Camping at Kaibab Lake in Willaims, AZ

We tried a new campground this year.  Dakri always books a group site.  The site we used to go to was great, but you needed it fit 10 or more families and was more expensive. Over the years, a few families have dropped off for various reasons.  This year, we had 7 families, so we went for a smaller group site that fit 7 and it was about 30 minutes from the other campground.

Personally, I loved it because we didn't have a 30 minute drive down a dirt road. It was a few minutes off the freeway.  Which also makes for an easy trip to the grocery store if you forgot something.  

We were the first ones there and the kids got busy exploring.  Noah climbed a tree.

Ben jumped on rocks.

Emily did handstands.

David and I get busy getting camp all set up.  The kids are semi helpful, but a lot of it is muscle work and David and I are just a good team. We get the whole thing set up in about an hour. Honestly, the kids just get in the way, so we send them out exploring, which is what they'd rather be doing anyway.

Another thing I liked about this campground is the lake is right there.  We had a nice view of the water all weekend.

Noah got busy making a fire. This kid loves fire. He learned how to light a match which he would've lit the entire pack of 300 if I didn't stop him.  He's very responsible, so don't worry Mom.

Dakri brought me a margarita!  

We had lots of relaxing happy hour time.

The first night we had philly cheese steaks and salad.  Emily enjoyed being waited on.

Then, we made smores.  These kids could eat 5 smores a day.  They were limited to 2.

Then, Ben built a fort. They were doing a version of the TV show Naked and Afraid, but with clothes on.

Noah carried this long all the way to camp and I have no idea how. It seriously weighed as much as him. He's about 48 pounds. I could barely lift the log. It was impressive.

Emily being cute. The lake looks small, but we were on the end where it ended. 

It curved all the way around. 

Josh burns an art project every year in the fire. He loves art.  :)

The next morning, Noah was back to making a fire.

David made us all yummy breakfast of bacon, chorizo, pancakes and eggs.  

David, me, Dakri and Ryan walked around the whole lake and it took us over an hour.  I think this is the only picture I took of that hike.

Oh wait, here's one from Dakri's Facebook page...

Our table was in full sun at lunch, so we had a picnic.

And took naps...

Then, David should Noah the trick of putting the lit match in your mouth and blowing smoke rings.  Noah was totally impressed and my husband smelled like a forest fire.

Emily learned how to flip upside down in the hammock.  Kind of like a bat.

The sunsets were my favorite with the sun coming through all the trees.

In the morning it was time to french braid Emily's hair again.

Noah liked finding those little green bb's.

The boys enjoyed some Jiffy Pop.  It's so fun to make camping and it's so good!

We took the boys for a hike and told them they were on a scavenger hunt for a bone, eagles nest and dead fish. We scouted it out on our walk the day before.  They found the bone. I'm not sure what this is from, but it looked like a huge femur.

There's the eagles nest up in the tree.

Noah found the dead fish and was underwhelmed.  He said, he "thought it would be more dead".  Um, what? It has flies all over it and you can see right through it.  He wanted no skin and only bones. Maybe in another week.

Our camp was right on the other side of the lake.

Now, Emily got in on the Jiffy Pop. We need to bring like 10 of those next time.  

Ben usually prefers to be a loner on camping trips and play by himself. But, he played with the other boys and had a really good time.  He still needed time to himself every day, but he spent the majority of the time playing with all the other kids.

I didn't get any pictures, but there was archery and bb guns and softball games and tons of fun stuff like that.  The kids all played some game called spoons.

And here's the group shot of all the kiddos.

They were supposed to dab, but 2 out of 3 of my kids are too cool for that apparently. 

And one last sunset on the lake and it was time for campfires and smores and the end of another great camping trip.

But not to worry, Dakri already booked the site for next year and we are locked in again!

Haircuts

Gwynne, just turn away now. You won't want to see this. My mother in law loves longer hair and no beard. But, no too long of hair.  

Anyway, she won't be happy.  Sorry, Gwynne!

The boys wanted a shorter haircut for summer.  Basically, they just don't want to comb their hair for 2 months.  So, they ask and Gina's Beauty Parlor delivers.

This was Ben's before.

And his after.

And here's Noah's before. 

His during....

His hair is so hard to cut. It's so thin and wispy and he doesn't stop moving.

Here's Noah after. He was just at the pool, so his eyes are red.  He wasn't crying...I swear, Gwynne!

And now for something to cheer up my mother in law.... our cute kitty taking over Rocko's bed!

Around Our House

A big post about our camping trip with tons of pictures is coming. But, these were some pics on my phone for the last few weeks that I wanted to post.  We got home from camping on Monday and it's been a whirlwind with work and the kids being out of school.

I love my kids dearly, but I'm so used to working in silence.  The talk...A LOT!  I don't know where they get that from. :) It took me three hours to do a grocery store ad that normally takes about 90 minutes. They ask questions, they want stuff, they fight. All of which requires me to change focus from work and focus on them. 

But these days are short, so I'm trying to embrace them and our time together.  But, it's entirely possible that I hid in my closet with a bag of Doritos on Tuesday for 30 minutes.  

This kid is adorable and he makes random noises for no reason ALL DAY LONG.  Here he is with his fidget spinner.  He had to have one. He even slept with it for a few days.  Seriously, who knew these things were going to be such a hit.  It's literally some bearings and it goes round and round.  It is fun though, even David and I like to play with it.

Even the cat likes the fidget spinner.

Emily brought me home this pillow she made in Home Ec.  It's so cute!  I made this awful hot dog pillow in Jr. High. Remember that one, Mom?  It was ugly and not fluffy and I had to sew on mustard. I hate mustard. Anyway, I like Emily's pillow a lot better.

The kids had all their award assemblies for school.  There's Emily smack dab in the middle for Principal's List. She made Principal's List all year!

And here's the much smaller group for perfect attendance for the semester.

Here's Ben getting Principal's List.  He got all A's all year too!

And here he is for Perfect Attendance.

Then, a small group of kids that had perfect attendance ALL YEAR got called up.

And they got a Kindle Fire!  This is Ben's second year in a row with perfect attendance, so he now has 2 Kindle Fires. Since they are the same edition, he was sweet enough to give the new one to Noah.

And I don't have a picture, but Noah brought home a certificate for Perfect Attendance for the quarter too!  Geez, my kids were really healthy this year!

Ok, so that catches us up on the last week of school.  I'll get to camping in a few days.