Aug- Week 1- Tony Grove Camping, Lagoon, Katie's Baptism

Monday Dan got ready for the day and Ubered a little in the morning.  I worked on laundry and getting caught up on some things on the computer.  McKenna had piano lessons.  We went to lunch at Adelaide and the three older kids played at the Alexander's house in the afternoon.  I worked on my UEN class while Dan went grocery shopping.  We had BLTs for dinner then had an FHE about trials and serving others.  

Tuesday I went running, then we packed up for our first, just us, family camping trip.  We had lunch at Chick Fil A and got to Tony Grove, north of Logan, around 3pm.  We were lucky to get one of the last few campsites available.  It was nice and cool up there, only in the high 70s. Dan set up the tent trailer (So cool!) while we looked for fire wood.  There were TONS of flies buzzing around and Anna tripped and fell a lot.  But we, and she, stayed mostly happy...just really really dirty.  ;)

One of the best parts of the camping trip was that the pack 'n play fit in the back of the van when we folded the seats down.  That way Bethany could sleep by herself and not wake up in the middle of the night wanting to stay up and party.  

After setting up, we went on a little hike around the nearby lake.  

Gorgeous scenery and cliffs surrounding the lake.  

We cooked hot dogs and rolls on a stick over the camp fire, and had grapes and sauteed zucchini. The kids had a cute talk around the campfire about how thankful they were we could be camping and be together.   

Later, we also had s'mores and the kids were asking to go to bed around 8pm.  However, we didn't really get to bed until about 10.  There was a little rain in the middle of the night.  

Wednesday the kids were cute and energetic when they woke up.  We had muffins, gogurt, and bananas for breakfast then packed up.  We left camp by 8:40am so we could get to Mantua by 10.
Before we decided to go camping as a family, I had previously setup a swim day at Mantua with my friends.  Before the friends came we did a little cleaning and weeding.  Kasha, Kylee, Molly, Amanda and Holley all came.  The kids had a blast especially on the big island floatie.  We got home at 7:30 that night in time for showers and bed time!

Thursday was Dan's Dad's work Lagoon day!  We're so so grateful for this once a year opportunity to go to Lagoon!
I was pretty nervous about how Anna would do on the rides.  She's always had dislike for motion.  Even as a tiny baby she hated when I would walk down the stairs with her and she is just now barely liking swings at parks.  We first tried Bulgy the Whale.  She was all smiles before it started, then... poor thing.  :(

However, she did love the boats!! Definitely more her speed (SLOW).  

The carousel was even too fast for her.  

Lots of fun rides throughout the day! 

By dinner time, Anna was struggling!  I had her lay down on my lap so she could take a quick nap.  It didn't take her long to fall asleep.  

Ben called this ride Rattle Snake "Rabbits"

Dan couldn't join us until after dinner so I got to ride Cannibal with Dan later.  Holy smokes! That was scary!  But such a fun day and we were home and asleep by 11:30.  

On our way home we saw these three bucks in our neighbor's yard.  

Friday was definitely a recovery day.  We watched movies, did laundry, but also had friends over to play.  That night the Olympics started! Like many people, I love watching Olympics.  But seriously, I feel very unproductive during those two weeks.  

Saturday we attended Katurah Marie's baptism!  We love her and are so proud of her.  

We also attended our friend Trevin Hamblin's baptism.  I went back to school shopping with McKenna in the afternoon.  We watched the Olympics after the kids went to bed.  n

Sunday was my first time fasting since I stopped nursing.  I'm always nervous to do so, since I'm so out of practice.  However, I know the Lord blessed me to be strong and comfortable all day while I fasted and prayed with a purpose.  Our friends the Alexanders blessed their baby that day.  I helped substitute in Primary during the teacher council meeting.  I had stake choir practice in the afternoon.  We enjoyed an evening together playing games and watching Olympics.