Jayke's first scout camp-out

 Jayke got to go on his first scout camp-out just recently. I was quite jealous that Ryan went with him. Sadly, we only have pictures of before he left.

His pack weighed a total of 21 pounds. It looked monstrous on him! Since I did not get to come along on the camp-out, Jayke has graciously described his experience for us. It was definitely a memorable experience for him!

As I left for my first scout camp-out I knew I was in for a lot of excitement. It was a long drive before we got there. We couldn't have dinner until we got to camp. On our drive up there it was raining and I said to dad, "My scout book is going to get wet!" He told me not to worry because my back pack was probably built to handle this weather. Since it was still raining we were lucky mom had made me pack a poncho for the two of us. We had to look a while before we found our camping spot. Luckily, shortly after we found it the rain had stopped. We set up our tent and helped the other campers with their tents. We had a welcome meeting. During the meeting the boy scouts performed some skits and I learned that my friend Kyle Petersen's dad saved a boy from drowning when he was a boy scout! When the meeting was over we got back to camp, ate dinner, waited a while (I wanted to explore in this time) and then tried to fall asleep. While we were attempting to go to sleep we heard coyotes in the camp ground right next to the tents. They sounded so cool!!! We woke up the next morning to the sound of a trumpet and there was dew all over the tent! We got some breakfast and went to opening exercises. Then we started the FUN part of the day, trying not to freeze while doing fun activities. We started with learning the key of backpacking: light objects. After that we learned about light foods (most of them are dehydrated foods). Then we went to learn about proper campsites and while we were at that station we saw a tarantula about 6 inches across and 2 or 3 inches tall! On our way to the last station we saw another tarantula about the same size as the last one. The last station of the day was my favorite. We were orienteering with a map and compass! We  had to find five flags that were charted on a map in about 15 minutes. We had a good start. On our way to the first flag we saw a third tarantula  that was again, about the same size! Then we finally found the flag! We had to decide if we were going to take a trail or go over a small (but steep) mountain. We chose the mountain. About half way through I got a small cactus in the inside of my right leg just about 2 or 3 inches below the knee. When we were about to find the next flag we heard the "time to return signal". Brother Hancock was so close he just kept going for a little and found the flag. When we got back the leaders gave us two bags of dehydrated food and told us to make some thing with it. Dallin, Dad, and I made black berry cobbler. Hunter and Jordan made black berry oat meal, scrambled eggs and pancakes. We got in the car and I told dad to drop me off at the out house. I was in the port-a-Jon dropping the kids of at the pool when someone started to prepare to take the out houses away. So as you might suspect, I was a little startled. I started knocking on the door. Luckily they noticed I was in the out house. Then dad came out of the car, worried I might be accidentally taken away, and notified them that I was in there. I got out and started my trip home.

First hike of the "cooler" season!

Now that we are officially over the days of "fire and brimstone" for a few months, we decided it was a good idea to join our home school group for an easy hike. The trail for this month was the hieroglyphics trail.  The morning started out a little rushed because I had forgotten about the hike until late the night before. Sadly, that meant we didn't have a lot of yummy snacks. We were left with Ritz crackers, tangerines, and Wowbutter (peanut butter alternative) sandwiches. Thankfully the kids were so hungry when we got to the top that they didn't complain about the food at all.

The trail started out nice and easy with just a slight incline. Aimee kept telling me, "I love hiking" and "This is the best day", which always makes a mom feel good. Halfway up, she started changing that to, "I'm so hungry!" Sorry girl, that's what happens when you refuse to eat more than 3 bites each meal for the past month!

 Nice wide, "smooth" trail at the beginning.

 About halfway up, taking a drink break.

 Still pretty early in the hike, and still all smiles. So excited to be outdoors on a semi-cloudy day.

The last little bit of the trail was fairly steep and very rocky for the little ones. We had a few other young boys sticking close to us and they kept running off on little side "trails" getting lost. I finally told them to stay with us so they didn't "find" any rattlesnakes in the bushes.

We finally got to the top and found hoards of people soaking up the sunlight on the rocks. We found a shady little area and ate our lunch. Then, the boys ran off and played with the little tadpoles in the water. The kids were all very excited to see the petroglyphs carved into the rocks.

 Little Miss was excited to see Mama after the long trip.

 Finally relaxing at the top.

Kate enjoying her Wowbutter sandwich.

Playing with tadpoles in the water.

V begged me to let her play on the rocks. (Meaning she screamed as shrill as possible until I took her out of the pack.) She was more than thrilled to find some sand to play with!

I stood around, enjoying the views and watching the kids play around the rocks.

 The view down the mountain.

All the boys playing under the petroglyphs.

Some of the kids playing up the rocks.

 The view up the mountain. Beautiful clouds speckling the sky.

 Ethan and Kate basking in the sunlight.

All the kids ready to head back down.

Going down was much easier, as it always is. Aimee just wanted to run, which was a definite no-no with all the rocks. The first time she fell, it was more of a slip and roll, in really slow motion. She was pretty upset that she rubbed her face on the ground. She tried convincing me that she got a cut, but it wasn't even a scratch. It was more of a "light sanding". I convinced her to let me hold her hand for a while. That is when she fell again, but this time it was a "trip and fly" because I picked her up as soon as she tripped and then let her get her footing again. She didn't appreciate my holding her hand, even though I saved her face from eating rocks. So towards the bottom of the trail, when the parking lot was in view, she got excited and started running again. This time I was nowhere near her and she took a really good tumble right onto some rocks. She still has rocks embedded in her palm. :-(

 This is after the first "roll" for Aimee. She was not happy to be in a picture and thought it was the worst day ever. Little was she aware of what was coming her way. ;-)

 

Same place on the trail. Just without Aimee. 

 The kids loved the look of this part of the mountain.

Jayke kept looking for viewpoints and wanted to stop anytime he could see anything. It was all basically the same view, just lower and lower elevation.

 Almost to the bottom. Kids are enjoying the hike again after they were able to drink some of my cold water. I am definitely hoping to get more hydration packs in the future instead of carrying water bottles for all the kids.

I just loved this picture. As we started to get closer to the bottom of the mountain, we started to feel a little breeze. It felt really nice on our sweaty bodies! Aimee started raising her arms in the air and chanting, "let the wind blow in our face" over and over again. You can just see how glorious it must have felt to have a little breeze.

Overall, it was a nice, easy hike to start out the season. Even with a baby on my back, it wasn't too difficult. My knees didn't even complain with their typically popping and grinding. The trip took a total of 3 hours, with probably only 20 minutes at the top eating and playing. I am incredibly grateful for the slight cloud cover, as 72 degrees was still a little too hot for my enjoyment. I am just glad that it wasn't the 90 degrees that it was last week! We will be doing this hike again soon, though it will definitely be much earlier in the morning next time. Hopefully we will have Ryan and a nice camera on our next time around.  

Boys...

 I really do love boys. They are so inquisitive and creative...especially when there are two of them together.

A while ago, Jayke lost another tooth. Ethan thought he would be funny to pretend to be the toothfairy. He carefully slipped under Jayke's pillow and took his tooth. He left this note in place of the tooth. "Dear Jayke, I'm sarry (sorry) I ran out of candy so I just gave you a quarter. Love the tooth fary (fairy)" I thought is was hilarious. Typically the tooth fairy gives candy in our house, as it is easy to come by, but Ethan has an abundance of coins so he switched it this time. Thankfully he did this when he did, because the tooth fairy actually missed our house that night...and the next night... Ugh. We are getting so forgetful in our "old" age.

 A few weeks later, I went outside to check on the boys. They were quite busy with whatever project they were working on, so I let them continue for a while. That is, until I walk to my side yard and almost step on these next to my garden:

At first I was confused about what I was looking at. Piles of similar looking items were grouped together, but I couldn't quite tell what it was, even though it looked very familiar but yet different from what I remember. Upon closer examination, I realized that I was looking at wings, legs, and abdomens...of grasshoppers. My boys told me they were dissecting grasshoppers.

Oh my! I was appalled and curious at the same time.

My first question was, "Did you torture them or did you make sure to do it humanely as possible?" They assured me that they were all dead before they started tearing them apart. They did mention that the legs still kicked even though there were no heads on the bodies. (Gross!) They simply wanted to find out more about the grasshoppers and how they worked.

Ethan took it a little further than that when he started to string the abdomens on a stick to make a necklace. (see pic #2) He said their abdomens made perfect beads.

Yes, those are my boys...and they are definitely boys. And I do love them.

Does anyone else have boys like mine? I'd love to hear some stories.