Swimming Lessons

Nate was finally old enough to go to swim lessons this year, so we had all four in swim lessons.

They all did amazing at swim lessons. Ellie finished level 3, which means she can comfortably swim across the pool on either her front or her back. She also can tread water and generally do whatever she wants to in the pool, and I don't really have to worry to much about her.

Adam and Michael both took level 4 classes. They both did really well, but level 4 is stroke perfection and they struggled a little with the breast stroke and butterfly strokes.

It was nice to have them in the same class, but Adam wasn't so sure about it.

Nate got to take two rounds of swim lessons. He started out not even wanting to put his face in, but by the time he was done he could swim about 10 feet unassisted. I have to say, I was pretty impressed. It's so cute to watch the little ones learn how to swim, they are so small in the water and yet they can move through it. He even does fairly well on his back.

So I asked Adam if he would want to do swim lessons again next year, I told him that he knew the strokes now and all he would get would be to perfect them some more. He wasn't sure but then thought maybe he would. "Oh," I said, "there's one more thing. Ellie would be in your class." NOOO! I don't want to do it then! We'll have to see how this plays out next year, time changes a lot of things.

Visiting with the Dibbs

When we were in Utah, we were able to meet up with our friends, the Dibbs, for a couple of hours. It almost didn't happen because we were both staying 4 hours away from each other, but through careful finagling on Kim and my part, we were able to convince the husbands to meet in the middle. So we met at this really cute park in Fillmore, UT.

The kids played really well together. We had water balloons, but apparently that is much more of a boy activity than girl activity, oops.


The kids found the only stream of water in the whole park and spent some time making a hole for the water to go in. We ended with half the kids without shirts and all of them wet, but they enjoyed themselves.

The kids found a hide out under a big tree and made a "fire."

The next weekend, when we were back in Texas, Brian and Kim came to visit. We had a great time visiting with them, and they even tried out our zipline:

Until next year, I guess....

The Cabin at Panguitch Lake

We had a great time visiting my parents at their cabin at Panguitch Lake. On the way up we saw some snow that hadn't melted, so the kids got to play in it for a few minutes.

We went to the branch up there for Sunday church and the best part was that it was only 1 hour long. Almost makes you want to move there.

Joe came and spent some time with us. One day he and the kids worked to gather wood and chop it up for the summer. The boys really enjoyed pushing over the dead trees.

My parents had a lot of fun activities for the kids to do. One day they made a fruit boquet. Then we had fun eating it.

They also put together models, made tons of perler bead projects and got to do lots of outdoor things. One of the favorites of the boys was to climb up the dirt pile and play in the dirt. Nate found that if he sat on top he could tell the other boys what to do and they would run at his bidding to do it. He would send the dump truck down the hill and then they would chase after it for him and bring it back to him.

Thanks for a great visit Grandpa and Grammie!

Can you say SPOILED?

Yes, its pink. This is totally Joe's brain child and Joe's execution.

4-Wheelers at the Cabin

One of our favorite things to do at the cabin is to ride 4-wheelers. Now the kids are getting bigger, it is harder to take them all with us.
This year I was smart about it and wore a helmet. Luckily, I never needed to use it.
In the mountains around Panguitch Lake, there are a lot of ATV trails. You can just jump on a 4-wheeler and go on a several hour ride. There are many scenic trails, it is so beautiful up there.

One day we went on a 4- hour drive and ended up at a reservoir called Red Reservoir.

You could ride your 4-wheeler along the dam to see the spillway. The boys had to run down to the bottom. It was so far and so steep I was nervous about it, but Joe thought it was no big deal.
The tradition is to go to the general store afterwards and get some ice cream. The kids LOVE it.

Fishing at Lake Panguitch

While we were visiting Grandpa and Grammie's cabin, we spent a lot of time fishing. The first couple of days we didn't catch as many fish as we would like, then after that they were pulling in so many fish that Joe couldn't keep up with them. It was fun, he would put the poles out into the water and almost immediately, one would get a bite. Then while he was reeling that one in, another one would get a bite. Then chaos would ensue as he would try quickly to get them both off the hook and back into the water and get the lines set again. The kids really enjoyed it.



Nate enjoyed playing with the worms. He would have one ready if you needed one.


Joe decided it would be fun if he challenged the kids to eat a worm. Adam decided to try-he at half this worm (yuck).
Here is the chewing stage. It took a lot of chewing for him to get it down. By the end, the rest of us were gagging.
All done, note the dirt in the teeth. (insert gagging from me here )
Adam was getting a lot of attention, so Ellie thought she might like to try it too. She didn't last long...

When the girls got bored, they started playing patty-cake, Ellie loved it.

Looks like we caught a big one-

Adam drove the boat some, he is getting really good at it. He decided he didn't like his picture being taken though.