Cascade Springs

On Memorial Day we felt compelled to DO something, so we went along with Laurel and Doug's plan and headed up the canyon to Cascade Springs.  

Here we are at an outlook, killing time since Laurel and Doug missed the turn and ended up in Heber - oops.

In an effort to "protect" the area, picnic-ing isn't allowed.  We showed them and picnic-ed in the car.  How's that for following the rules?

At the top of the trail is the actual springs.  It's always amazing to me to think that this is the source of a pretty raging river not too far away. 

 How can a kid resist dipping something in the water?

There were plenty of signs to read and things to learn.

 Looking for fish....

 ...finding some fish...

...scaring some fish.  This picture just cracks me up - probably because it's not MY kid being pushed into the water, OR doing the pushing.  Mine are posing.  Ha!

 What a nice hike.

Landon's Soccer

Landon had a lot of fun playing soccer (aka "Cluster Ball") this year.  Even if he wasn't all that great at it, the smile on his face the entire game was an indication that he was having fun - win or lose.

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When he saw me with the camera, he thought he should stop and pose.  Don't worry - the game hadn't started yet, so no cluster of players is headed his way.

Resting on the sidelines.

 Last team chant - "Go, Wildcats!"

 EVERY player on EVERY team gets a medal.  Really?  Hmm - celebrating mediocrity, are we?

 Now, ice cream is a much better way to "celebrate."

End of the Year Stuff

With the end of the school year comes a lot of programs and concerts.  

This year Jayden played percussion in the Beginning Band.  He got to play the synthesizer for the final concert - cool. 

Not so cool is when you are the shortest 7th Grader in the bunch and also a percussionist - hard to see over the tops of heads.  If you can spot Jayden, then you've got a good eye.

Landon's class performed some Spanish plays where he played a cat.  Even though I couldn't understand 90% of it, he did a great job - remembered his lines and smiled through the whole thing.

Here's the cast of the play - apparently there was a cheese, sausage, marshmallow, cat, and a mouse - you try to figure out which was which.

Dallin got to participate in the High School Jazz Band this year, which was a great experience for him.  Their numbers are small, but they had a big sound.

The end of the school year also means the Awards Assembly.  Now, this isn't my favorite event - by far - but as parents we have to be supportive, right?  This was Leon's first one ever to attend, and he was bored beyond belief.  The large stack of "awards" was a bit daunting to see.

Landon and Cameron both got "Top Academic Awards" - I think - hard to remember when just about every kid got something.

Dallin's Big Day

Okay - so one last birthday post, but certainly not the least.  Our little Dallin turned the big 16 this year.  See what a pro he is with fire?  Even his newly-turned-13-year-old brother was impressed....

So, what kind of gift excites a 16-year old?  Nope - it was a water bottle - go figure.

 Along with turning 16 comes driving.  Let's just say that we've all aged a bit in the last few months.  Dallin is a nice, safe driver as long as no one else is on the road.  Then, all bets are off as to what he'll do.  

See - eyes forward and hands at 10 and 2.

Happy birthday, "Dallin Doodle"!

Cameron's Big Day

Cameron being the middle child, he seems to always get shafted.  Hey, wait, didn't I just post about a kid getting shafted.  Hmm - maybe we are pretty good at that.  Anyway - his birthday landed RIGHT on Mother's Day again this year.  He was actually born on Mother's Day and it has never happened again until this year when he turned 11.  I'm sure there's a mathematical equation to figure out how often and when this will happen throughout his life, but I'm sure it gets complicated with Leap Years, moon phases, and probably the Myan Calendar - stuff like that.

So, in order to give him his own day, we celebrated a day early on Saturday.  We were watching his cousins for the day, so we decided to make a party of it.  I sent Leon to the store to get a pinata, which are pretty hard to find only a week after Cinco de Mayo, apparently.  

 Young and old all love a Pinata and the mad scramble for candy.  

 Cameron wanted something caramel for his cake, so caramel brownies would have to do.

Here he is wearing ALL of his birthday gifts - tie, sports necklace, baseball helmet, hoodie, cinch bag, and baseball bag.

In all, Cameron has always been easy to please and he felt like he had a fun birthday.  I guess that's all that matters - that the birthday boy feels loved and had a good time.  

Happy birthday, Cam-Man!

Landon's Big Day

Being the youngest child I think Landon has gotten shafted a bit.  With him turning 8 this year we realized that he'd never had an official "friend party" before.  Lame.  So, he rounded up a few friends and we headed to the arcade.  I soon realized that we can't be entirely lame since there were a couple of kids in the group who had never been to an arcade before.  Really?  It was fun educating them on the ways of tickets and tokens.

 After the arcade and a good hand-washing (arcades are Petri dishes), we came back for pizza, cupcakes, and presents.  Judging by the smiles, giggles, and general overall noise level, I think they had a great time.

 Of course, we also celebrated family-style on his actual birthday, too.

Happy birthday, "Boots". I hope you'll always be my snuggle bug - no matter how old you get!

Jayden's Big Day

A few months back we added another teenager to the family.  Jayden turned 13 - can't believe it.  

 The family went miniature golfing, but Jayden said he was going to do it "Happy Gillmore style".  Hmm.

Apparently, when you are 13 you are allowed to light your own candles.

And, apparently when you become a teenager you start sleeping a lot more.  Well, in Jayden's case this can't be true since I have a lot of evidence that he did a lot of sleeping before....

 As I got going through the scrapbook, I found more and more "Jayden sleeping" pictures.  Poor kid.

 I sure do miss my little "Jaybers".  He has been a lot of fun to have around and I look forward to finding out what kind of teenager he'll be.