. We focus on etiquette and spend a ton of the meal time conversation reflecting on things that have happened to the kids the past year, we talk about the upcoming school year and anything else THEY want to talk about.
We also present a new Family Theme for the year. One that we will focus on as a family in many of our discussions, FHE’s, and reminders throughout the upcoming year. This year our new theme is “Return With Honor”. So, at the dinner we present it to the kids and discuss it’s meaning to us.
After the meal, Dan takes each of the kids individually to give them a priesthood blessing.
This hasn’t always been a tradition of ours, but for the past few years it has been something we have started and so far….we love it and the kids look forward to it as the summer comes to a close.
It will happen again next year…..but hopefully we can get more creative on the menu and change it up from year to year.
I told the kids we were not going to blow a few hundred bucks at the fair, like we have done in years past. It is amazing how fast the money goes. Getting through the front gates is often the cheapest part of the day. The food, the rides, the souvenirs, and the CRAP that we just have to buy there pulls more bills out of our pocket than we would like to admit.
Anyway….the theme of the day was….CHEAP FAIR VISIT!
The first step was to get the kids on board with the plan. We laid it out for them. The rules of the day were 1-each kid got 10 bucks to blow any way they wanted. Food, games, crap, whatever. And 2- when their money was gone they weren’t allowed to ask for another dime to be spent on their behalf, PERIOD. Consequence of breaking rule number 2 was that the entire family goes home the very first time there is a request or complaint about it.
We got free tickets into the fair and discounted bracelets for the rides, passed out the cash to the kids, and off we went.
Hailey blew $5 on a bull ride right out of the gate…
…and Ky did a $7 thing where they put him in a huge plastic bubble.
When their tummies got hungry and they realized they didn’t have much money left they got smart and pooled it together and shared what they bought. AHA!!!! But let the learning begin. They now realized that an $8 dollar bowl of nachos that only contained 10 chips, split between the 2 of them, didn’t really fill their hungry tummies. It was pretty cute watching the kids notice and comment on what a rip off the cost of the fun and food really is.
All the kids enjoyed meeting up with their cousins there, who happened to have pigs in the fair. They all ran the circuit of rides in total bliss until after Kase hit his 3rd or 4th ride and begins to get the pale white face and the deer in the headlights look that only means one thing…..He Was Getting Sick! Poor guy. He began sitting out on rides and finding shady areas to hide and rest. After a while we called his grandpa and asked if he would come pick him up and take him home. Yuck Yuck Yuck. What kind of fun is that? :(
All of the other kids kept playing and riding rides until it was dark. When I went to pick up Kase from Grandma and Grandpa’s house he said,” even though he got sick, and was only there half the day, he had a blast.” Do you know what else Kase had? A full $10 still in his pocket ;)
Well, when it was all said and done….we succeeded in spending less money this year than any year prior. YAHOO. And the kids didn’t have any less of a good time. Well done!!
Well, the kids get their love of camp fires from Dan….they can’t get enough of them. Usually I let Dan handle it when they want to have one, but on this particular day when they came and asked for a HUGE BON FIRE, I thought….what the heck!! “Go build it, and I will come help light it” I told them. And off they went.
It was about 20 minute later when they came back in telling me they were ready to light it. So out the door I went, matches in hand.
Is this what they learn in scouts or did their dad teach them this strategy? Oh well…..doesn’t really matter….it burned, and they loved it.
Notice Kase, our resident firefighter. When he noticed a couple ashes float a few inches away from the fire, he didn’t miss a beat. Way to go Smokey the Bear!
Today we packed up the family and drove an hour or so out of town to meet up with the rest of the fam for a day of boating on the Leslie & Gary’s boat. Everyone pot lucked food and the cousins had a ton of fun playing around in the roped off swimming area.
All of the kids went out for a little tubing run…
…then most of the adults went out for their turn on the boat. Instead of skiing or tubing we ended up boating up a ways to check out a fire that had been burning all day. Miles and mile of land, all along the shoreline, were torched. Smoke coking us out as we got closer.
We ended up by Gary’s friend’s house/farm. We saw how close the fire was getting to their property so we boated up to see if they needed any help. It was SMOKEY!
Finally we spotted firemen who were shoveling and spraying a burn line to prevent the fire from getting any closer to their house.
After our exciting, adrenaline filled boating trip it was back to the shore for more food and fun.
We decided that Kayleb hadn’t gotten wet enough today so we sent down Dan and Gary down to take care of it :)
This week I was able to take a little rode trip with Alaina to visit my sister Megan in Utah. Alaina’s growing up so fast so fast. (She’ll be in Young Women’s in April. Holy Cow!!!!) Needless to say it was a ton of fun spending a whole week of one on one time with her just doing girlie things. (Road trip picture at a rest stop in Idaho. We’re half way there only 5 more hours to go :)
We spent the first day in Utah at the Lagoon. Normally in the middle of August it would be blazing hot but today was totally overcast and breezy. Not cold or anything… just perfect! (We ended up running into the Glade and the Bayles families while we were standing in line for rides. Seeing people from your home town, somewhere 3 states away from your home town definitely makes you do a double take)
I decided to take a quick pic with Alaina as we were standing in line for our first ride of the day. This is how it went. “K… Alaina… Smile.”
Take 5. Close enough, it’s a keeper.
On our way home we ate at Zuppa’s. Yummy! I want this restaurant in the TriCities! You go along the counter and choose a combination of 2 things between soup, salad, and sandwich. It was really good!
The next day we ate at a fun Chuck E Cheeselike, pirate themed restaurant. The server spoke only pirate and didn’t brake character once. You know…Aaarrrgghhh Matey, Shiver me timbers, Buccaneer, walk the plank etc.
After lunch we spent the day shopping for a few new school clothes for Alaina.
Day 3 was more shopping and lots of driving. It’s amazing how much driving you do to get to all of the fun places in Utah. Everything is so spread out. After a while everyone started getting a little car sick so to lighten things up a bit we turned the car into a photo both and took a ton of pictures.
Later that afternoon we ended up getting to meet Megan’s boyfriend Aaron and went to a movie with them that night.
Day 4 in Utah started with a haircut for Alaina, then we spent the rest of the day at the waterpark. Fun times! It was going to be our last full day there so we also hit a ton of Utah restaurants that we were still wanting to eat at before we left. Noodles & Company for lunch, Cafe Rio for dinner, and the Mayan for dessert.
Yea! We did it… Crammed a whole ton of fun and memories into one week. Now it’s time for the long ride home. Booooo. Thanks for hosting us Megs!
