Neighborhood Camp Out

I'm tired and dirty. So's everyone else in my family. And in my neighborhood.

A night of camping will do that to you.

But it was worth it.

We've got such a great neighborhood. Since we moved in almost three years ago and there were like 3 families with kids in the neighborhood, more and more great families have moved in and the kids have developed a sort of cousin-like relationship with the great kids who live up and down our street. They are outside much of the day, riding scooters, skateboards and rollerblades, climbing trees, playing with the neighbors beloved kittens, and coming up with all sorts of imaginative games involving Ninjas and princesses and you name it. For the past couple of weeks, around 8pm most nights, all the neighborhood kids have gathered in front of our house for a rousing game of "Sharks and Minnows" on our front lawn. The big kids are pretty careful of the younger kids and everyone has a fabulous time. Someone inevitably gets hurt but not at all seriously so after the hurt one is comforted, they continue on until darkness starts to fall and parents call them in. It's so interesting and fun to watch them work everything out and have so much fun together.

All the kids and parents really enjoy being together. And since we moved in, several yearly neighborhood events have become traditions. We do a Halloween dinner and parade, a Thanksgiving day fun-run/Turkey Trot, a holiday house-to-house progressive dinner focused on adults, a Christmas fundraiser-concert where the kids share their talents and parents and friends pay to watch then the kids donate the money they've earned to needy kids, an Easter egg hunt, a beginning-of-summer BBQ/street party where we block off the street, and this year we tried something new - a neighborhood camp out.



What a joy it was for the kids to play in the trees and in the stream, eat s'mores to their heart's delight and not have to say goodbye to their neighborhood friends once it got dark! And it was so nice to be able to relax and chat with our good neighbors and friends around the campfire. Ashton brought his guitar and played some good stuff and some people told scary (but not very) stories. There's nothing like that campfire glow or the bright moon or the sound of the crickets on a summer night.

Here's Steve teaching Eliza and her neighborhood friends how to play "Scum." They loved it. Void of sisters, Eliza's so happy to have so many great girls right here in our neighborhood.


We kept things simple by camping at the Ogden Nature Center - close by, nice handy bathrooms, lots of tables and logs to sit on, and camp counselors to organize some fun activities for the kids and provide breakfast. Plus there are these awesome treehouses there where some of the kids slept.

Here's the only photo I got of any adults (our shadows). See the haze from all the Utah wildfires in the distance? It made the light really interesting and surreal.


Of course, everything wasn't butterflies and rainbows. There was some crying in the night. And some throwing up. (Luckily not from our kids - been there, done that...) When you get this many kids together for an overnighter, there are bound to be some sorts of issues that arise...

But I think these are memories the kids will have forever. And that's worth a lot.

Here are all the kids who came to the campout:

Favorite Childhood Photos

For my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I went back through some photos of me as a kid with my kids. Here are some favorites - just so I've got them gathered neatly in one place (blogs are so great for that!).

My blessing day (check out my mom's awesome fake hairpiece)


With my lovely, adoring mom

At our house in Virginia - I loved this green cordouroy pantsuit my mom made for me, that collage in the background is lots of views/renditions of the tower at Utah State University where my parents got engaged, and you've got to love how my parents had a round waterbed with the water sack enclosure covered in blue shag carpet to match the carpet on the floor. Big time stylish.


Me with baby Josh - loved that tree wall paper we had in our living room and the black pleather couch we had for ages


in Jackson Hole - dress styles sure were short!


I remember wearing this outfit pretty much every day for ages. The purple unitard was for dance and once I coupled that with a green wrap-around cheerleading skirt a teenage neighbor gave me (it went around me twice and then safety-pinned) and a super-crop top, I had a truly great outfit.

I was SO excited when my hair got long enough for pigtails! Just like my daughter Eliza, my hair took FOREVER to grow. I yearned for the braids and ponytails my friends had. By age 5, this was all the length I had even though I'd never had my hair (other than my bangs) cut. Oh, and I LOVED that coat - wore it for years.

 Here's one of the few pictures I've got of me with my beloved cat, Geneva. I had that cat for almost 15 years and he was the greatest cat ever. Plus I love this photo of everyone else (except maybe my dad...)

 Jumping in the leaves for Dad's birthday (with the hammock we played on all the time in the background - we'd weave our arms and legs through its ropes, then have someone flip the hammock over to see if we could stay on...)


5th grade

6th grade

  With our beloved dog, Cainie - another long-time pet who was totally part of the family.

Outtake from a family photo my senior year of high school. What awesome 80's hair I had!

Great Catch-up Week - and new Ancestor Wall

Last week was SUCH a nice week. We were home all week long - the first full week all summer that we've been home w/o major events going on. No weddings. No reunions. No trips to Salt Lake. There's nothing like an action-packed summer to make you appreciate a quiet week at home!

Ashton and Isaac (and Jared for part of the week) were at Scout Camp all week, having the time of their lives. So it was just me and the three younger kids for the most part. And it was so great to focus on just three people for a while (after focusing on about 40 or so for most of the summer at reunions, Retreats, etc.).

I helped the kids get a bunch of their summer goals checked off and got them back into a good routine of doing their daily must-do's. I cleaned out my totally overflowing email inbox and my heaped up mail and random paper pile on my desk plus caught up on some backlogged Power of Moms work. We finally got our poor old van cleaned inside and out (after about 6 road trips this summer, it was definitely time for a serious cleaning). The kids helped get the house cleaner than it's been all summer and we cleaned out their cubbies and mine in the closet (so many expired coupons, left-over school papers, etc). We had a great time catching up with and hanging out with neighbors, going for runs (me) and rollerblade and scooter rides (Eliza and the twins) around the neighborhood, running errands, going out to lunch, etc. We also made it to the Farmers' Market downtown and a free movie at the amphitheater down the street for the first time this summer.

And as a special surprise for Jared, the kids and I worked on a new Ancestor wall. We've had this one (below) for years featuring a bunch of my family's ancestor photos.

But I've had a hard time tracking down photos of Jared's ancestors so I've had a blank wall saved for their photos for ages. Thanks to the family reunion we had up in Idaho weekend before last (post about that coming soon) and my realization that I could simply take digital photos of the photos people brought, I was able to get lots of great photos for this blank wall. Here's the result (and I'll keep adding photos on up the stairs):

Close ups of some of my favorite photos from this wall:

This is Jared's dad (who passed away a few years ago) as a teenager on his family's farm that he inherited and loved so much.

Here's Jared's dad with his dad after a fishing trip. Fishing was one of Grandpa's favorite things to do.

Here's a similar photo to the one of the man in the field on the ancestor wall along with an explanation - pretty cool that Jared's grandfather's forward-thinking farming techniques were nationally-recognized and that photo was displayed at the Department of Agriculture in Washington DC.

Here's Jared's mom (on the right) with her brothers and cousins:

I love that these great ancestors are right there in our front hallways to watch over us and be part of our lives.

I've still got a to-do list that is LONG but now it's categorized and listed by priority and everything feels much more doable when my inbox on my desk isn't overflowing with papers and my cubbies are cleaned out in the closet and my email inbox is slimmed down. I've been on a good running schedule but I've been eating too liberally this summer - especially late at night. So I'm getting back on track this week. I know what works for me but I've made so many exceptions this summer that there's nothing but exceptions going on lately! So I'll state this here to keep myself accountable. I'm not going to eat anything other than fruits and vegetables after 8pm and I'm going to drink a glass of water before I ever eat anything and be sure to each at least 5 fruits and veggies each day.

Eyrealm Music Video

Noah and Kristi, this year's wonderful reunion organizers, had the idea of creating a music video. They spent a LONG time on this and did an amazing job. And watching it makes my heart ache a bit  - I sure miss these people!

Eyrealm 2013 video final from Noah Eyre on Vimeo.

Bear Lake in Photos

There were literally 1000's of photos taken at Bear Lake. My photographer-siblings (Shawni, Saydi, Josh, Eli, Kristi...) used their awesome talents and cameras to capture some amazing images and spent hours editing and sharing beautiful photos. But if I wait to gather and sort all their images and then combine them with mine, I won't get a post up about Bear Lake for ages (if ever) and/or I'll get analysis paralysis when it comes to deciding which of the many many many great photos I should post. 

So I'm just going to share a little taste of Bear Lake here - my simple, untouched photos from my basic camera and my phone will suffice for now...especially if I combine them with a few readily-available photos I've borrowed from others and links to other people's great posts about various parts of our Bear Lake time.

Oh, what a time we had!

REUNION

Beginning of the reunion - Noah and Kristi going over the schedule, everyone getting excited: (More on reunions in general here)

When cleaning out my parents' old house, we found these huge photo banners and Noah and Kristi decided to hang them up for the reunion - great blast from the past! Noah and Kristi are up there on the deck unfurling the photos as part of the reunion opening ceremony. Then they had us all pair up with someone else, interview that person briefly, then share a few little-known facts about that person as a quick opening activity - really great way to start.

Annual bonfire with the unveiling of our Reunion Playlist (more details here.)


Annual talent show:

Talent show audience:

The first annual Eyrealm Relay - SO FUN - everyone who could walk got placed on teams somewhat balanced by age and ability and each team covered the 12 miles between our cabin and the nearest place where you can get raspberry shakes (the Bear Cave). Everyone ran as far as they could, then another runner on their team hopped out of their team vehicle and took over. Some ran a couple miles, some ran a 100 feet. Everyone was a winner! (For a great full post on the Relay with lots more photos and commentary by my cute mom, click here.)

Eli was looking pretty chipper and fast:

But I passed him. Pretty proud of that.

Oliver ran the whole thing in flip flops - and did a pretty darn good job:

Isaac doing his team proud:

One group coming to the finish line right behind our group:

My relay group:

GRANDCHILDREN GROUPS

The kids have so much fun with their cousins. Each age-group of cousins has developed quite a bond.

Here's Ashton's group - GROUP 1 - Ashton, Max and Elle (how did they get so big, seriously!). 

These three played a lot of pool together, had a great time wakeboarding and waterskiing and canoeing together. And oldest cousin, Max, has a driver's license now and they were so excited that their group could go to the Bear Cave for shakes w/o any adults needing to drive them there. 

After Max had to leave to go back to his summer job in Arizona, Elle and Ashton had so much fun making videos together:

Here's the video they made about the second annual Eyrealm reunion "Fear Factor" - great capturing of a great activity! Eliza, Camden and Ashton were the three finalists this year.

Here's Elle's video of the full reunion from this year 

(Ashton helped a little, but this was mostly Elle - great stuff! 

CLICK ON LINK BELOW PHOTO TO PLAY.)

http://vimeo.com/71126216

Plus they had so much fun with their little cousins - 

here are a some photos I found on my camera that they took: 

Baby Zara, as the newest cousin, was pretty much the star of the reunion. Miss her!

GROUP 2: Isaac's cousins Ana and Gracie are just a month apart from him in age. They are a pretty darn tight little group and this year, now that they're all 12, they got to go on a wonderful motorhome adventure with Grammie and Grandfather (to Lagoon - of all super-exciting wonderful destinations for 12-year-olds!). Here's my mom's great write-up about their motorhome adventure.

GROUP 3: With no sisters, these girls are extra-important to Eliza. They have SO much fun together.

And they're quite amazing with the littler girl cousins - great helpers and mentors:


Here's a whole post about what these girls did on their Grammie Camp this year (learning about ancestors, doing art, mentoring the little girls...).

GROUP 4: The twins and these three cousins, Camden, Charlie and McKay, can't get enough of each other. They move in a little pack the whole time at Bear Lake, playing in the sand, riding on the boat, tubing, and emptying the dishwasher as requested. Often when I'd ask one of the twins to do something, they'd say, "well, we need a little group 4 time right now" and we'd have to negotiate a bit.

Here's Group 4 headed off on their Grammie Camp (to read all about Grammie Camps, click here.)



Here's Group 4 on the beautiful new grass play area my parents' surprised us with this year - "Grandchildren's Green."



OTHER TIDBITS

Dad's new Sailboat was a big hit with everyone (especially him - how he LOVES sailing!). Photos are courtesy of Shawni.

Our family has been going to the Dingle ward (20 minute drive from the cabin) during the summer for like 35 years now. We grew up with the great people there and love seeing them there every summer. And they're so kind to somehow absorb an extra 20+ kids in their nursery and Primary when we're there!

I love seeing these cousins in Sacrament meeting together, older ones helping younger ones behave.

Oh, what food we have at Bear Lake! Eli's curry, Saydi's bread salad, Jonah's burgers, Kristi's fish tacos, tons of awesome salads, mom's brownie cake, everyone's favorite version of chocolate chip cookies... I have to go running in the morning and go for a long swim every afternoon to work off all those calories I just can't say no to!

After the reunion, the crowd thinned out slightly as some people had to go back to work and other obligations but most of us stayed on for days of swimming, water skiing, chatting and reading on the beach while the kids played, going for early morning runs, going for late-afternoon swims, making lots more great food...

The kids play for hours and hours in the sand, building dams and castles:

Ashton told nightly stories to Shawni's daughter Lucy while Shawni was out of town for a few days during our Bear Lake time. He's quite a story-teller. This story was about a little girl who learned to love eating vegetables above all other foods (Lucy's working on eating extra healthy) and he wove in a bunch of ancestor stories. Pretty cute. And pretty gratifying to see that all my story-telling all these years seems to have rubbed off somewhat on this great oldest boy of mine.

Uno was a big part of Bear Lake this year - different groups of kids were playing Uno pretty much constantly!

And to finish, here are some glimpses of the scenery which is always changing and always amazing: