All together again!

 Jana, Bryson and Brady went to a new park to try out the play stuff...

 This big climbing pyramid was the center piece of the park...

 Bryson and Brady really enjoyed it, it was a little trickier for Jana to get to the top...

...jumping and climbing and running around, great fun...

Smiles

The ultimate teeter-totter

I returned from a trip to Florida and North/South Carolina and went right up to Fathers and Sons. It started with a nice program... 

 The boys were all excited to be there with friends and brothers and Dad...after the program we sat around a fire and told/listened to boy stories with friends and played night games and of course poked the fire and lit sticks while roasting marshmallows.

 Brady made it until about 10:30 when he told me he was going to bed--perfect child slept the whole night without a peep. The other boys were all sugared up on drinks and smores and stuff. Sugar makes Ryan's right side numb and it makes McKay especially strong. This was before going to sleep...

 ...this is in the morning, McKay moved from the green sleeping bag on the left to the black blanket in the front. The boys were so great. It was a blast to be with them and with our good ward friends.

 Breakfast was pancakes, eggs, turkey sausage and juice. It was great! We headed home after breakfast to do our Saturday stuff.

 Jana always makes amazing meals, but Saturday's was especially amazing...it was a taste of Hawaii. She made coconut, macadamia nut encrusted shrimp with a mango dipping sauce, grilled pineapple, vegetables and lava flow drinks (coconut cream and strawberry puree blended with ice) it had an amazing effect on Mckay...

 ...and all of us...it was delicious! Lisa came home from Lake Powell with the Johnsons later that evening. We were all so excited to see her after what has been three weeks between New York and Lake Powell--we did get her back for a day in between.

Lisa got her lava flow today. She is so tan! as if she just got back from the islands. It is so great to have everyone together again. This week Tyler goes to Havasupai in the river valley of the Grand Canyon for a High Adventure camp Wed-Sat.

The Goon AKA Barf-o-rama AKA Lagoon

 It had been raining during the day and we were all tired, but the boys wanted to go to Lagoon, so we mustered up our energy and went with our plan. We took a quick picture before we lost our coloring and got sick...

 Because of the rain the lines were really short, nice...first ride.

 Brady was so good to wait for the rides he could do.

 See the boys on the 2nd and third rows, very smiley!

 ...even after the ride...

 ...the flying whales was a blast for Brady, I think I captured the one second Brady was not smiling from ear to ear.

 Tyler, Ryan and McKay wanted to ride the stomach slosher or something like that... you can see their smiles and McKay's bare feet in the middle of the picture (McKay's feet above Ryan and Tyler).

 ...as usual McKay is too fast to capture...see his feet coming out of the pole and Tyler and Ryan behind him.

 McKay loved it! He was running from ride to ride.

 Bryson and Brady flying the space ships

 Awesome expressions!!!

 Then into the cars...

 What Lindsay boy doesn't love driving cars??!!

 Waiting for "Wicked."

 See back row... 55mph, 4.85g's...not for daddy, but the boys loved it...see the twists in the rails...

 Tyler was a good sport to go on the Spider with McKay, although slightly regretting it as they were going up the first incline...backwards on their spinning seats...

 ...Tyler's expression says it all...

 Ryan and McKay rode Colossus, 3rd row from back. This shot is the beginning of their first complete upside down loop...

 ...see them in the middle of the shot in the blue and yellow shirts...

 ...the two loops...then they ran back to do it again.

 ...we all rode the train together to go see the animals...

 White Siberian tigers were first...

 ...Lions...

 ...zebras...

 ...lots to see...

...and show eachother...then we wrapped it up and went to Nielsen's to get some chocolate custard concretes...my favorite! Fun day...I'm going to take a nap now!

Camps and Fun

Girl's camp was held during the week before Lisa's National Dance Competition so it was a little tricky to make work. Lisa and I drove up to camp (Heber Valley Camp) by about 4PM and came back down around 7AM to get back to dance.

 It was a great group of Young Women. Lisa had a lot of fun and her testimony was strengthened while there.

 That Saturday, June 30, we went to a cousin's baptism (Lindsey Boots) and then over to other cousins, the Johnson's, to eat and swim.

The 4th of July was not exactly as planned because Bryson and Brady got sick, but we had some fun and Jana made sure we had a great 4th of July meal.

 We watched fireworks from our driveway. They were literally going off all around us.

 Even after 41 years, I never get tired of fireworks.

 ...or sparklers...

Great 4th of July quote by John Adams from a letter to his wife Abigail just after signing the Declaration of Independence, "...I am apt to believe it (the signing of the Declaration of Independence) will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfres and illuminations from one end of the this continent to the other from this time forward forever more. You will think me transported from enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means. And that posterity will tryumph in that days transaction, even altho we should rue it, which I trust God we shall not." (The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784, Harvard University Press, 1975, 142)

 I took the days following the 4th off so we did a couple PVC projects, this one was a ring toss. I will share the other on another post...

 We bought the needed PVC pipes, connectors, primer and glue...all qualify as fun for boys...

 We primed and glued...

 ...while sitting on soft sleds...

 ...and on soft chairs depending on our level of engagement in the project...

 We made the rings and targets together. It was fun...

 ...and almost as fun to play with them.

 Bryson wanted to go for a bike ride with his newly acquired bike riding skills.

Later, when Tyler got home from work we played catch and jumped on the tramp...and roasted s'mores over the fire.

The next day was Sunday. After going to church we needed to take Ryan's back pack to our Scoutmaster's house to be checked and loaded so that everything was ready for their 6AM departure to the High Uinta Scout Camp north of Vernal, Utah...about 4.5 hours away.

I was traveling in Florida from Monday through Wednesday and then returned for a significant site visit on Thursday, but after all of that nonesense was able to go up to camp on Friday to be with Ryan... 

 He showed me the shelter he had made for Wilderness Survival. It was pretty cool. A pine tree had fallen down and then kept growing in a curved shape (you can see part of the curve in the bottom right of the picture) like it was just begging to be a shelter for scouts.

 He did some fishing on the reservoir nearby and caught to rainbow trout which he cleaned, cooked and ate!

 Ryan finished 6 merit badges and nearly completed his fishing merit badge too during the week!

 There were 24 boys at camp! We had a nice closing propane fire ring (too dry for real fires) fireside on Friday night. Afterwards Ryan and I found a stump made for two and spent 45 minutes or so talking, reading our scriptures together (Enos) and praying. I was so impressed that Ryan's first questions were about how everyone else was doing at home..."how's Mom doing? How's the baby doing? Did Tyler miss me? Did Lisa get back ok from Dance? How are the boys doing?" It was rewarding to speak with Ryan after his week away.

 We got up at 6AM on Friday to clean up and head out. We were able to cover our entire campsite in two passes with all of the boys helping.

 After a required Lindsay camp picture we were headed back home on the 4.5 hour drive from a 9,500 foot elevation down to our comfortable 4,500 feet.

 We got back down to the church parking lot just before Jana took Lisa to the Johnson's to go to Lake Powell. So I had her bring Lisa over to Ryan so they could see eachother before being apart again. Ryan was excited to hug Jana (I was too late to catch that)...

 ...and was happy to give/get a hug from Lisa before she left

...and the added bonus of Brady in the back...do you see his hand touching Ryan's face. It was nice to be together for a few minutes before separating again. Then we went to Lagoon because all of us had so much energy left...we just didn't know what to do with ourselves!