Fummer Fun

We are going to take a little trip down short-term memory lane.  We have made a couple of trips to the cabin in late September/early October.  The weather both times was AMAZING, and felt close to summer even if the calendar and the leaves said differently.   I'll call it Fummer (Fall+Summer).

The colors in Sardine canyon were pretty nonexistent this year, other than brown.  Logan canyon still had some oranges left though:

Once we got through the canyon we headed straight for the beach.  On the way, we found this giant hay bale minion in Garden City across from the park.  Whoever this farmer is, I love him/her and want to be friends.  (And what a beautiful farm in the background, no?)  And there are those cute kids again!

The cat tails were turning their fall colors too, and Cora talked Preston into picking her one.  I told her she could have one but could NOT bring it into the cabin.  We had an experience with exploding cat tails last year that I wasn't in the mood to repeat.

Olive and the kids were so excited to be at the beach!  Poor Olive doesn't get much beach time in the height of summer, since dogs aren't allowed at the beach with the boat ramp.  But she was determined to make up for lost time and loved to bound through the water like a deer.

She also figured out that she can actually swim, and swam around like crazy all weekend.  She even tried to swim after some seagulls, and made me worry a few times that she would swim out so far she wouldn't be able to get back.

The kids were excited to get in the water too, since late September Bear Lake is pretty much as warm as it gets.

 Another nice thing about Bear Lake in the fall.  The beach to ourselves:

The next day we were back at it again, at the Bear Lake West Beach.  My mom and dad came along this time, but somehow I don't have a picture.  I didn't take many pictures at all, actually.  Arden and Cora spent a lot of time collecting seashells (or I guess lakeshells) and trying to set traps for seagulls.  Dax followed Grandpa around as per usual.  We paddled the kayak around a little, and then I borrowed someone's paddle board for a quick paddle.  Preston took this picture of me after Olive swam after me on the paddle board until gave in I lifted her on for a ride.  Once she was up there she was too scared to shake off and got a little cold.  Silly dog.

The next day we laid low and cleaned up.  I re-painted our moose and bear, they were looking a little shabby before.  I thought the kids would help, but they were deeply engrossed in a "Lab Rats" binge watching session.  Oh well, I had fun.  I decided I need to name these guys, any suggestions?  (Dax shockingly suggested "Moosey" and "Barry.")

The drive home was a little cloudy, but still not too shabby.  Did I ever tell you that yellow is my favorite color?  It is.

We were back up for UEA weekend.  On Thursday, we all went for a bike ride along the Garden City bike path.  Well, I ran since I had a half-marathon in a couple of weeks, and everyone else rode.  Cora has a very small bike and has to peddle twice as often as everyone else, but she still made it about 6 miles or so!  No pictures, sorry.

The next day, my mom and I took the kids up to Bloomington Lake while Preston and my dad telecommuted from the cabin.  It was another beautiful day, and this little lake was really pretty, with a big cliff on one side.  The water was a pretty bluish green, kind of like Bear Lake.

 Miss Cora, with the sun shining on her like a spotlight.  I think my camera must have been a little dirty?

 On one side of the lake is a huge rope swing.  I asked the kids if they wanted to try it, but this lake was COLD!  We didn't have our swimsuits anyway, but a bunch of teenagers were swinging on it and it was fun to watch them.  They all screamed and swam back to shore quickly.  Crazy to think it was warm enough to even think about swimming here in mid-October!

 Nearly all of the leaves had already fallen, but we found one little patch of yellow (did I mention its my favorite?) on the drive down the canyon.  I made us all stop so I could get out and bask a little and take some pictures.  There were a LOT of deer hunters up Bloomington Canyon, so we didn't stray off the path too far though.

Now that Halloween is only a couple of days off, I think our Fummer is over.  Rain is in the forecast and the colder part of fall is upon us.  I had to turn on the furnace today for the first time :(.  Oh well, it was super fun while it lasted!  Bring on the sweaters and boots!

Cute Kids and Fall Leaves

Happy Back to the Future Day!  (For those who may not have heard..today, October 21, 2015, was the day Marty McFly traveled to when he went to the "future."  So, hey, where the heck is my flying car??  Little known fact: When I was about Arden's age, I thought Michael J. Fox was super duper cute.  I even had a poster of him up on my wall of cute boy posters.  I think this little infatuation lasted for a year or so, when I found out that I was already taller than him when I was in 4th grade. Anyhoo...)

Speaking of growing taller, these kids of mine are getting bigger and smarter all the time.  Wasn't it yesterday that they looked like this?

Those little cuties are long gone.  (I miss them sometimes!)  Now I have these big cuties, and I couldn't be prouder of them and their smart, beautiful selves:

Cora is loving first grade and comes home every day with stories of which boys chased her and which boys she chased at recess.  She makes me more than a little nervous sometimes.

Arden seems to be growing up faster and faster as the days go by.  She is still so sweet, but I feel those tween years coming up fast.  I dread the hormones and eye rolling and door slamming that is inevitably coming.  Plus, she is getting so beautiful and big!  This also makes me nervous. 

And wow, Dax.  He gets taller every single day, and his feet grow a size per month (or it least it seems that way to me).  He is doing great and really likes second grade so far.  He loves reading chapter books (once he gets started), and has a fun bunch of buddies he plays "wall ball" with every recess.

And here they are all together.  I love this one:

 Awwww....if they could only sit next to each other so nicely in the car on long trips.  Seriously, I sometimes feel like I should put up plexiglass walls between their seats or something so they can't possibly touch each other.  But look how angelic and beautiful they are!

Dax is taller than Arden by a couple of inches now.  Arden really doesn't like it when people assume he is older than she is.  Dax kind of does, though.

Here is a close up of Arden.  This is one of the last pictures taken of her with her braces on.  She got them taken off earlier this week, and we have to go pick up her retainer tomorrow.  She gets to wear that at night for a few years, and then she will enjoy round 2 of braces, poor thing.

 Here is a super closeup of Cora, her eyes are so pretty:

Dax kept pulling weird faces!  He either looked so excited it was a little scary, or just really not excited at all.  This is as good as we could get:

Sure love these stinkers.  Please stop growing up so fast!

Flag Football

Dax wanted to try playing flag football this fall.  He wanted to do soccer and flag football at the same time, but both had games on Saturdays so I made him choose just one (I am a mean, mean mom). He missed playing soccer but has mostly enjoyed himself with the football.

Dax is on the Packers, which he was excited about.  Not because he likes Green Bay or Aaron Rogers or anything like that.  Because...green.

Dax got to be the oldest on his team for a change because of where the birthday cutoff fell.  He took full advantage on the first week and scored two touchdowns.  His coaches are very good at trying to give everyone a chance to carry the ball, so Dax doesn't get a chance to try for a touchdown every game, which can be frustrating for the kid.  But, sometimes he gets lucky and gets a few chances in a game. Last weekend he scored two touchdowns (although one was called back for some sort of penalty that I am still not clear about):

Aaaand, he caught his first pass of the season!  It is the only time they have thrown it to him, and I think only the second completed pass of the season, so it was fun to see.  (They have a completion percentage of about 2% and run the ball pretty much exclusively.)   

This weekend is the last football weekend, and it is the "playoffs," whatever that might entail.  I think the flag football has been fun, but I asked Dax what sport he wants to do next fall and he isn't sure (flag football again?  Back to soccer?  Tackle football?  Who knows.)

I have nothing but respect for his coaches, and yes there is more than one.  Usually there are two, but sometimes there are even three.  There HAVE to be more than one, because there are twice as many little boys on a football team as there are on a soccer team.  That in itself more than doubles the chaos.  Also, in soccer, the kids kind of just run around willy-nilly, but in football, you gotta get all these little crazies to line up in their positions at the beginning of each and every play.  Which is an outright CHORE.  Bless their hearts, the coaches started out trying to say things like "Dax, move up a little," or "Madden, take a few steps to your left."  It didn't take long before the coaches decided this way was easier:

Before each play they are like chess players setting up a game and the kids are their little chess pieces.

The boys are usually pretty good during the games, but practices are another story.  Bless those coaches, they have the patience of Job as these little yay-hoos chase each other all over creation trying to pull each others' flags.  There have been some extra "runs to the bench" if they are really naughty, which I think is good for them :)

It has been fun, and I am a little sad it is almost over.  Go little Pack!