Week 22

{May 30 - June 5}

Monday was Memorial Day, which equals no school! We planted the garden and the pumpkins late that morning. In the afternoon, we went on a little trip up Perreau Creek for a picnic. Josh, Kanyon, and I went up in the truck, and the other 3 boys rode up on their motorbikes. I made tinfoil dinners, and Josh cooked them over the fire while the boys hiked. We played card games, Josh read a book, and then the 3 boys rode their motorbikes back home. Kanyon and I jogged/walked about a mile and a half before Josh stopped reading and decided he was ready to leave too, and then he came and picked us up on the way. It was a great day! We worked, we ate, and we played together!

We decided to plant the potatoes, onions, and
radishes in the garden by our our house this year.

We planted 4 varieties of pumpkins in 13 short rows. Ammon rototilled, Josh hoed,
I carried the seeds, and the 3 younger boys helped plant and cover the seeds.

Theyre ready to go!

This is what the ride up looked like--Kanyon and Tiki were
very intent on watching the boys ride behind us!

Can you see Ammon atop the rock on their hike?

 

Josh--the (sexy) master fire cooker and griller in our family

Kanyon made ketchup designs on his dinner. It looked like a giant flower!

Kanyon burning stuff in the small fire after our picnic.

I love watching butterflies! This one liked our company. 

Kanyon and Micah have found it therapeutic lately to dig giant holes in the dirt pile!

Tuesday was our last full day of school, and it was a busy one! The elementary school's track meet was all morning. I helped as a track official. Kanyon ran the 100m and the 400m, and his field events were the Hula Hoop competition and the Hopper Ball Relay. He was part of the green team, so he decided to color his hair green with temporary spray that morning. It was easy to spot him in the crowd! It was very hot outside that morning, and his two running events were almost back-to-back, but he was able to finish both and he did so well in all of his events. He placed 1st in the hula hoop, which was his best event. Jonah and Micah had their rocket launches outside that morning with the 6th grade. They'd individually built them in science class. Jonah's rocket unfortunately broke after it was launched, but Micah's rocket launch was successful. They were doing that at the same time as the track meet, and since I had to work on the track, I wasn't able to watch them in the nearby field. After the track meet, I went up to the preschool's BBQ for all the students and families, and then I came back to the elementary school to help Mrs. Mark get the students ready for Kindergarten Graduation. Afterward, I helped her clean up and put all the graduation stuff back in storage. The boys all had a great last {full} day, doing fun stuff in their classrooms.

Kanyon finishing the 100m dash

The beginning of the 400m race. 

Kanyon and Lucas competing for 2nd place at the end
of the 400m race. 

There was a cheerleader challenge between the 3 teams grouped together on
the bleachers. This is a picture of Kanyon's team cheering during that challenge.

The other hula hoopers from his team were done LONG
before he was!

Jonah with his broken rocket

Wednesday was our last official day of school; it was basically an early-out, party day. The kids were done by 1:30. At the Junior-Senior High School, they had a shortened schedule; they checked out of their classes and lockers and had a school BBQ. At the elementary school, they cleaned out their desks and had classroom parties. Since I didn't have any kindergarten or preschool students on the last day, I helped clean out Mrs. Mark's classroom, since she won't be returning next year (sad face) and I helped her with filing and paperwork, too.

He unknowingly wore the same shirt both days!!!

The intricate tunnel digging continues... 

Summer officially began on Thursday!!! We slept in, Kanyon dug in the dirt pile some more, the boys played and did chores (changing pipe is now a daily chore for the twins instead of every other day), and we went to Kanyon and Jonah's soccer games at 5:30.

Kanyon's hole/tunnel system is now complete! Each of the three main holes is
deep enough for him to sit in, and he built smaller tunnels connecting them.
When I took a photo of his masterpiece, I realized it resembled a gorilla's face.
Which of course made me think of Harambe, the gorilla in the Cincinnati zoo that
was shot and killed last week after a 3-year-old boy fell into its caged pen. 

The first blooming Peony of the season opened up today!

On Friday, I had the task of emptying our shed, in order for us to move the shed out of the way for the garage that will be built in that same location next week. It wasn't too bad of a task since I'd just cleaned it out in March, but I didn't enjoy it; I was reminded me of the last time we did it last, which was actually back in 2010 when we had to move it in order for our new house to be built. Click HERE to read about that experience. The twins helped me, which was nice, and all of the contents fit on the little trailer. I reminded Josh how we moved it last time, by dragging it backwards, but he thought he could maneuver it by picking the whole thing up with Ed's backhoe. It turns out he couldn't--well, he could, but he bent it in the process and finally ended up doing what I'd initially thought we'd do: drag it backwards to its new location. 

Since our house doesn't have a lot of storage, I use the shed to store camping
supplies, skiing materials, water activity toys, clothes that the boys don't
currently fit in, holiday decorations, food storage, and other misc. items. 

Trying to move it "his" way the first time.

Moving it the other way (and more successful way, might I add) the second time.
See how bent in the back is from his first attempt?!

It was even more beautiful the second day
of its blooming! I love these flowers!

Saturday was the FUNNEST day of the summer yet for me! (p.s. I'm actually writing this in mid-July...I uploaded the photos in June, but haven't had time to document and type the journaling in until now!). On Saturday morning, I woke up early at 5am to head to Idaho Falls with Jen Judy to run the Color Run 5K and then go ziplining that afternoon in Ririe. I was worried that it would be a super long, tiring day and that I wouldn't have the energy to make it through it all, but surprisingly I did and I was actually pumped all day!!! We got there pretty early, and did the dancing party before the race started, and threw colored chalk all over each other. One woman threw chalk at Jen just as she opened her mouth to yell above the sound of the loud speakers, and she got a mouthful of it! Yuck! There were several people from Salmon that we saw in the race, and actually got in the same starting group as some of them. Jen and I walked/jogged the race together. It was pretty hot that morning; I'd never run on black asphalt that much before and I usually ran at night, so I wasn't quite prepared for the race like I thought I was. We had a ton of fun, though, and got done in 48 minutes. My goal was 45 minutes, so I'm determined to run it again next year and beat my time.

Clean faces before the race

We got our running numbers!

The dance party before the race

I love this photo. All colored up and ready to run!

We spanked each other's butts with our colorful hands...
just for good measure! ;)

At the start of the race with some other women from Salmon!

After the pink station during the race...
the pink guys were the best color throwers!

Yay! We did it!

After we got back in the car, we realized we had grown colorful mustaches!
We giggled for several minutes looking at ourselves in the mirror!

Our arms both had a disgusting melted color combination!

We went to Walmart to clean up a little, and then headed to Stockman's for an early lunch. I LOVE that place, and hadn't been there since April of last year. I ordered a small meal so I could save room for their Loco Coconut Cheesecake--seriously, it's the best cheesecake I've ever had in my life! It was a great reward for finishing the race!

My mouth is watering right now just
looking at this beautiful image!!!

Jen and I did a little bit of shopping and walking around Hobby Lobby (I love that store!) before we met up with the rest of our group to head to Heise. We did a ten-line zipline there, and if there's a group of 7 or more, you get a $10 discount off every person's price. Lexi Keller orchestrated the group, and there were exactly 7 of us! We had a ton of fun!!! Lexi was super brave and did lots of tricks as she went down the ziplines, which encouraged some of the others to do so. Jen and I, however, were very happy to just go along for the ride--and not upside down, thank you very much! ;)  Jen and I both had the unfortunate occurrence once to start going backwards once we landed on the finish platform because we didn't plant our feet right. Thankfully, the guide caught each of us when it happened. That kind of freaked me out, but other than that, it was a TON of fun and I want to go again sometime!

Sloan, Casey, Lexi's old college rommate, Lexi, Kim, Me, and Jen

A before selfie--we were both a little apprehensive!

Jen on the first zipline

Me on the first zipline--I basically had that same face
every single time!

Group Selfie!

About halfway through, I started feeling not so anxious!!!

Loved the views!

 

The tall tower is where we were headed after this pic...

Jen heading across the last zipline--and unknowingly into the spraying water!

I got brave on the last zipline!
Doing it one-handed!

Group photo with our two guides. I have no idea why I'm posing like that...

 On the drive back home, Jen and I stopped at Freddy's Frozen Custard and I got this uber delicious cookie butter concrete. Oh my goodness, it was the perfect treat after a hot afternoon outside!

The drive home to Salmon was wonderful; talking with Jen on the drive made it seem like time passed so quickly. I enjoyed the day immensely with her. We had fun all day: went on new adventures, ate good food, exercised, and the non-stop conversation was so delightful. After I got home and showered (the water was blue for a while until my hair and body were completely rinsed off), Josh and I went on a date with Phil & Darcy and her sister Bonnie & husband JP. We talked, laughed, played pool, and went to a midnight meal. We were bummed that there was a live band at the Inn that night instead of karaoke, but we made the most of the time together!!

On Sunday evening, we went to the Jackson's house again. All the kids came with us this time. We played games, the guys golfed and watched a movie, we all ate, and laughed and laughed. My favorite moment was during the game of Telestrations (they'd never played it before, so we taught them how), Bonnie drew this photo. I can't even remember now what the interpretation of this drawing was, but I laughed SOOOO hard for a long time, and could hardly contain myself. I don't know why; I think I was just tired from the previous day--and when I'm tired I either cry or laugh!