The Zoo

My brothers family lives in Philadelphia, so it's not very often that we get to see them. We are going to Park City next week for our Smith family reunion, so Brooke and the kids flew in a week early so we could spend even more time with them (they love us that much). On Tuesday we went to the Zoo.

In this picture is Brooke, me (I should seriously wear sunscreen), Aulden (a mini-me of my brother Adam), Kylee and Hallie. Did you know they added dinosaurs to the Hogle Zoo? It was news to me, I'm not sure what dinosaurs have to do with the zoo, but they were pretty cool, so who am I to complain.

My kids love taking pictures, so sadly (or not) I'm in more pictures than usual.

They were spraying down the elephants, it was so cute. The baby elephant was not a fan of the water, at first, but she got used to it. I love baby elephants.

This doesn't happen often, so I had to take a picture to remind them how cute they are when they are NOT fighting. Love these girls.

Most of the older kids with the Gorilla.

Most of the older kids and Brooke with one of the dinosaurs. You'll notice Samantha in the background. She spent the night at my moms, which was so much fun, but made for a grouchy girl the next day.

You'd think Marsha spent the night at my moms also, but that's just how she looks normally ;)

Molly, Marsha's little girl, is so cute and shy. I love this girl.

And here is my sister Leah with her little girl Elena, she is so stinking cute.

We just took it easy walking around the zoo and doing what ever we wanted. It was laid back, which is how I like to spend my time at the zoo.

Finally I got a picture of some of the kids with Grandma Smith. We had a great time at the zoo.

Olsen Family Campout

Every Year we get to go camping with the Olsen Family. These camp outs actually started with tents, back in 1995 each family got to enjoy sleeping in their own tent, we actually had to deal with June rainstorms and bugs, and sleeping on the ground. Each year our camp outs have become more luxurious. Thankfully last year Bret's parents actually put 3 RV/Camping trailer hookups in their backyard, so for the last 2 years we have been camping in style.

Here is Samantha sweeping the rug outside of our camping trailer. She was dealing with her asthma issues the first 2 days of our family reunion, but she kept a smile on her face and was very helpful around camp.

Every year Grandpa Olsen takes the kids on a special hike. Here he is telling the kids about these special butterfly fossils he found in some shale up Oak City Canyon when he was 10 years old, we were about to embark on the very same hike. Grandpa told them what to look for and that when we break open the shale we should be able to find the fossils inside. The kids were very excited, and were sure we would find hundreds of fossils.

Samantha stayed behind with Grandma Olsen and helped her make cookies, since she wasn't feeling good. Kyle was more than excited to find some butterfly fossils (can't you tell?), especially since this will be his last Olsen Family camp out for a couple years. Yay Columbia South Carolina Mission.

Sadie was sore from volleyball conditioning the day before, but she put on a brave face and hiked all over the mountain in search of fossils.

So did all the other cousins. These kids were troopers. Grandpa Olsen doesn't believe in trails, so we were seriously hiking up a mountain. It was great.

The best part of this hike is we actually found some fossils! Here is Grandpa showing the kids.

Grandma and Grandpa had worked hard for several weeks getting the yard ready for all of us. They put up this awesome swing set, and the kids spent many happy hours playing on it together. Grandma Olsen had every minute planned. We went on our hike, and the next day we went to the sand dunes. This place is a favorite. I don't have any pictures of us jumping or rolling down the hills, because I always like to get in on the action, but we really worked hard running up and down this sand. It's always fun, until you get a pound of sand down your pants...

Here is a picture of all the kids with Grandma and Grandpa.

By the time this picture was taken, the kids were so ready to leave. Kyle had sand all over his face, in his ear, everywhere. Thankfully grandma was thinking ahead and after the sand dunes we went in to Delta and went swimming. We had a great time splashing each other, jumping off the diving boards, and going down the water slide.

We also set up the projector and had a movie outside. We had popcorn, and candy, it was a lot of fun. The next day we played volleyball and horseshoes (when you're in Oak City, you play horseshoes), apparently I'm better at horseshoes than I thought, Bret and I almost took the entire horseshoe competition...if I had remembered to put on sunscreen I think we would have won the last game, of course once we realized we would be playing an 8 and 9 year old in the final game, we decided to hand the title of champion over to them. It's always fun to get together with family and just relax.

We always have a great time on our Olsen camp outs, and this year was no exception.

Last Day of School

To celebrate the last day of school, Kylee, Samantha and me (ignore my bad grammar) went on a bike ride to Simply Ice Cream. It is a round trip of 10 miles, and I wasn't positive that my girls would be able to make it. I know they're tough, but their bikes are old so I guess the truth is, I wasn't sure if their bikes would make it.

About halfway to the ice cream shop Samantha's handle bars became loose and were moving back and forth. She was quick to react and slowed down carefully while screaming "MOM, I'm Scared!" As soon as she slowed down enough she was able to jump off the bike with only a little scratch. Thankfully I have all the bike tools I need in my pack on my bike, so after a little tightening with my Allen Wrench, she was back on her bike. Thankfully we didn't have anymore issues with faulty bike parts.

Once we reached Simply Ice Cream the girls each got their 2 scoop cones, and we were able to sit out on the grass in the sun (that's right, the SUN) while the girls finished their cones. It was so nice to finally have the sun out today.

On the way back we were able to sing "Grenade" by Bruno Mars and "Last Name" by Carrie Underwood, I'm not sure I'm proud of the fact that they know the words to these songs...

After 2 hours and 10 miles, we made it back home. I didn't hear any complaints from my girls, I was a proud mom. I'm going to make my girls into competitive bike riders soon, I can feel it. Besides, a good friend of mine once told me, "running is for criminals, we should all ride bikes"...and I'd have to agree, but that's just my opinion.

2nd Grade Dance Program

I have to admit, I'm not the kind of mom that loves end of the year programs. I'll be the first to acknowledge the fact that I'll never be voted "Mother of the Year". So I when I heard about this program it's possible that I groaned. But several weeks before the dance program, almost every day, Samantha wanted to show me her dance moves, and I have to tell you, I was curious to see how this dance would come together.

And honestly, this dance was adorable. They had the funnest music and they all did a great job. The entire 2nd grade did a great job, but of course I would like my own daughters dance the best.

I smiled during their entire dance, maybe I'm not such a terrible mom. I can't believe my baby is going to be in 3rd grade next year.

I'm not worthy

Volunteers of the year?!? Yep, the picture proves it, Melanie (obviously not pictured), Melissa and me. Of course several people have stroked my ego and made me feel better about receiving this award. Of course having my name misspelled on the plaque means I can't really display it on my piano...too bad.

I'm at least proud to say that I am, once again, worthy to be in April Triggs' presence. She has been my favorite Volunteer of the Year recipient.

Honestly, if being able to help/feed teachers I really respect, at a school I love, with some of my best friends earned me this award...I should have an entire closet full of misspelled plaques, by the time my kids move on to middle school. Yay me!