I just came in from getting London in the tub to find T.J. watching Curious George just like this. Can you guess what he was doing right before this? That's right. Playing with his Mr. Potato Head. Funny T.J.
The first week of July, Austin, Jackson, and Landon went to a History Camp at Camp Floyd out in Fairfield (a few miles west of us). The rangers out there run a history camp every summer and they called for "enlistments" this year. They divided the boys up into Blue and Gray/North and South and taught them about the life of a soldier in the 1800's. They learned all about Johnston's Army, which was an army sent to Utah by President James Buchanan to crush the supposed "Mormon rebellion" which later came to be known as the "Utah War." The army was in Utah for about three years before they were called back East to help fight in the Civil War.
The boys learned a lot about life in the Army back then and also about their heritage, both the heritage of this valley we live in and the heritage of our country. They were particularly impacted by being on opposite sides of the Civil War. Austin fought for the North and Jackson and Landon fought for the South. Many opportunities arose that week to discuss the sacrifices that have been made on our behalf, and the thought of actual fighting between brothers was pretty impactful for them. I was really glad to see the boys get so excited about history and understand what freedom really means.
They marched, learned about formations, and learned how to fire "muskets" (cap guns).
They set up tents, learned about cannons and guns, practiced battle strategies, and even had a mock battle on the last day that we all got to come and watch.
Whey they had completed their three-day enlistment, they received an honorable discharge after a proper salute to their commanding officer.
They were pretty proud of the tents they set up, which were pretty much three pieces of wood, and that big canvas tarp. They LOVE the cap guns and have been having "battles" for the last three weeks! We've run out of caps a few times.
They got a lot of neat stuff at camp, including soldier hats, a T-shirt, a canteen, a knapsack, and a gun. They earned money for things they did right and lost it for things they did wrong which for Jackson and Landon was talking too much (surprise, surprise) and for Austin was gambling (hmmmm). Jackson and Landon were disappointed to find out that they were left with a bunch of Confederate money at the end of the battle. Austin had enough money (after the unfortunate gambling incident) to buy a set of marbles, and Jackson managed to pick up a few arrowheads at the "gift shop" before his money lost all its value. Smart move Jacks.
The boys really enjoyed their time at Camp and will definitely be going back. All those ruffians at the end of the line will be old enough in a few years to start their "basic training."
Last month was my 33rd birthday. It feels a little silly to blog about my own birthday, but being the devoted blogger than I am, skipping a birthday just doesn't seem right.
The picture above is my favorite picture from my birthday. Dave had already promised to get me a road bike for my birthday, but he wanted the kids to get me something. So he took them shopping, and this is what they came home with. I have been wanting some new hand weights. My 10-pounders are too wussy (especially if I'm going to beat Mary in an arm wrestle), so I made the jump to 20 pounds. We'll see how that goes ... Anyway, Dave wanted me to hold one of the weights up for the picture, and we just happened to catch Austin's expression along with it. Too funny.
After lunch at the Harley Davidson cafe in Orem, Dave took me shopping for a new road bike for my birthday. I'd been researching the Fezzari brand and found one in our price range with all the components I wanted. Yeah! The bike is amazing. I love it!
And why does Dave look so happy you ask? He got a new bike too. I'm not sure how that works - he gets a new bike on my birthday. Hmmm. Interesting. He kept reminding me that it was Father's Day just the week before, and of course, I reminded him that I got him a new mitt for Father's Day. Whatever hon. I guess that's what I get for signing him up for a 111-mile bike ride while he's at work. Ha ha!
We've had a lot of fun riding together. For our date night last week, we rode up the Jordan River Parkway and got side tracked onto a golf course at 10:00 at night. The golf course was closed and we rode around all over on the trails, and then the sprinklers came on. It was a lot of fun!
Anyway, the 111-mile ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride) is in two weeks, so Dave, Paula, and I have been training like crazy. The ride starts at Thanksgiving Point at 7:00 a.m. and we'll ride all the way around Utah Lake and back up to Thanksgiving Point (the course map link is below). It's on August 8th. At an average of 15 miles an hour, that's between 7 and 8 hours on the bike, and it could easily be over 90 degrees. Woah. Wish us luck!
Last month we headed up to Island Park for a little vacation with the Leatherwoods before Leslie and Mike and their family took off to live in Arkansas for four years. We dawdled our way up there and stopped at the Idaho Falls Temple for a little bit.
We have been to Yellowstone a few times in the last several years, once when London was a newborn and once when T.J. was a newborn. It was a lot nicer making the drive this time with no diapers, bottles, binkies, or crying. Our kids are good travelers. I make sure to load them up with coloring books, crayons, treats, iPods, Game Boys, DVDs, books, and they're all set. We hardly heard a peep from them. I read most of the way, which was so nice, and Dave drove, which was a nice change of pace since I usually drive and he sleeps. Thanks hon!
We have always wanted to stop at Bear World (just before Rexburg), but the price and the kids being too small to really enjoy it have stopped us. We impulsively decided to go for it this year, and we were not dissapointed. That place is amazing! The kids said it was their favorite part of the trip. They have 40 black bears and 3 grizzlies just wandering around the park, not to mention all kinds of other animals like moose, elk, wolves, etc. You drive through (with the windows rolled up), and the bears just walk right up to your car and all around it. They were particularly interested in the bins of food we had on the trailer on the back! The kids had a great time, and I have to say, even being the non-animal person that I generally am, I really enjoyed it. We drove through the park twice and then stopped by the little petting zoo. I highly recommend it. I think it's worth the money.
We made it Old Faithful just in time to see it go off. I almost missed it due to not being able to find parking. That place is a zoo on the 4th of July weekend! The kids thought it was pretty cool and wanted to know what made it work. Of course, Dave and I had no answers for that. Science is not really our thing.
The cousins found a cool log that worked as a teeter-totter at our picnic spot. They've got a whole boys vs. girls thing going on there.
The kids thought the mud pots were pretty stinky.
I'm not sure how she talked Brian into this, but he carried her for the whole hike.
Too cute!
By the falls - one of our favorite spots.
Artist Point. We had never been to this spot before, but it is beautiful!
London is always willing to pose for a picture. She watches for my hand to make a motion like I might be going for the camera and she starts working on her pose right then. It's like a shoot-out in an old western film - before the camera is out of the holster, she's posed and practicing her smile.
Jackson taking in the sites and making me nervous by hanging over the rock ledge. He loves to make me nervous.
The cousins found a cool slippery slide to play on and got nice and dirty before the hike back up the hill.
Our favorite spot in Yellowstone, overlooking the falls with the yellow stone in the background. Beautiful!
The whole gang at the falls with the yellow stone in the background.
The kids wanted to stop for this mama elk with her baby right across the river.
We had a fun night of skits and singing for our last night.
The kids built a cool fort in the back of the cabin with their cousins.
In June, Jake and Nicki and their kids came out for a visit and we all met in Duck Creek for a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Tischner and Kati and Randy and their kids. It was quite the group, and Duck Creek is a BEAUTIFUL place. We had never been down there before, but we'll definitely be back.
We rented two cabins and Jason managed to swing a couple of free four-wheelers for the week (he's very good at stuff like that). So we spent three days taking the kids for rides and exploring the trails around the cabin. When you have 14 kids waiting for "their turn," it takes a while to get everyone a turn. The kids loved the four-wheelers and had a lot of fun playing with their cousins. London was especially grateful to have another girl to play with. Her life consists mostly of boys, boys, boys all the time. She had a sleepover with Brooklyn every night in their own little room, and they loved it!
The picture above was after Dave and Dad somehow managed to convince me to drive through this huge mud puddle. It was then that I realized that the whole point of this 45-minute ride was to get me to drive through said puddle and get all muddy, which I did. Ha ha ha.
The picture above is what my brothers (and apparently my husband) do if left unsupervised for very long or actually really any amount of time at all, and the real instigator (Jared) wasn't even here! This is Brady helping London and Cameron shoot Dave with an air soft gun. There were only two air soft guns, so Dave, Brady, and Jake made up this little game where they run around in the forest (with walkie-talkies mind you) hunting each other, chasing each other, and then of course, shooting the one without the gun. The words "idiot" and "stupid" were thrown around freely by the spectators as this whole scenario played out. I was shot in the neck and the leg somehow. Go figure. I wasn't running and I definitly didn't have a walkie-talkie. They spent almost as much time chasing around the four older boys in a game they called "nephew hunting." I'm sure you can imagine how that went.
In the picture above, T.J. will sit on any lap that will hold him for as long as they'll hold him. He had a nice time sitting with Grandma Tischner for a while. He came running up after and told me, "Grandma let me sit on her lap for a long long time." That was nice of Grandma to hold him for so long. He's getting big! I'm glad he's still a good snuggler.
In the picture above, you can't see it, but I am covered in little tiny flecks of mud ... in my hair, on my face/glasses, all over my clothes, on my legs, arms, and feet. I survived.
In the pictures above and below, the kids found a big hole in the ground and because they are mostly all boys, they took a bunch of sticks and turned it into a fort. They spent a lot of time running and hiding in their fort, protecting their fort, building/fixing their fort, and hanging a flag (Austin's sweatshirt) on a stick near the fort to signify they were "home." They had a good time and even agreed to share their fort with the girls.
Whenever the Tischners/Mortons get together, one thing is a guarantee ... there will be fishing. My family is definitely a fishing family. My brothers keep fishing gear in their vehicles. My Grandpa Tischner never passes up an opportunity to fish. My dad enjoys fishing, and we went fishing a lot growing up. Our boys appreciate the opportunity to go fishing when we get together. Dave and I are not big fishers. Actually I don't fish at all, and the reason for that is simple - WHAT ON EARTH AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH IT ONCE I CATCH IT?!! That's the problem. I don't touch fish, clean them out, or "gut" them, and I definitely don't EAT them. I also do not hit anything over the head with anything to make sure it is dead. Gag. So thanks to being with my family, Dave takes my boys fishing every once in a while, and they love it. They don't eat it either, which is funny. There's no point in fishing if you don't eat fish.
It was great to get together and relax for a few days. My cell phone didn't work the whole time I was up there, so that was probably good. It was a well-needed break for sure. We had a great time, so thanks Jack and Nicki for arranging it all! Where should we go next time?
