Family Vacay Day 1

Our big family vacation for the summer was the last week of July. I had been preparing for this trip since summer began, and we were so glad when it was finally time to go!

 

Every summer we go as a family to visit one of our grandparents. Josh and I both have one grandma and one grandpa still alive that we rotate between visiting. We feel that it's important that our children have the opportunity to know their great-grandparents, so we came up with this system of summer vacation visits. This summer, it was time for us to go see my Grandpa Perkins in Spokane. Whenever we go visit one of the grandparents, we also choose an additional activity to do together since it's usually the only family vacation we take each summer. Josh and I had both wanted to go to Glacier National Park for years, since neither one of us had ever been there, so we chose that as as the accompanying fun part of this vacation.

 

Our vacation lasted 4 days. Each day, we averaged about 6 hours of driving. It was long, but the kids did fairly well. We don't have a DVD player in the van, so I had planned and prepared several activities for them to do in the car. I got clipboards for each child, and printed and made several paper games for them to do. Since we were driving such great distances in such a short time, I wanted to make sure the kids knew where we were at & where we were going, so I made copies of a map that showed the area of our travels in north Idaho, east Washington, and west Montana and put that in their clipboard packet along with the itinerary of what our daily destinations were. They highlighted the roads on the map whenever we passed a major city, so they could always tell where we were and what city was coming next. In their clipboard packet, they also had several car bingo games, a highway road signs game, dot-to-dot & tic-tac-toe games, and the state license plate game. They used pens and highlighters to mark their paper games with. They each also packed one little box they could bring in the car, and they were filled with their Nintendo DS's & games, little card games, and books.

Our vacation began on Sunday, July 22. We left Salmon late in the morning, after Josh was done working. We drove 3 hours to Missoula, and stopped for lunch. We met up with my sisters Tawna and Tabbi, who were heading back to Utah from visiting Grandpa P., at a restaurant in Missoula. We visited with them for about a half hour after eating before going our separate ways.

In order to make our family vacation affordable, we had to minimize costs wherever possible. We saved at least $200 by staying in very cheap hotels and the kids slept in sleeping bags on the floor, and by bringing our own food with us for the entire trip instead of going to restaurants. Our 2 hotels totalled $165 and the groceries cost $125. Just that one meal at Dairy Queen in Missoula was $30! By planning meals and packing sleeping bags, we could afford to do fun & quality activities together during the day, which I felt was more important to spend our money on. I packed a lot of snack food for the drives, and prepared trail mix in gallon-sized bags for each boy that they could snack on at specific times during each day's drive. They had requested items to be placed in their trail mix, and the bags were full of pretzels, marshmallows, cheese nips, M&Ms, sunflower seeds, dry cereal, and raisins.

After our stop in Missoula, we drove about 1 1/2 hours to Kellogg, and stopped again at Silver Mountain Resort. They have the world's Longest Gondola, and I'd wanted to ride it for years! Whenever I drove from Salmon to Spokane, I saw it and thought about it, but it wasn't until this trip that I finally made that wish become a reality! For each day of our vacation, I planned for us to do one major activity, and riding the Gondola was a good way for us to break up the drive on Sunday!

It's 3.1 miles long, and it goes across a main street in town, up a hill, down across a suburb, and climbs all the way to the top of the mountain. It was a spectacular ride! We loved the views! 

In the summertime, at the top of the peak where the Gondola ends, there's a children's playground & bounce house set up. There's also biking trails and a disc golf course at the top. As Josh and I wandered around, the boys happily played because they were free from sitting in the car!

It was such a gorgeous day! I truly enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere up there!!! I layed on the grass for a while, just soaking in the beauty of my surroundings. It was the perfect stop!

Riding the gondola back down seemed to go faster than the ride up. After we arrived back at the base of it, the boys played with an outdoor bean bag toss that was set-up on the sidewalk. I love how they delight in the simplest of activities! (Notice Josh doing the "woot-woot" in this photo because he tossed the beanbag in the hole?!!)

We got back in the car, and drove the last leg of the 1st day to our destination city, Spokane. We spent the evening at Grandpa's house, looking at photo albums, listening to his stories, and playing around the house. My boys especially love the man-cave room downstairs with antlers and stuffed animals all over the place!

The boys also liked this golf-tee game that was in the upstairs living room coffee table:

Josh was happy to get a break from driving, and before dinner he took a little snoozer in Grandma's blue chair:

We had a wonderful time visiting Grandpa! We love hearing his stories of growing up on a farm, and flying planes in WWII, and travels & experiences he's had with Grandma. He's 95 and lives alone, and still takes great care of himself and his home. He has a great sense of humor, and makes me laugh! He amazes me with all that he's accomplished in his lifetime! I sure love him!

We spent that first night of our trip at Grandpa's house. Josh and I stayed in the spare room downstairs, Ammon & Kanyon slept in the man-cave room in their sleeping bags, and Jonah & Micah slept in their sleeping bags in the open area of the downstairs hall. The first day of our family vacation been a long, but good, one and we were all tired and ready for bed!

Pioneer Day of Play

We usually have a family reunion over the 24th of July, so we haven't participated in the church's celebration of Pioneer Day for years. This summer, however, we didn't have a family reunion that weekend and Ammon wanted to be a part of the Stake baseball tournament, so we decided to attend the all-day celebration.

Every year on a Saturday closest to Pioneer Day, the Salmon LDS Stake hosts an all-day baseball tournament at the church ballfield on Hwy 28 with multiple teams from different wards competing. As adults and youth compete in the tournament, there's activities for younger kids on the opposite side of the large field, too.

This year, there were 3 teams from our ward: 2 adult and 1 youth. Ammon practiced with the youth team for weeks prior to the event. He really enjoyed practicing and playing ball. On the morning of the 21st (the day of the celebration), his team was the first to play against the Salmon Singles' team at 8:00am. For each round of the tournament, teams played either 3 innings or a half hour, whichever came first. Games were played all day from 8:00am to 9:00pm!! Ammon's team played two more times after their first game: late morning, and early afternoon. They didn't win any of their games, but they played hard, and they had a great time! Ammon had so much fun!

When we came back to watch Ammon's afternoon game, we brought the younger boys and their swim trunks. They didn't like watching the baseball games (they thought they were boring, and didn't know a lot of the people playing). So instead, they played in the water games set up on the other end of the field.

After they got soaking wet (Kanyon wasn't too happy about that, apparently), they dried off in the hot sun for a little while. Then they watched some pioneer presentations by Sister Cockrell. She showed the kids how to make butter and homemade ice cream using her antiques. Then all the kids got to taste the butter and eat some of the homemade ice cream in mini cones. They loved it!

Josh and I don't like baseball, and we rarely attend the church's 24th celebration. But this year, since Ammon competed, it kind of forced us to be there off and on all day. And surprisingly, we all had a good time! Ammon loved playing baseball (one of the adult teams from our ward won the stake tournament again), the boys liked playing in the water with their friends and eating ice cream, and we all ate a delicious pork dinner served by the Stake Presidency!

Wish List

When we moved into our new home in June of 2010, we fulfilled our biggest wish and dream of owning a real house that comfortably fit our family. There hasn't been a day since then that I haven't woken up and thought to myself "I love this house". Every day, I'm so grateful to have a house that has extra room for the kids to play, and a kitchen that's big enough to fit & feed company, and a more private bathroom attached to my room. I'm still so much in love with our home.

After moving from a 2-bedroom single-wide trailer into a 4-bedroom house that's nearly 3 times the size, we realized that our furniture no longer seemed adequate. Everything had to be smaller in our old house, but our new home didn't look right with all the small furniture in it. So in July of 2010, I discussed with Josh things that we would need and things that I wanted to make our new home feel complete. We couldn't afford to buy everything right away, so we created a 2-year Wish List. It included items that we wanted for our new house, and dreams we had for ourselves, and larger purchases we wanted to make within the next 2 years. I hung up the list on the fridge as a visual reminder, and as items on the list were purchased, I crossed off the item and wrote the date next to it.

It's been 2 years since the list was created! The list has now been removed from the fridge; I think it's time to make a new one. But just as a reminder to myself of how far we've come in the last 2 years, and how much we were able to accomplish, I'm posting the list on this blog. Not everything listed was crossed off, but that's okay: these weren't goals, they were wishes!

Our 2-year Wish List as of July 2010:
King Bed Box Spring & Headboard 10/10
Wood Stove Mantle & Pipe 12/10
Deck on the back of the house 7/11
TV for twins' room 8/11
New printer 10/10
Sectional couch 9/10
TV/DVD combo for master bedroom 8/10
Treadmill 12/10
New car 1/11
New 4-wheeler 5/12
New van
Car Port
Family trip to Disneyland
Couples trip to Mexico
Kala trip to Italy

we found our new (used) sectional on Craigslist

 Josh helped install the tile for the wood stove mantle & back door entrance. 

In addition to the Wish List, I created my own "Want List" last summer. My "Want List" was a paper from IKEA with a list of product specifications and pictures. I circled the items I wanted and hung it next to the 2-year Wish List on the fridge. I finally just removed that paper from the fridge a few weeks ago as well. Only one of the items that I circled ended up being the exact item that I purchased, but I'm happy with everything that I have now that started as an idea on that list.

"Kala's Want List" (as of Summer 2011)
New leather couch for family room 12/11 (bought red couch from IKEA)
China cabinet 6/12 (bought white glass-door cabinet from IKEA)
New dining table 8/12 (bought used one at garage sale)
New benches & chairs for dining table
Food storage shelf 1/12 (found one in the ranch shop, and cleaned it up to use)
Outdoor furniture for the deck 6/12 (bought 2 benches that convert into a table at a yard sale)

The new (used) dining table is bigger & will fit 2-4 more people than our old one.

It's also made from real wood so it's sturdier, too.

The 2 outdoor vinyl benches that convert into one picnic table

(one of them is flipped to show how they convert).

And here's our next 2-year Wish List, as of Summer 2012:
3-car garage
more chairs for dining table
new mattresses for boys' beds
double-headed shower for Master Bathroom
hardwood floor in Family Room
outdoor bench swing
couple's trip to Mexico
new truck
new motorcycle
new van

splash splish, they swam like fish

All 4 of my boys were in swimming lessons this summer. I signed them all up for the same session, at the same time, for the first time ever! I waited in line for over an hour before sign-ups in May, to ensure that they would be put all together. I was 2nd in line, and it was well worth the wait! I've never had all 4 boys in swimming lessons, and I truly enjoyed that they all got to be in the pool simultaneously! Their session was 2 weeks in the middle of July, at the 10:00 time. It was perfect--we got chores done in the morning before we left, and there was kids' free lunch for those same 2 weeks at noon, so we did errands every day after lessons until it was time for lunch.

This was Kanyon's 2nd year of lessons--and his 2nd year in Level 2. He did really well. He loved swimming and was excited to go each day. He had a truly awesome teacher, Melissa, that made lessons fun, and one of his best buddies Wyatt N. was in his little class, so that was good for him as well. He loved floating on his tummy, jumping off the edge, paddling his arms in the water, and hunting for pennies. I really could see improvements in his swimming abilities after the lessons. His teacher said he could advance, but I'm going to put him in Level 2 for one more year so that he can feel confident with his abilities before having to learn strokes in the deep end.

Jonah and Micah were in Level 3. This was also their 2nd year in that same class. They passed off most of the requirements last year, but their teacher recommended one more year of it. Even though they were mad at having to do the same class again, I'm so glad that they did! There was HUGE improvements in their swimming capabilities this year. They had a very kind teacher who was very patient with them, and they did so well! They passed their test with flying colors in the shallow and the deep end! They can now jump off the diving board in the deep end and swim to the edge without any help, and they are so much more confident in what they can do in the water now!

Ammon hasn't taken swim lessons for several years now, but we put him into Level 5 because we wanted to make sure that he would be able to pass off the swimming requirement at scout camp this summer. Whenever we've gone to hotels with pools during the last year, we've made him swim laps to help him accomplish this task, but we knew that swimming lessons would really help him, too. He actually really liked lessons this year. He liked his teacher, and he found that he liked several of the requirements. He loves diving, and swimming the back stroke. He hated some of the requirements too: like the butterfly stroke and treading water for 5 minutes. He did a great job, and I enjoyed watching swim across the length of the pool! I was so proud of him! And he totally passed Level 5, which was great, too! 

My other favorite part of swim lessons this summer, besides watching them all be in the water at the same time, was that Josh would usually stop by and say hi each morning. The city park complex is right next to the golf course, so oftentimes when he was driving by on his equipment, he would stop for a little bit. I really enjoyed being next to him, watching our sons together! Swimming lessons were such a positive experience this summer for all of us!

Seeing is Believing

At Kanyon's Kindergarten Registration in April, there was a vision screening done. The eye doctor told me that Kanyon needed to have an appointment for some fuzziness in his right eye. So when I made an appointment with the eye doctor in June to get a new prescription and new glasses for me, I scheduled an appointment for Kanyon, too.

He was a good sport, and surprisingly had no problems with being scared about the exam. He was very pleasant, and willingly did everything the doctor asked him to.

Dr. Jones informed us that Kanyon had astigmatism in both eyes (which he may grow out of eventually) and was also near-sighted in his right eye, and that he required glasses. Kanyon tried on several pairs until he found one that he really liked. He was disappointed that we couldn't go home with the glasses that day--he didn't want to have to wait a few weeks for them to arrive. He was so excited when we could finally go and pick them up the 2nd week in July. He only wore them a few hours a day for the first week, trying to adjust to wearing them. Then we had the office make a few adjustments on the earpieces and nose pieces so they'd be more comfortable to wear. Now he wears them all the time, and loves them. When he first put them on, he said "I can actually see the mountains now!".

He looks so cute, and so grown-up wearing them! He's already had a few minor accidents with them, and they've been bumped and scratched and bent, so we've had to have them re-adjusted and re-shaped, but that's to be expected with a young and active boy wearing glasses!

toetally accidental

One morning in July, I was laying in bed. On this morning, my husband was laying next to me. This is a rarity in the summer, as he goes to work at 5am each morning, and I usually sleep in until 8 or 9. But occasionally on Sunday mornings, he gets to sleep in, too, because there isn't a golf tournament so he doesn't have to go to work. So anyways, on this one Sunday morning in July, Josh and I were laying in bed together. I was on my side of the King-size bed, and he was on his side. I decided I felt like shortening the gap between us, so I rolled over closer to him. As I did so, the heel of my foot caught the middle toe on his foot and snapped it. I heard the snapping sound, and thought I'd bent back his toenail or something. He instantly yelped in pain at the bending and snapping of his toe.

"Was that your toenail?" I asked him.

"NO! It was my TOE!" he replied.

He held his toe for a few moments, saying that it was throbbing with pain. I felt terribly! I thought it was so crazy that my heel would catch his MIDDLE toe! Not the big toe, or the E.T.-finger-shaped one next to the big toe, but the middle toe. What a weird, freakish accident.

I left for Boise that morning with Amanda, and Josh got the kids ready for church. He said his toe still hurt inside the shoe during church whenever he walked, and when he got home from church and removed his shoes & socks, he looked at his toe and it was completely purple and swollen. He texted me with this information, and I was shocked! I felt awful!!!

We both came to the same conclusion: I had broken his toe.  

I got home around midnight that night, and he left for work early the next morning, so it wasn't until Monday afternoon that I got a good look at it. By that time, the swelling had gone down, and the coloring was changing to red from purple. But it still looked terrible! And it still hurt him to walk with it. And I still felt so bad for what I had accidentally done to him!

Josh doesn't believe in going to the doctor, and he didn't think there's anything they could do for his toe anyways, so he just lived with it until the pain and discoloring went away. Now the toe is crooked on the tip (bending down instead of straight out), and we have a lame story for how it came to be that way!!

Crashing Derby

The Demolition Derby is one of the biggest events in Salmon each summer. It is always at the end of the Salmon River Days festivities for the 4th of July. The boys look forward to it all summer, especially since our neighbors, the Troughtons, enter in it each year. They live on our same road, so when we pass their house each day, my boys monitor the progress of their "crashing derby cars", and seeing their cars increases their anticipation for the event!

Thanks to Josh and Ammon who went an hour and half early to save us seats, we got some great seats this year! We were in the center of the Grand Stand, and we we were surrounded by a great crowd of people: the Hobbs' family and Stokes' family were right in front of us and the Heble's/Deleski's and Aldous' were behind us. I don't like it when we sit by people who spill their beer on us and have a stinky odor and curse profanities, but oftentimes we end up having to do just that.

When the event was finally ready to begin, Kanyon put his earplugs in. He has ultra sensitive hearing, and loves to watch the cars crash, but hates the noise. He sat on Josh's lap for most of the evening so that he could see the action. The earplugs kept falling out, so Josh cupped his hands over both of Kanyon's ears to help muffle the noise. By the end of the night, Kanyon's hair around his ears were sweaty and his ears were bright red! But Josh's lap and hands were solutions to let Kanyon see and hear comfortably! What a nice dad.

The first event was the motorcycle balloon bashing. Each motorcycle had two riders, one was the driver, and the other one had a plastic bat and a balloon taped to his helmet. The rider with the bat had to try to pop the other riders' balloons without getting off the motorcycle. It was exciting to watch!

Then all the cars came out for introductions in usual fashion: with friends and crew riding on the tops/backs/out the windows of the cars!

The first heat of cars included the biggest hit I've ever seen. The tiger-striped car was hit up onto a border log, then the cop car pushed it over the log, then the cop car hit it again and it hit the iron fence. Dirt from the tires spinning went flying up and hit my arms! In this photo, you can see (where the guy in the fluorescent shirt is walking) on the right another border log and the distance between where the hit log was and how far it got pushed!

Our neighbors, the Troughton's, entered 3 cars in the derby this year. It was awesome because we always had a car to cheer for!!! #25 is Brian's car, and he was in the top 3 in his heat and made it to the final round this year! (Pictured on the left)

Zac's car, #18, had a very cool paint job. Unfortunately, his drive line became unconnected and he didn't make it to the final round. But we loved watching him in his "totally awesome" car!

Chevy was in the Herbie Derbie. Only 2 cars were in it this year! It was hilarious to watch! We got a big kick out of watching it! He was the black and red #54.

Before the main heat began, there was a round of 4-wheeling balloon bashing. There were two 4-wheelers that lasted forever, and were so funny to watch battle each other!

The final heat was anti-climatic. A giant group of cars got in a jam, and only a couple were free of it. They kept hitting each other until there was just one car moving.  The beginning heats were much more exciting to watch, but we were glad that an acquaintance (Justin Reid) won! He's entered for years, and has never won before. It was a great night! Our boys really enjoyed themselves with the quality entertainment!!!