Kate Turns 12!!!!

For the last three months Kate has been saying, "I'm not 11. I am ALMOST 12." Now she can say, "I am 12!"  Kate is 60lbs and about 4ft 5inches. She is indeed a very tiny 12 year old. I wonder if this will be the year Kate hits that growth spurt

I think Kate would say that she had a great birthday. At noon we left and went to Jimmy John's for lunch. Then we headed to the mall. Kate used a gift card she got for her birthday and bought some clothes at Macy's. Then we all went over to Claire's and Ruth and Kate got their ears pierced. We went to a couple other stores in the mall, ran a few errands for Kate's dinner choice and went home. Kate got to spend time drawing with her dad. Then she opened her presents. Kate has been asking for The American Girl Doll, Felicity since Christmas. Little did she know, I bought the doll early in March. In May, the doll sold out, and we kept assuring her there was no way she would get that gift so ask for something else. After that we had a yummy salmon dinner and Kate's usual banana splits for dessert. Later John took the four oldest to see KungFu Panda 2 in the dollar theater. Yes, I think Kate had a great day.

The Moose and Other Camping Adventures

1. Around 4am, our first night camping, I woke up to a loud grunting noise. It sounded fairly close to our tent. I startled and called out, "What is that noise?" John woke up and sat quietly listening. All seemed very still. We were about to relax and go back to sleep when the bushes around our tent started to move. I said. "oh, something is definitely there." I suggested that John go and check on the kids in the other tent. John did not think it wise to leave our tent, but he did want to warn the older kids to stay in their tent no matter what. John went, and just before he came back there was one more loud grunt. John asked if I had heard that. Yes, yes I had. Wanting to get some more sleep I suggested it was just a raccoon. John pointed out that the grunt was very deep and therefore had to come from a large animal. He was sure it was a bear. We had crumbs from the kids, left on the ground. There are warnings posted everywhere about bears. It had to be a bear. I conceded, but suggested we just stay in our tent and try to sleep. We did try. Joseph woke up.

In the morning, I left the tent to use the bathroom, and heard the noise again over by the river. I had to see what made that noise, so I went over to look. I looked along the river bank and there was a moose! A girl moose in fact. Feeling very relieved, I went to the bathroom and returned to tell John that we had a moose beside our tent, not a bear. John still wasn't sure. I was.

Later, Ruth was standing by the river, looked up and a moose was right there, 5 feet across the river staring at her. Ruth stood stock still-- smart girl-- until the moose lost interest and ran off into the woods.

Still later, the very nice camp managers stopped by to tell me some money saving tips for next time. I think they were concerned for me being alone with so many little ones. They even brought me kindling that they had chopped. I told them about the noise and the moose. They told me that in the three years they had worked at the campground there had not even been a bear siting in all of Big Cottonwood Canyon. So why all the signs????

2. Because Big Cottonwood Canyon is the watershed area, or where the people in Salt Lake County get their drinking water, you are not supposed to wade and swim in the water. My kids knew this. I explained it all. I told them they could walk around or play by the banks of the river, but not go in. But, there were several fallen trees over the river. It became the sport to cross these while other kids threw big rocks into the water to splash the person crossing. Johnny lost his balance, fell completely into the river and had a shoe float away. So if any of you in Salt Lake County get a black sneaker stuck in your pipes could you please return it :).

 
3. Things I learned camping with my kids: 1. It is okay to eat sooty, burnt marshmallows, but not sooty golden fluffy pancakes. 2.If we have cookies, candy, chips, and hot cocoa in plenty, I need not worry about cooking because no one will eat it anyway. 3.Little kids do not fall asleep in a tent, but they will fall asleep shut in the car, buckled in a car seat. 4.Kate is very capable and can set up a small tent all by herself in just a few minutes. If Ruth can do this, she will not for fear that I may ask her to do it another time. 5. No matter how many times you wash your hands and your kids faces while camping they will stay coated with dirt, and 6. You do not need hairspray while camping because the dirt holds your hair together beautifully!

Camping!!

I took the kids camping while all their friends started school. I think this was a good idea because Ruth and Kate both agreed that they would rather be camping then attending school.  They only started grieving this morning after we got back home.

We camped in Big Cottonwood Canyon, not too far from Doughnut Falls because it was the closest mountain campground to John's work. Of course, the fact that it is a very pretty area helped too. We left Monday morning, ran a few errands and then headed up to the campground. We had a double spot right next to the river. That turned out well because the kids spent most of their time exploring near the river.

The first night, the kids all wanted to get into the tents and try to sleep. I thought this was funny and unlike my children but we did as they requested. Ruth, Kate, and Johnny got to share a tent apart from the rest of us. John and I thought they would be scared. Instead they were excited for the independence.

The next day went fairly well. John got into work late, so we did not have him until 6pm. We read, took walks through the campground, explored the river and drew pictures. The day was pleasant enough, but we were happy to see John when he arrived.

The second night we had a yummy dinner and a lot of fun around the campfire, talking, and singing and playing games. Ruth and Kate lead the kids in a bunch of singing and dancing games. I then had us play "oral what if"-- a game I made up with my college friend years ago where one person thinks of a what if question while the other thinks of a then answer and then you say what you thought. It is silly and really funny. I really enjoyed my time with my family and with nature.

We left first thing this morning. I did not want to make a fire. We were all tired from sleeping in the cold and in tents for two nights. It was time to go. In fact, I did not have to tell any of the kids to get into the car. All of the kids got into the car on their own well before we were ready to go.

In the car and ready to go.

While we will all sleep better tonight, we are glad to have had peaceful time away from modern life. It is nice only to have yourselves and nature for entertainment. It is also nice to come home to hot showers and well stuffed beds.

Two Dollar Tuesdays

In August, Thanksgiving Point has all of their things open for $2 each on Tuesday. I thought I would take the kids up to see the Dinosaur Museum there given the price. I have been wanting to buy a family pass, but we have not yet had the spare $200 I will need to do this. So the dinosaur museum for $14 sounded pretty good. Apparently half the state of Utah had the same thought. We went; we saw the many awesome dinosaur skeletons they have, and we did this standing in a pushing line of people. You could not go backwards in the line. It felt like being at a crowded rock concert (less noisy, though). Most of the kids enjoyed it. The Dinosaurs scared Anya, and Ruth felt like she is too old for dinosaurs. Anya kept saying, "get me out of this place." I think the large crowd made my shy child nervous too. Ruth walked around sighing. Kate loved it and took a million pictures. Johnny and Adam talked about each display with avid interest. Rachel and Joseph loved all of the hands on projects. So while, it was CRAZY busy, most of us still found pleasure in the trip. I think I will still try and gather that spare $200 for a family pass and go without half the state of Utah.

Joshua and Eating

Joshua is a horrible nurser. He wiggles all over the place while he nurses. He comes off and on a lot. He gets all sweaty. I just don't enjoy nursing him at all. When he hit the 6 month point I wanted to start pushing the solid foods and cutting down how much he breast feeds. I did do that. He started out eating pretty well, although still wiggling all over the place. He seemed less fussy. Things were going well. Then a week ago,  he didn't want his food. I tried everyday and he wouldn't eat. I would put a spoonful of food in his mouth, he would hold his mouth opened saying, "uh, uh, uh," until I wiped the food out of his mouth. At first I thought he must be feeling ill. We had had 2 kids with a stomach bug. I thought he would get over it. He still hasn't, but when we had chocolate cake on Monday, John was  holding Joshua in his lap. Joshua dove for the cake and actually ate the bite he got. We all thought this was pretty funny. Anya gave him a few bites of cake and instead of holding his mouth open, he ate it. Now he will eat anything chocolate but nothing else! So I am stuck with  a fussy nursing baby that will only eat chocolate. The kid is definitely a Robertson!

School Uniforms

For our homeschool Ruth and Kate requested that we make school uniforms mandatory. Since I already bought a lot of school clothes (really just winter clothes), we will make school uniforms optional.

Pretzels on the Trail

Some day my kids may kill me. But I do delight in embarrassing them :)!