Too Hot for the Park

Today, the kids wanted to get out and do something fun, so we attempted a trip to the park. We haven't done this for a few weeks, so I wasn't thinking about how hot the play equipment would be. Good thing we brought their scooters along. They rode around for a while and played on the swings. It didn't take too long for all of us to be HOT and decide that maybe we would try the library for a little outing instead. We drove down the street to the library and played with puzzles and read books in the cool air conditioned room. I did get a couple of cute pictures from our short trip to the park.

I'm Back

I know it's been a couple of weeks... I took a little trip to CA for my sister, Kyra's 8th grade promotion as well as my brother, Caleb's high school graduation. Then I left all my kids there for the next week so I could go to Girls Camp with the young women in our ward. I got home on Saturday night, and then Sean and I spent our shared holiday of Father's Day and my birthday on Sunday before I headed out on Monday morning. It was pretty weird first of all to have a day at home without our kids, but even more weird that it was a holiday for both of us. We took advantage of the quiet and took a really long Sunday nap. I made breakfast, and Sean made the dinner. Then we both worked on our apple pie treat.
Our Girls Camp location is just up in the Hualapai Mountains right outside of Kingman (about 30 minutes away), which was nice (close, but high enough to be much cooler than the Kingman temperatures that week). It was a good week, and I was very impressed by the lack of girl drama from our young women. You never can tell what is going to happen when you have a bunch of teenage girls sharing tents and outhouses and cooking on camping stoves for a week, but our girls were great. We had a good time. I took a little hike with the first year campers, and then I hiked up the mountain with the 4th year girls so they could go repelling. I had no intention of going. After most of the girls had gone, there was one young woman who was really debating about going. Just joking around, I asked one of the repelling guides as he was talking about the safety features if it was safe enough for a pregnant woman. "Oh yeah." He said. Then I said, "no really..I'm 6 months pregnant - could I go?" And he said it was totally safe and the pressure wasn't on the belly at all. I've gone repelling before, and he was right - they had all sorts of extra safety features (just to reassure the girls that were a little nervous). I strapped right in and took a little trip off the mountain. It was fun.
I got home on Friday morning. Sean and I met my parents half way between our houses that night to pick up the kids. We were glad to have them back. We took a few days to adjust to all the craziness of the past week, but now we are in the swing of things again.

This is the result of a week away from my bed and then getting home after 1 AM from picking the kids up from Grandpa and Grandma. Ben was just as worn out as me.

Dancing Queen

Caelan had her Spring Dance recital on Saturday. She danced to a version of "Part of Your World" from Little Mermaid. Her dance class is so entertaining to watch because there are girls ranging in age from 3-5 years old. Some are busy following along with the dance and others are doing random twirls and jumps to the music. I love it. Caelan did quite well. She had been practicing at home. It was cute.
PS. You can tell it's the end of the school year because all sorts of events are happening for my oldest (preschool graduation, dance recitals, etc). I'll even out the posts with the other two kids throughout the summer.

Happy Birthday Caelan!

Caelan turned 5 years old yesterday (I cannot believe it). She's been really excited for her birthday, asking me every day for the past month, "How many days before my birthday." She woke up yesterday and came straight to the edge of my bed and nudged me and said, "Mom, now I am 5 years old." She wanted a princess cake (we settled for a castle cake with a princess figurine on the side). We just had a simple family party at home. She had a fun day.