Catching up from slacking off

We had a mini-quasi-camp-out. We had a fire, made s'mores, and set up a tent. The boys played in it for a while, and then we went inside and went to bed. For our s'mores we did the traditional roasted marshmallow, but put it in between two Keebler fudge stripe cookies. I got them for super cheap...about the same as one bar of chocolate. That was about as much as Sam ate. He dropped it and gave the ants quite a feast.


Emily and Charles borrowed a back pack from Mike to go to Europe for a month. Oh, to be a newlywed again. And to go on vacation for a month. How would that be? Sam fit inside the pack, but it was only fun for a second.

Hmmm. I like nectarines. And I like putting stuff in my bowl.
Perfect!

Sam had to wear his goggles because...

then he could see as he was running through the Nemo sprinkler! What a great way to burn off some extra energy.

Insight

Tonight Sam picked up a section of train track that someone brought up from the basement.

Sam: Mom, this goes downstairs.

Mom: Okay, we'll put it away tomorrow.

Sam: But the basement is a mess.

Mom: Well, we'll just have to clean it up.

Sam: Do girls like to put things away?

Mom: Uh, about as much as boys do.

Sam: Well, you like to put things away.

Sam informs me on a daily basis that girls like things that are pretty, and boys like things that are cool and awesome. The other day we saw a huge rainbow from the back of our house. I told him we should get Dad to come and see the pretty rainbow, and he said no, it's not a pretty rainbow, it's a cool rainbow. I'm with him pretty much all the time. Where does he pick this stuff up?

We had 5 kids (at one point 7) at our house all afternoon. All of our guests had the same last name, but it was two different, unrelated families (whose dads have the same first name too). We had a lot of fun, but I'm exhausted. I also made 2 batches of banana muffins, and they're almost gone. Mike's friend came over and helped him fix our sad, leaky shower. The faucet was 30 years old and just wouldn't shut off all the way anymore. I wonder how many gallons of water that wasted.

Will thinks he's a big boy now, hanging out with the 3 year olds. Another little boy was napping, otherwise I'm sure he would have been in on it too. I really like hot wheels.

Love This Kid!

Pioneer Day

Other than not feeling awesome, Pioneer Day was the first holiday in months that something terrible didn't happen. After four holidays in a row of catastrophe, you start to get a complex. We got together with the Paul Perrins for some tasty dinner and fireworks.

Luke and Sam in their matching shorts throwing snaps. Poppers? The little white things that make noise when you throw them.
Sparklers!! Sam was either making really fast circles, or spelling his name.
Brownies and milk on the porch. We were lighting fireworks by the street, and when I turned around to see where Liam was, he was sitting by himself on the porch with a brownie in each hand. I wish Will would do that.
It wasn't dark, but it was still fun. It was more important to get the kids to bed at a reasonable time than to wait for three hours until dark. Some neighbor kids came and watched too. They seemed pretty impressed.

Mike and I saw Batman earlier in the day. 9:15 in the morning, actually. We went with another couple in our ward. Rodrigo is a movie nut. His basement looks like a movie theater. He used to produce movies back in the Philippines, and he LOVES movies. I thought it was good, but too dark and violent. At least a lot of it was implied violence rather than a lot of gore. Well, I guess there was plenty of gore. But I think CSI is worse. Michael Caine is the perfect Alfred. And I love Morgan Freeman in it too.

New Pool!

We had a fun little impromptu pool party. We finally inflated the pool (it took forever since we don't have an electric pump), and Sam was so excited that he just shed his clothes. Will was soaked in 1.2 seconds, so we just left him in his clothes. It's like our own private toddler water park. Slide, spraying water, basketball, ring toss. Nothing's too good for my kids.

We didn't realized we needed to tie the slide down before filling it.

Quite possibly the best face in the history of earth. It doesn't really even look like him. But I like it. A lot.

Camp

Will was such a trooper at camp. Being with 25 females for 2 full days can be pretty overwhelming for any guy. He got the little red mark on his forehead right after we got to the cabin. One of the girls was holding him, and his head somehow met up with her braces at a high velocity.

He looks cute and innocent. Full of mischief is a little more accurate.

So, if I splash I might get wet? I don't want to get wet! I just want to splash!

Cousins!

This is Liam and Will, second cousins. Together they are William. That was not planned. They're about 2 1/2 months apart, and you'd swear they're in cahoots. Liam decided to have a milk intolerance, so Will did to. Will, however, one-upped him and kicked in a soy intolerance for good measure. Liam is short for his age. Will is short for his age. Liam is (or at least was) skinny for his age. Will is skinny for his age. Liam has had a couple of hospital visits. Will has had a couple of hospital visits. It like no matter what Liam does, Will does it too. And so far it hasn't necessarily been very pleasant. But look how cute they are!

5 of the 7.5 Clayton cousins. I really like Will's face in this picture.
Sam loves to play with Ben and Cory. They jumped off the little wall over and over. I couldn't get any pictures of them holding still.

Mike and our niece Alta. She feels right at home with Mike. Convenient, the whole identical twin thing.