Dinosaur Park

Right when we got into Utah, we headed to the Dinosaur Park up in Ogden.

D and Ja immediately gravitated toward tormenting the ducks wandering around the park.







The older kids loved running around checking out all the huge dinosaurs (and their TEETH!)










The little kids really enjoyed the playground area, and dragged the adults with them quite often.








There were slides galore, and various play structures dotting the area - plenty for everyone. It was nice letting the kids wear themselves out after being stuck in the van for 2 days!















Many picture opportunities, but again,... not many taken of myself - i really need to pass the camera off more often ;-)

Rest Areas

A BIG highlight of our trip were the many rest areas we saw! An unfortunate necessity in traveling with kids, but we made the best of it.





The kids enjoyed climbing on anything and everything!! And of repeatedly losing their flip-flops. (especially E - him and ANY kind of shoes do NOT mix!)












On rare occasions i managed to get a picture of cousin Ja (he persisted in being quite elusive throughout the trip - but on this occasion was proud of his climbing accomplishment!)




I attempted to get all the kids together for a group pic,... without much luck, so i took those who came and went on with candid single-shots (MUCH easier with the number of kids we had!)

Utah Trip - in da car

One of the activities we did in the car was molding sheets of tinfoil. I honestly thought the kids would get tired of this one pretty fast - but it turned out to be one of the best-loved activities of the trip. D's favorite to make were swords and star-ships.




All of the kids enjoyed the wikki sticks that i had bought for them, but A was the most creative with them - she made pictures on the lid, twirled glasses, complete jewelry sets, and model animals of all shapes and sizes. My main issue with the Wikki sticks was that the kids fought over them - they all wanted MORE!






You've always got to get a good pic of the St. Louis Arch; the kids loved seeing it!









E and C slept a fair amount on the trip out - and they really enjoyed wearing their tye-dye shirts that they made at the library. Cousin L helped me out a lot on that activity; picture my 4 munchkins chomping at the bit, surrounded by oodles of permanent dye. I did pretty well in keeping the kids clean, but managed to dye my own hands quite purple.

Camera fun

The kids REALLY enjoy goofing off with the camera, taking their own pictures and movies, etc. They spent quite a while doing that once when Cousin L was watching them. D decided to 'do' his hair, and then they set the camera on timer and went totally picture happy. They had a LOT of fun!

father's day pics

Knowing we'd be on the road during father's day, we celebrated it the weekend before. We started it with breakfast in bed - eggs, sausage biscuits, and OJ. A gifted M with a sprig of flowers to decorate his had with (and M's such a good sport about it! - he's awesome!)





We did church in the mid-day, and then came home for our early supper: venison and vegetable red curry.








For desert (i do enjoy an excuse to bake!) we had carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I LOVE my dear hubby, and he's a wonderful father! Happy Father's day, babe!!

My daughters... the rockers.

A and D have had these cheap play guitars for a while. They bring them out every now and again to play and goof off. The strings were beyond cheap, and so i had to replace them - but it'll at least make sounds (even if it isn't really in-tune) so the munchkins just love playing with them.


I think A is going to be my main acoustic flower-child girl.



C, however, is destined to be a radical punk-rocker, leaping and head-thrashing across the stage.... naked ;->

Family Get-together pics

We had a family get-together at Dave's house last month, here are some pics from the festivities!

At the end of the slip-n-slide.

my bro. D's fast moving munchkin wanting to get in on the action.

One of the many biff-sessions.

D really enjoyed playing with his uncles - he ran after EVERYTHING!!

It always seems like i'm playing catch-up

We had a wonderful trip out to Utah and a reunion with everyone out there; it was awesome to have an opportunity to see some of my own siblings out there also. We don't get together very regularly, and so i loved the chance to see and spend time with them.

I'm going to back-track a bit and toss out the pics that i'd meant to get out there back when summer started:

A really enjoyed her dance class this past year. She had her recital right before school ended. She's been in the Latin and Ballroom class which she has enjoyed more than the ballet/tap combo. Her class did a jive number to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." She wants to take a musical theatre class next year. Being the little drama-queen that she is, i think she'll do an awesome job!





This would be my little E-munchkin. His hair is getting a little scraggly, but i haven't bothered to get out my clippers and scissors. Cousin L wants me to not cut it and just let it grow. Hmmm... we'll see. :-)










This is C reading her book to A's dog, Tiny. C really loves stuffed animals, and will borrow everyone's whenever the opportunity arises. She loves reading books on her own even more than she enjoys us reading to her (apparently we don't flip the pages fast enough for her ;-)




These are some pics of the kids when they went to the free fishing derby up in Richmond. Only one tiny fish was caught, but there was still fun to be had by all. A was the brave one to hold the fish and then throw it back.