Girl's Camp Highlights

In the strength of the Lord I can do all things.
He know hows to change the weakness in me,
So I will let His love lift me up.
He believes I can do hard things if I will trust Him,
And walk forward in the strength of the Lord. –Jenny Phillips

Monday, June 2
Waaaayyyyy back at the beginning of June, LadyBug and I went to Girl's Camp.

{Can you believe that 23 teenagers turned up at 7:00 am to go camping?
LadyBug is on the front row, second from the right.
I am on the front row, third from the left.}

I use the term "camping" here very loosely. It was a lot different than when I went to camp as a young woman. We had to sleep in tents, dig latrines, and cook on a number 10 can stove. There were a few similarities. We were definitely up in the mountains, surrounded by trees and deer and nature. But that is where the similarities ended. We slept cabins with bunk beds {there were no mattresses; you had to bring a foam pad, but is definitely better than sleeping on the ground}. We had electricity and running water and flushing toilets and showers {never mind that finding time to take one was a completely different matter}. We still had to cook on propane camp stoves and pot guts ventured into our pavilion area to pick up any food we dropped. But there was a fridge in a pantry area with a door that closed to keep the pot guts from getting into the food storage. On a scale from one to roughing it, I'd say we were only one step down from the Ramada Inn.

The camp is situated on 8,000 acres and about 2,500 girls stay there each week. Over the course of the summer 70,000 young women each spend five days enjoying the best Utah has to offer. We left bright and early Monday morning. We had 23 young women from our ward attend. After we unpacked our gear and settled in, we had several fun activities with the other young women in our stake {around 100 more girls}, including a rousing version of Bazooka Bubble Gum, complete with gum for chewing.

Tuesday, June 3
Tuesday was hike day. There were several different hikes as part of the camp certification, and which hike you went on depended on how many years you'd attended camp. I went with the first-year girls. It was a little short of a 3-mile hike and all of the first-years in the stake went together. It wasn't LadyBug's favorite activity. We went at our own pace, walking at almost the back of the procession, but we made it in the end. The trails were amazing, criss-crossing all over the camp and marked with signs so that you could find your way to and from almost anywhere. We didn't have a particular destination, but just made a loop back around to our campsite. The paths were wide enough for only one person and we were asked to stay on the paths, preserving the foliage. It was incredibly beautiful and very peaceful. Even though there were 2,400 other girls there somewhere on the mountain, aside from the girls in our stake, I felt like we had the place to ourselves.

{Top left: Legacy Lake
Top Right: LadyBug and me at the summit of our hike
I know that hat is dorky, but I wear it anyway
Center: Entire group of first-year campers
Bottom Left: My first year campers - Kenna, LadyBug, Abbey, Me and Jada
Jada just turned 13 and the other girls are 12
Bottom Right: Moving upwards along the trail}

Wednesday, June 4
Wednesday we got to go canoeing on Legacy Lake. It was my favorite day. LadyBug, one of our other girls, and I shared a canoe and had so much fun paddling around.

{The bottom picture is a panorama of about ¼ of the shoreline.
Right click on the photo to open in a new tab so you can zoom in for more details.}

Wednesday, we also provided the camp an hour of service. I was so amazing at how self-sustaining the camp is. It is staffed mostly by volunteers; retired couples serving together. They have their own water treatment plant and everyone who comes and stays at the camp gets an opportunity to give back just a little bit. During our service, we pulled some logs along the trail back to our campsite to be cut into firewood. Prior to that, someone had been into the woods to cut down trees that had died. The trees were cut into manageable size logs and dragged to the trail for us to take back to camp. From there someone else cut it into firewood so that we could use it in the evenings for campfires and s'mores. Anything that wasn't large enough for firewood was run through the wood chipper by someone in our group and then later, another group could take it in wheelbarrows along the trails to keep them from getting too dusty and dry. In one our, we provided the camp 125 man-hours so that the next group could enjoy this beautiful camp.

Thursday, June 5
Thursday was the challenge course. There were five or six {I forget} low challenges and each ward was asked to send one or two leaders to be trained on those so they could help the girls when it was their challenge course day. It had a really fun time helping the girls and the challenge course is one of their favorite activities for the week. The high challenge, of course, is the highlight of the day. LadyBug and I were in separate groups; my group did the high challenge first and then moved on to the low challenge where I was trained. From there they moved on to the other courses and I stayed put. I got to see and help LadyBug and my other girls when they came through my challenge, but didn't get to see any of them on the high course. I was told that LadyBug met the challenge with determination.

You start by climbing a rope ladder. Then you have to move from the rope ladder to a suspension "bridge." At the end of the bridge, you get to go on a zip line. My goal for the week was to enjoy the experience as much as possible, so I didn't think about it, but just put the harness on and climbed the ladder one step at a time. I'm so glad I did.

Friday, June 6
When I was asked to work with the Young Women in my ward January, I knew that I would get to do a lot of fun things. And there would be some hard things, too. Girl's Camp was hard and wonderful. When you throw 23 girls together into two cabins and they spend all week hiking and canoeing and staying up late giggling, there is bound to be some drama. But I have to say, the drama among these girls was minimal.

Aside from all the fun things we did at camp, there were opportunities to feel God's love and guidance and to learn together. We met together as a stake for Family Home Evening on Monday. We had wonderful speakers on Tuesday and Wednesday night. We sang together and prayed together. Thursday night we spent together as a ward talking about our experiences and the things we had learned. And each of us was able to spend some quiet time reflecting, praying and studying. Those private moments I spent seeking guidance from the Lord were well spent and have helped me to make some important decisions.

We were all also given a challenge to complete during the week. There were scriptures to memorize, songs to learn, talks to read, questions to answer. You could complete the challenge at your own pace and every one of the 23 girls in our ward, plus all of the leaders who attended {believe me, there was no way I could have pulled it off by myself. The camp director was spectacular, as were the other two leaders who came up} finished the challenge. As recognition for this, we were given a beautiful silver pendant with a young woman and the Provo City Center Temple {currently under construction, and which is very special to me} etched in gold. These were created just for our stake and I was so thrilled to earn mine!

All too soon, our week at camp was over. We were packed and ready to go by 9:00 am. I was home, unpacked, the braids out of my hair, showered and smelling sweet as ever by about 2:00 Friday afternoon. In the weeks since then, even though I got rid of the camping smell, I haven't forgotten the things that I felt and learned there; most importantly that in the strength of the Lord, I can do all things.

Grandma Week 2013: Day 5, Lagoon — Let Fun Reign

A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous. –Alexander Hamilton

Half my lifetime ago, I worked at an amusement park right here in Utah. It was the best job I ever had {well, maybe I've romanticized it a bit, but I loved working there}. During this time I developed somewhat of an unfortunate habit of locking my keys in my car. It happened enough that I kept an extra set of keys at work and my parents had an extra set in case I locked my keys in the car somewhere other than at work.

I must have been channeling my 20 year-old self in anticipation for our Grandma Week trip to Lagoon because when I got home yesterday afternoon I locked my keys in my car. I didn't discover it until it was time to go today, which was after Mr. Bug and his key to my vehicle had already gone to work. Not having a spare set of keys at home and the need to get to our last Grandma Week activity of 2013 kind of fried the circuits in my brain. I called Mr. Bug, who is almost always calm and collected and he suggested I call the police department and see if they could recommend a locksmith, or if they might do it themselves. I did. They would. And two officers came and unlocked my car.

I then discovered that not only had I left the keys in the ignition, I'd left them turned half-way on and the battery was dead. So, I called Mr. Bug again. Still his calm, cool and collected self, he reminded me that we have a fully charged car battery that he bought to use to power his CPAP machine when he goes camping with Grasshopper, but also for a back-up power source in case of emergencies. Such as when his wife locks her keys in the car and runs the battery down. {Sidebar: Mr. Bug made the comment, "boy you must have been tired when you got home yesterday. You've never done this before." I blame the migraine.} I hooked up the jumper cables, got the car started and we were on our way.

{Top Left: Keys discovered locked in the car
Top Right: The police arrive to get the keys out
Middle Right: These guys aren't Gone in 60 Seconds
Bottom Right: Resorting to the Slim Jim
Bottom Left: Brand spanking new jumper cables and a back-up battery to get the party started}

We had lots of fun. Most unfortunately, my mom {a.k.a. The Grandma in Grandma Week} sustained a small injury while rollerskating on Saturday and wasn't able to make it to Lagoon. My sister, Robin and her husband, Jeremy, came and so did my brother, Andrew, and his wife, Ellen, in addition to my other two sisters, Julie and Jill, and their kids. We're quite the crew.

{Top Left: Frog, Julie, Cap'n Underpants, Mantis, Miss Butterfly, Grasshopper & LadyBug
Center Left: Cricket, Jill, Toad & Lizard Boy
Right: Cricket, LadyBug & Grasshopper
Bottom: Grasshopper, Toad, Andrew, Ellen, Mantis, Jeremy, Cap'n Underpants, Robin}

Lagoon has evolved quite a bit in the last 20 years. It has changed from a stationary carnival to almost a proper amusement park, complete with overpriced concessions {overpriced everything, really}, seven eight roller coasters and several dozen other rides and attractions. They even have a teacup ride, new this year.

{Top Left: Jeremy & Robin on the Paratrooper (ferris wheel on an angle)
Center Left: Capn' Underpants on Scamper (little bumper cars)
Bottom Left: Lizard Boy & Toad on the Dinosaur Drop
Top Right Grasshopper, Andrew & Ellen on the Tipsey Tea Cups
Bottom Center: Toad & Julie on The Bat (suspension coaster)
Bottom Right: Toad on Scamper}

We pretty much rode until we dropped. Julie and her crew and I with my two were pretty much the last ones out of the park at 10:30 pm, despite the fact that we both had to be up early to get back to real life the next morning.

{Top Left: Miss Butterfly & LadyBug on the Paratrooper
Second Left: Frog on Scamper
Third Left: Robin & Jeremy on The Bat
Top Right: Capn' Underpants & Lizard Boy on The Bat
Center Left: Selfie (me) and Lizard Boy on the Wooden Roller Coaster
Bottom Left: Toad, Lizard Boy and me on the walkway in line for Bombora
Bottom Right: LadyBug, Jeremy & Miss Butterfly on the Tipsey Tea Cups}

Thank you, Grandma, for a fun week! We can't wait until next year!

Grandma Week 2013: Day 4, What Matters Most

What is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should let them know. –Thomas S. Monson, Finding Joy in the Journey, October 2008

Sunday is a day apart. The bouncy house gets put away, and outside activities are set aside. Our plans include going to church and spending time with the people who matter most. Family is what Grandma Week is all about. We've had so much fun the past few days; the Not-So-Little Bugs with their cousins and grandparents and me with my silibngs and parents and nieces and nephews. But we decided to come home and spend the afternoon with Mr. Bug, because we haven't seen him since Wednesday {and because I had a stupid migraine and hadn't slept in a bed for three days}. Mr. Bug, I love you.

And just in case you didn't know, Mom, Dad, Julie, Mark, Jill, Robin & Andrew, and all the cousins, I love you, too!

Grandma Week 2013: Day 3, Saturday Skate and Other Fun Stuff

If you don't fall every now and then, you're not trying hard enough! –Unknown

When I was little {and I say "little" instead of "when I was a kid," because I'm pretty sure I'm not a grown-up yet} we used to go roller skating every other Saturday morning. We'd usually go to the 10:00 session, pay our admission, get our hands stamped, rent our skates and spend the next two hours having a fabulous time rolling around the rink. There was a D.J. who would play music, dedicate skates to "couples only" {I forgot to ask my sister, Julie, if she remembers what what we did during those; I imagine we sat them out because we were only in elementary school}, led the hokey pokey, announced birthdays and had the skaters reverse direction every now and then to keep it interesting. Because we went so often, my dad had his own skates. He was pretty good, too. He could skate backwards and everything. So it was a bit nostalgic and a lot of fun to go roller skating during Grandma Week this year. My dad dusted off his skates and was the first one on the rink. He was skating like a pro from the word go.

{Top Left: Dad (a.k.a. Grandpa) lacing up his skates
Bottom Left: Still got it
Right: Skating backwards

Our family grew up in two sets; the big kids {me, Julie & Mark} and the little kids {Jill, Robin & Andrew}. My memories of Saturday skating trips mostly include my parents and the big kids. I think the last time I went skating was in the 80's. But the little kids went skating too. Jill, who is the oldest of the little kids, was quick to get on the rink and got her groove right back on.

{Top Left: Mantis
Second Down Left: Cap'n Underpants
Third Down Left: Grandma & Cricket
Bottom Left: Miss Butterfly
Top Center: Julie, Miss Butterfly, Jill
Center: Jill & Cricket
Right: Grasshopper
Bottom Right: Grandpa, Mantis, Grandma, Cricket & Julie}

We had a few spills. I think everyone fell down at least once. My skating skills were pretty rusty. I have a couple of new bruises, but it was fun to visit this childhood memory and share it with my kids. Grandpa spent time helping any of the grand kids who needed a bit of coaching. Everyone was on skates at one point or another and rink allowed scooters as well, so almost everyone switched off a bit. Miss Butterfly rented roller blades and kept up with the best of the skaters. Grasshopper preferred to scooter most of the time. And whatever the mode of transportation {see also, Baby Cricket in her stroller} everyone had a really fun time.

{Top Left: Lizard Boy
Center Left: Toad
Bottom Left: LadyBug & Grasshopper getting their skates on
Top Right: Grandpa, Julie, Jill, Frog, Grandma & Cricket
Bottom Right: LadyBug and me}

As is tradition, my mom also rented a bouncy house to go in the back yard. The kids bounced in it off and on all day long. The kids watched as the Guy With the Bouncy House got it set up. Toad came in to report that it had been staked to the ground, blown up and if it was OK with Grandma, it was OK with the Bouncy House Guy for them to jump in it. When Grandma gave her approval, a delighted Toad announced, The bouncy house is officially open!

{Top Left: Cap'n Underpants
Center Left: Mantis doing a flip
Bottom Left: Miss Butterfly
Top Right: Grasshopper, Frog & Mantis
Bottom Right Front Row: Cap'n Underpants, Mantis, Toad, Lizard
Back: Frog, Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly & LadyBug}

In between the bouncing and skating, we had cookies for breakfast {you can when you're at Grandma's, you know}, ate crêpes for brunch, stayed in our jammies until noon, had a good time chatting with each other, cooked hamburgers on the grill and ate ice cream bars and popsicles.

{Top Left: Frog
Top Right: Cricket & LadyBug
Bottom Left: Mantis, Cap'n Underpants, Grasshopper, Woodland Sprite, LadyBug, Toad, Miss Butterfly
Bottom Right: Pixie

Disclaimer: I used my iPhone for all the photos over the last few days, but I doubt that my fancy camera would have made much of a difference in the quality {well, maybe if I read the instruction manual} as it is hard to shoot a moving target. Obviously, we're going for quantity over quality here.

Grandma Week 2013: Day 2, Antelope Island

When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass and so, we are all connected in the great circle of life.
–Mufasa

Today was day two of Grandma Week, an annual staycation organized and hosted by my mom. Today we visited Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake State Park. It was pretty awesome.

{Top Left: A buffalo
Top Right: Antelope in the grass at the foreground, a buffalo on the salty/sandy beach and Farmington Bay beyond that
Bottom: A herd of buffalo}

There is an old ranch out on Antelope Island that was a working ranch up until a few years back. There were lots of interesting things to see. And of course, we had to stop for a few photos. Here are all the grandkids with my mom {the Grandma in Grandma Week} and dad {a.k.a. Grandpa}.

{In front of the tractor: LadyBug, Grandma, Baby Cricket, Pixie, Mantis, Cap'n Underpants
On the Tractor: Lizard Boy, Miss Butterfly, Toad (formerly Mouse), Frog (formerly Roly-Poly), Grasshopper, Woodland Sprite, Grandpa}

Here's my little family. I'm the oldest of the siblings.

{Top: Grasshopper's first day as a blacksmith's apprentice
Bottom Left: Elizabeth (a.k.a. LizzieBug, a.k.a. me) & LadyBug
Bottom Right: LadyBug, Elizabeth & Grasshopper}

This is my sister, Julie, who is next in birth order, with her little and not-so-little bugs.

{Top, Left to Right: Mantis, Julie, Frog (formerly Roly-Poly), Miss Butterfly, Cap'n Underpants
Bottom Left: Miss Butterfly
Bottom Right: Cap'n Underpants, Frog}

This is my brother Mark, and his two cuties. They are more mythical woodland creatures than your every day garden variety bugs.

{Left: Markus (formerly Mark), Pixie & Woodland Sprite
Top Right: Pixie
Bottom Right: Woodland Sprite & Pixie}

This is Jill, my twin-ten-years-younger, and her bugs.

{Top Left: Toad (formerly Mouse)
Top Right: Baby Cricket
Bottom: Toad, Jill, Cricket & Lizard Boy}

We have one more sister and one more brother, who don't have kids yet, but who are always welcome at Grandma Week and who will join us for some other activites in the next day or two.

After we explored the grounds a little, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in a grassy area shaded with large and very old trees. And then we explored the ranch house a bit. It was very old. I think the ranch was originally built in the 1850's. The ranch house had been updated somewhat, but looked and felt like it was from the early 1900's. There were lots of interesting things inside, not the least of which were these two old quilts. The Courthouse Steps quilt looked like it was about ready to fall apart. I kind of wanted to execute a rescue mission.

{Quilts in the Ranch House
Left: Snowball & four-patch, hand quilted with baptist fans
Right: Courthouse steps, tied}

And there were three old and beautiful sewing machines which I might have carried off if I could have gotten away with it. The White Rotary, in the top right, was in beautiful condition. I don't know if it worked, but I'm sure that if it were cleaned up it would look almost new.

{Sewing Machines in the Ranch House
Top Left: Bel Air
Top Right: White Rotary
Bottom: Singer Treadle}

After we finished at the ranch house, we headed out to explore The Great Salt Lake. The lake is at least twice as salty as the ocean and can be up to eight times as salty as the ocean in certain areas, depending on rainfall and evaporation. There are no outlets, so the salt just accumulates. In some areas there are 3 or 4 inches of salt sitting at the bottom of the lake. Brine flies and brine shrimp flourish.

{Left: LadyBug
Top Right: Lizard Boy with a brine shrimp on a rock
Bottom Right: Grasshopper's knobbly Hobbit feet, covered in sand}

The water was very shallow for a long way into the lake, and it was very warm. I loved Grasshopper's enthusiasm on this outing. He is kind of at an awkward age; too big to be a kid anymore but not big enough to be an adult. It was fun to see him enjoy himself without trying to figure out exactly where he fit in. He has his "teenage" moments, but the for the most part, he is a very mellow, helpful, kind, thoughful boy. I am amazed at what a neat person he is becoming.

{Grasshopper splashing in the Great Salt Lake, after which he pauses to wipe the salt off his glasses}

LadyBug loves the water. She, Miss Butterfly and Grasshopper were the first ones in the water and the last ones out.

{Top Left: LadyBug
Top Right: Miss Butterfly
Bottom: Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly, Mantis & LadyBug}

The kids all had a fun time floating in the salt water.

{Top Right: Lizard Boy
Top Left: Frog
Bottom: Cap'n Underpants}

When we were finished, even though we all had showers, we all still had a fine layer of salt on us after we dried.

Grandma Week 2013: Day 1, The Aquatic Center

Excuse me. I'm looking for the swimming pool. –Unknown

Every summer my mom hosts a fun staycation for her grandkids. Grasshopper and LadyBug start asking when it is going to be before school ends in the spring. In early July, she did had a few unofficial Grandma Week activities with some of the grandkids. My sister and her husband went to meet his parents in England at the end of their LDS Mission there and left their kids with my mom. She invited whoever could make it to do a couple of activities while my sister was gone. I wasn't able to make it because of work, but Grasshopper and Ladybug and some of their cousins road the light rail system, went watersliding and made a trip to the dollar store.

Today kicked off the official Grandma Week for this year. Swimming is always on the schedule. This year, we went to an outdoor aquatic center and had a super fun, splashy time. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

{Top Left: Mantis, Cap'n Underpants & Lizard Boy
Top Right: Jill & Baby Cricket
Bottom: Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly, LadyBug, Mantis & Cap'n Underpants}

{Top Left: Toad (formerly Mouse)
Top Right: Grasshopper
Bottom: Miss Butterfly, LadyBug & Grasshopper}

{Grasshopper jumping off the low and high dives}

{Left: LadyBug jumping off the low dive
Top Right: Miss Butterfly jumping off the low dive
Bottom Right: Cap'n Underpants doing a flip off the high dive}

{Left: Frog (formerly Roly-Poly)
Top Right: Lizard Boy
Bottom Right: LadyBug}

Grandma Week 2012: Day 8, There's Only One ... Lagoon

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich.
–Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H

Today was the last day of Grandma Week for 2012. Most everyone started the day by going to the Brigham City Temple open house. Grasshopper had an school orientation this morning that we felt was important for him to attend, so LadyBug, Grasshopper and I went to the open house on Saturday, and made a quick trip home for Grasshopper's thing at school.

Then we met at Lagoon around midday.

{back row l to r: Jeremy, Julie, Miss Butterfly, Grasshopper, Mr. Bug, Elizabeth
front row l to r: Mantis, Cap'n Underpants, Roly Poly, LadyBug, Grandma}

What with all the fun things to do I don't think we were all together at one time to get a photo of the full group.

{Mark & Pixie}

Because of the varied activities and interests we split up into groups so that the little people could ride on the little people rides, and the crazy people could ride on the big scary rides and the sane people could ride on the more sensible rides. LadyBug is a die-hard roller coaster fan, just like her mom and grandma. She rode six of the nine coasters {only because we ran out of time}, including the incredibly intimidating Wicked {riders launch straight up a 110-foot tower at 41 mph and over the top of the first hill, which then makes a 180˚ turn and plummets straight back down. The ride continues through through steep valleys, high-banked turns, a half-pipe, and a heart-roll inversion, achieving speeds of up to 55 mph.} We laughed, we ate delicious-but-horrible-at-the-same-time amusement park fast food, we faced mortal peril and came out victors! It was an awesome day and an awesome way to end Grandma Week.

Thank you, mom, for a really fun week! I love you!

Grandma Week 2012: Day 7, A Day of Rest

We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. –Erma Bombeck

Usually we do Grandma Week earlier in the summer, but this year my brother, Andrew, was coming home from his two-year service mission for our church so my mom {the Grandma in charge of Grandma week} scheduled {most of} our activities after his return. As we do not have a paid clergy, our meetings consist of members teaching other members the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and when you return from a mission you are often invited to speak in church about your experiences and the things you learned. Andrew and both of my parents were invited to speak in church and attending the meeting together was part of our scheduled activities.

We have one sister who lives just a few blocks from my mom and our brother and his kids live near enough that they don't need to sleep at my mom's. But another of my sisters lives a good 2½ hours away and we live an hour and 15 minutes away, so my mom has a full house for Grandma Week. We sleep on couches and floors, in bunk beds and on futons. Shower times are easily negotiated and everybody is reasonably comfortable. But since my mom's ward {congregation} meets at 9:00 am, and it is best to arrive showered and shaved, my sister put together a schedule that provided shower times for 12 people between 6:00 and 8:00 am. It was truly miraculous. Everyone had hot water and we were in our seats, washed, pressed, fed and relatively happy 10 minutes before services started. It was a wonderful meeting and we enjoyed being together. After church, we had a large pot-luck lunch, with ham and potato salad and lots of yummy desserts. The kids played and the adults talked and we had a really relaxing afternoon and evening.

---

Attending the open house for the Brigham City LDS Temple is another of our activities. Grasshopper, LadyBug and I went on Saturday night and the rest of the group are going on Monday, so it seemed to fit better between the two days, in this post.

Temples are beautiful, sacred places. They are not open to the public, or even to all members of The Church, except for the few weeks after construction and prior to being put into service. Anyone wishing to view the temple may attend the open house.



Read more about Temples

Grandma Week 2012: Day 6, Corn Dogs and the Air Force Museum with Grandpa

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!
–Albert Einstein

Aren't Saturday mornings wonderful? Saturday during Grandma Week is no exception. There's plenty of time to read the news.

{Roly Poly}

No hurry to get dressed.

{Dogpile top to bottom: Miss Butterfly, Andrew, Grasshopper, Mantis, LadyBug}

And once the chores are done, Grandpa takes the kids to do some of his favorite things.

{Top: Miss Butterfly
Bottom Left: Grasshopper, Mantis, Grandpa, Mouse
Bottom Right: LadyBug, Julie, Roly Poly, Cap'n Underpants}

My dad loves hot dogs, especially ones bought at the gas station C-store. Today he treated all the grand kids to a gas station corn dog picnic, followed by a visit to the Air Force Museum.

After checking out all the cool historical Air Force stuff, they got to make rockets at the Aerospace Center for Education and launch them off.

{Center l to r: Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly, LadyBug with Instructor Larry who did a terrific job, Mantis, Lizard Boy, Cap'n Underpants and Instructor Larry again, Mouse, Roly Poly
Bottom l to r: Grandpa, Lizard Boy, Roly Poly, Mouse, LadyBug, Miss Butterfly, Mantis, Grasshopper, Cap'n Underpants}

Grandma Week 2012: Day 5, Bumper Cars, Bowling & the Aquatic Center Do-Over

Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space. –Evan Esar

Today we went to a fun center. All the attractions are 99 cents during the summer. We started out with bumper cars. We had two more people than they had bumper cars, so we split into groups; big kids and little kids. It was super fun!

{l to r: Cap'n Underpants, Mouse, Mantis, Roly Poly}

Then we went bowling. Someone put on her flip-flops and forgot to bring socks. She had to buy a pair from the vending machine. At least they were stripey and cute.

{My new vending machine socks. Turns out they were lucky; I got two strikes, a spare and bowled a 103! Wohoo!}

Quote of the day:
Andrew, age [a few days short of] 21
So, Jill, I see you brought your own bowling ball.

{Grandma, Jill, Andrew}

Roly Poly took his bowling seriously. I think he bowled an 86.

{I asked Roly Poly about his socks. His reply: "They're Boise State."}

After bowling and lunch, we we went to our favorite indoor/outdoor aquatic center. We attempted a swim day during part 1 of our Grandma Week this year, but it was a bust. The management was gracious enough to issue us free admission for a return trip.

Quote of the day #2
Lizard Boy, age 7
I was three dollars [to get in] but now I'm free dollars.

{Lizard Boy}

Swim day is LadyBug's favorite. I love that smile!

{Roly Poly, LadyBug, Andrew}

{Andrew, Grasshopper}

Quote of the day #3
Mouse, age 5
After borrowing Andrew's swim goggles and exploring the underwater world . . .
From my observation of goggles, mom's feet are not touching the ground.

Grandma Week 2012: Day 4, Bouncy House and Crafts

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. –Joyce Brothers

My mom is so cool. She rented a bouncy house for the day.

Expected delivery time was approximately 7:00 am. Miss Butterfly and LadyBug were up before then, waiting to be the first kids in the bounce house. It wasn't delivered until about 20 after and by then all the kids were awake and waiting. When they got word that it had arrived, there was a stampede up the stairs from the basement and a delighted squeal of, Eeeeee! Bouncy! was heard from Roly Poly as they all went out the door.

{Miss Butterfly}

{Cap'n Underpants & Miss Butterfly}

{Miss Butterfly & Mantis}

During the hottest part of the day, we came inside for crafts. The kids ate about a hundred freezer pops, did fuse bead art and wove bracelets from parachute cording.

{l to r: Roly Poly, Mantis, Lizard Boy & Mouse}

Quote of the Day:
Pixie, age 4
While trying to get her fuse beads in exactly the right place . . .
It looks like I'm going to have to do this the hard way.