15 again...or still 40??

After last month's REO Speedwagon concert, Dave and I thought our trip back to the 80's was over. But last night we got invited to go to the Cheap Trick/Heart/Journey concert with Tom & JaNae (thanks, Tom!) They were primo seats that we would never be able to afford and the concert was fabulous! We totally missed Cheap Trick (which neither one of us was too sad about) because of a VERY slow 1 1/2 hr drive to USANA Amphitheater. Traffic was horrible. But we got there just as Heart took the stage and I must say, those women still sound amazing. It's strange to look at grandmas up there singing rock music, but they sound just the same. They put on a good show and I really enjoyed it. But when Journey came out, the whole place exploded. This new singer, Arnel Pineda, sounds so much like Steve Perry it's amazing. But it's so strange to see some Thai guy up there on stage. He put on a fabulous show and was quite entertaining. If any of you have the chance to see them this summer, go. It's worth it. Anyway, we're both sitting (or standing) at the concert thinking back to being 15 and loving all of this music. These guys were the staples we grew up on. Journey was the first concert Dave went to (9th grade). It's weird to think that we were Matt's age when they were big. Time goes by so fast. While we were there, I felt like I was a teenager again (only this time I wasn't afraid to grab my date's hand!) I still have a hard time thinking of myself as a 40 year old woman. But when I had to pull out 2 gray hairs while getting ready to go, it reminded me that 25 years really have past. I wish I could stay young forever. I wish I had the energy of a teenager. I wish I had my high school body back. None of that will ever happen, so I'll have to settle for going to 80's concerts with all the other old people there and reminisce my way back to being a teenager. Thanks again Tom & Janae for an awesome night. We really need to get together more often.

Where The Fun Is

Yesterday, we took the kids (yes, all 8!) to Lagoon. And, on top of that we took one of Jackson's friends, McCade. I'm sure most people thought we were completely crazy to tackle an amusement park with 9 kids in tow, but it actually was the most pleasant experience we've had. McCade's dad has always jokingly called me a "pioneer woman" because I take the kids everywhere. What he doesn't know is that McCade helped. Having an extra kid evened up the numbers and made it easier to let Matt, Dalin & Jackson go off on their own and not have an odd number on all the rides.
Dave was able to take Spencer on a lot of the big rides while I took the little kids on the little rides. I think I got the better end of the deal. Poor Dave got dragged on all the roller coasters they had. Spencer totally loves going on the thrill rides and had a blast. Seth played the "big brother" role to a T. He helped Davis and Tiara on & off the rides and moved them along in the lines. Davis struggled to have fun, as he is afraid of most everything. He started out on Bulgy the Whale and did fine, but totally freaked out on the little spaceships and was done for the day. After some coaxing, he tried the dragonfly swing, but then lost it again on the bumper cars. At that point, I thought the baby boats were more his speed, which proved a good move. Anything that went fast or up was very bad. We all met for dinner, then Dave took Seth with him and Spencer for more big rides. They met up with the big boys every now and again for rides so that Dave could spend some time with them, too. Seth is definitely NOT Spencer. He really doesn't like roller coasters, but is quite polite about it (unlike Davis). After they rode one he didn't like, he would say "That one wasn't my favorite. Maybe I won't go again." I took Davis & Tiara back to Kiddieland for more rides. Tiara took over everything...she told Davis what they were going on, made sure he stayed in line and had to ride in the front EVERY time! Boy, is she going to be trouble! McCall just hung out with me, watching the kids go on rides. I did take her on the carousel, which she absolutely LOVED. The kids went strong until 9:30 when we headed home. All in all, it was a very fun day and we plan on "bouncing back" in a couple of weeks.

Cub Country

Today I was lucky enough to get to go to Cub Camp with Spencer. Dave was sad that he didn't get to go this year, but it just didn't work with our busy summer schedule. He does have to go to work once in a while. This was Spencer's first time going and he had a BLAST!!! He really got into all the skits and jokes, making things and learning cool stuff. He said his favorite was archery, but after he bought his first pocket knife at the trading post, that might have changed to soap carving. The boys also ran an obstacle course (including the army crawl over the dirt!), played frisbee golf and water games, learned different constellations and went on a moon walk. He's going up again tomorrow for more fun (and dirt). He's just the cutest little Cub Scout and is loving being a big kid.

The little kids got to spend the day with cousins and friends. Thanks to Melanie and Kim for helping out so I could go with Spencer. Seth and Tiara went to play with Brooklyn and Derek. Tiara just LOVES Brook and thinks she is just as old as she is! Davis and McCall went to play with Hunter. Davis normally loves any time he gets with Hunter, but he was on one of his "I want to go home" kicks. I think he warmed up, but once he's grumpy, he's done for the day. Kim is one of the very few people that McCall really likes. She never cries when I drop her off and reaches out for Kim anytime we see her. And I think Kim feels the same way. After all, who couldn't love McCall? She's so sweet and cute and just a little angel.

A Step Back In Time

Today I took the kids back in time about 150 million years to see the dinosaurs. No, I don't have a time machine. In Ogden, there is a dinosaur park that has 60+ life size dinosaur figures. We had a lot of fun trying to identify the dinos without looking at the placques. Spencer & Seth taught us by reading about them and telling the younger kids something interesting about that dinosaur.

Spencer was excited to "go hiking" along some of the trails. He's really thinking he's getting big and can do a lot of the "big kid" stuff. It's quite funny to listen to him try to be the cool big brother.

They also had fun playing at the park. Davis loved the sand (even tasting it!)...until Seth threw a fistful in his face. The poor little guy had so much sand in his eye that even flushing it over and over didn't get it all out. I'm hoping that the few little pieces left work their way out on their own.

July 4th

Our 4th of July was incredibly busy, so a post on the 5th will have to do. To start off, Dave and I rarely set alarm clocks because we have 5 of them sleeping in the house. But for some reason, they picked a day when we had to get moving to sleep in. Dave was so proud of them for letting Mommy sleep in. Except we had to be out the door by 9:20, so when he proudly said "You guys let Mommy sleep in today. Isn't that great?", I bolted up realizing it was 8:40! Believe it or not, we still made it out the door at 9:30, which is no small feat with me showering and 5 kids to get ready. Dave did a great job getting them breakfast and he even got them all dressed in red, white and blue!! What a guy! We had planned on hitting the outlets in Park City on the way to Dalin's games in Heber, but when Dalin left his hat at our house, that changed it all. I could have killed him! We stopped long enough for me to run in a couple of shoe stores with Seth to get him school shoes, but that was it. It killed me to see all those sale signs in the windows and not be able to go shopping. Uggh! We got to Dalin's first game in Heber just minutes before they started. The weather up in the mountains was so pleasant with the sun peeking in & out of the clouds. They lost the game, but it's still fun to watch baseball. Dalin's mom still hadn't made it to the games, so we got to take Dalin with us to lunch. We went to Dairy Keen, which is always a hit with the kids. They love watching the trains go all around the place, but it makes it hard to concentrate on eating! Then we headed back to the second game and, boy, was it HOT!! They won the game, but with a little drama. in the 6th inning, Dalin got hit in the back by a pitch, so he took 1st base. Then, one ump called a balk on the pitcher, but the other ump didn't realize it, so play continued. As Dalin was going to 2nd base, the other team tried to tag him out and shoved him into the dirt. That started a HUGE fight amongst the coaches because it was so brutal and Dalin shouldn't have even been tagged on a balk. He made it around to score and went into the final inning down 7-6. They tied it up in the 7th and had to go to extra innings. By this time, Dave and I had had to leave to get to our BBQ, so we missed the best part. They held the other team to 7 and took their last ups. With a runner on 2nd, Dalin was up and bunted. They couldn't get the ball fast enough and overthrew it to first, so the runner on 2nd scored the winning run. Dalin was so excited to "save the game". He got the game ball! What a great way to end the season. We were so mad we missed it. The kids slept all the way home after such a long day. It gave them a nice little recharge for the night's events.

We spent the evening at our neighborhood party. We had a BBQ and the kids had lots of fun playing with the other kids. Davis, Tiara and McCall loved bouncing in Bessie's bounce house. Spencer loved jamming with all the teenagers (and adults) on Rock Band. He's always wanted to try Guitar Hero, but this was much better. He did a great job and held his own with all the big guys. Dave played too, and enjoyed it a little too much. I think I know what'll be on his Christmas list.

Garrett had made his annual run to Evanston for fireworks and put on a good show, as always. But to just add to the craziness of the day, I got hit in the forehead by some flying chunk of who knows what. I have a bump there that is pretty tender, but at least it was me and not one of the kids and I didn't get burned. When we got home the kids collapsed and slept in until after 8:00 again to day. Yeah!!

Vampires

So after hearing so much from so many people about these "vampire stories", other wise known as the 'Twilight' series, I decided to give them a try. My poor kids. I have read all three books in about 9 days, with a 2 day break in there waiting for the library to get the third one in. And I must say, I've quite enjoyed them. 'New Moon' dragged a bit for me, I think because I missed Edward too. But I'm finding myself a little lost waiting for the next book to come out. It's a good thing I waited so long to read them, because now I only have another month before the fourth book comes out. i can't imagine all of you out there that started reading them a couple of years ago and have to wait for each book. My phone will be off the hook on August 2nd so I can read 'Breaking Dawn'. Sorry Tiara, we'll have to reschedule your birthday for another day.

Summer - FINALLY!!!

The last day of school was today. Davis finished in May, Seth finished the first week of June and we've just been WAITING for Spencer to finish. With the 3 boys all in different school with different schedules, it's been a tough year for me. Next year, Spencer & Seth will both be at Jordan Ridge and Davis & Tiara will both be at Discovery. Hopefully, this will help my stress level! Anyway, Spencer's last day was today and I think I was more excited than him to be done for the summer!! He's ready to go on to 3rd grade and I just want to play and sleep in every morning! Screwed up, I know. In many of the other families I know, the mom is wishing summer would fly by so the kids go back to school and the kids are wanting to drag summer out as long as possible. But with year round school, our summer is only 4 weeks long, so we have to cram all the fun stuff into a short amount of time. So for the next few weeks, I'll be playing all I can with my kids. We have a baseball tournament, Cub Camp, Pioneer Trek, Stake Lagoon Day, and Richard and Wren's visit planned. Somewhere in there, the kids want to go miniature golfing, LOTS of picnics at the park, the dinosaur park, the Children's Museum, and who knows what else they have on their lists. It will be a fun and VERY BUSY July, then back to school on the 28th. I hope that day never comes!