The boys (and girl) are back in town...

We have finally arrived back to our rock in the middle of the Pacific. Of course we had to do a few obligatory things first.....like shoot a bazillion shots out of this thing.....

Pose in front of this thing..... 

Of course, the obligatory goofing off in front of this thing....

Then we added new heights to our list of things to do....

(Buddy was really serious when he said he was going to get over his fear of heights so we could hike up  Angel's Landing next year). Of course the trip wouldn't be complete without a picture with these old geezers as proof it happened...

Now we are home and we've been to the beach everyday since! 

I'd like to pretend it's mostly because Buddy is a beach lover like me (he is a beach lover, but not like me) instead of the homework evasion I believe that is truly going on since I told him we would buckle down on our school work when we got back from vacation. Smart boy to use my love of oceans against me! So all in all a super fantastic, evading homework like the plague, day!

Extraordinary Fathers....Day.....

Last week Buddy went to Boy Scout Camp to spend the week shooting shotguns, rock climbing, canoeing,  and not taking a shower....basically having an overall blast of a time....

I spent the went week missing him! That is until I smelled him, our reunion was brief until I reintroduced him to my friend THE SHOWER! Buddy returned to my parents house just long enough to get a much needed shower, and a little education on tie tying....

Then we hopped on a plane and met up with someone that I daresay is a little bit cooler than Mickey the Mouse....

I want to say my intended attention was to Chewbacca, but, it's Shane that we were really excited to see! We were having such a great time, we decided to break up the monotony of all those rides and put Buddy's newfound love of rock climbing to use....

That wasn't quite what we had in mind! Ha! In other news, we rode Space Mountain enough times to get our posed pictures down pat....

Yeah, we're cool like that! We had a blast and I'm not going to divulge our secrets on how to get such awesome poses or how to get on so many rides in one day at Disneyland...but I will tell you that families who wear silly hats together...

Get laughed at together, which is really the best part of it all! So all in all a super fantastic, best Father's Day ever, day!

Narrow Escape

I've waited 11 long years for this.....

That would be a hike in the Narrows at Zions National Park. I had to wait till I thought Buddy was tall enough to not die.....

Turns out, that was a really good plan on my part! Next year we're planning to stay longer at the park and hike not only the Narrows, but Angels Landing as well. Some of us just have to work on our extreme fear of heights before conquering that one. To treat the kids for not having died in the Narrows I took them on a Wagon Ride minus the ride part....

And then let Buddy get his hand almost chewed off by a Donkey...

I know, I'm pretty awesome as a mom! In other news, Buddy took off for Boy Scout camp for 5 whole days this morning! After I finish crying I'm planning on girling it up for those 5 days since being constantly being surrounded by boys...ahem, I mean men, really puts a damper on my love of all things pink and frilly! So all in all a super fantastic, is it dusty in here or is it just me, day!

It's all fun in games.....

Rock climbing. You know, it's all fun and games....

Until you go home and wash all the chalk off...

In other news, Papaw let Buddy mow the lawn...

In other, other news, Buddy's really good at driving a lawn mower, but perhaps not actually mowing the lawn. In other, other, other news, my dad's lawn has the coolest landscaped in figure eights this side of the Mississippi! So all in all a super fantastic, soaking my hands, day!

All pooped out!

Buddy has been driving everyone up the wall lately....

 He can't even escape himself....so sad!

We tried to run it out of him....

We even made a pit stop at Grandpa Charlie's to scare it out of him(although I think I may have been the only one scared)....

His cousins banded together to goofy it out of him....

Then yesterday, they tried to roll it out of him....

A dose of benadryl and boom....

Golden silence! Ha!!!!So all in all a super fantastic, too pooped to blog, day!

Got your back.....

We went to the zoo today and did the usual. We went to a bird show....

 Did some obligatory poses with the water fountain...

Walked on things we probably shouldn't have walked on, while riding our heely's....

And rode the carousel....

I would end it there and call it a super fantastic day, but it got better....well, depending on how you look at things and I'm looking at the awesome silver lining. While Buddy and his cousin were playing at the playground some mean girls approached Buddy and asked him if he was a girl or a boy. Seriously????? Buddy's cousins happened to be right there and completely responded in humor. I love those kids. Hyrum (a boy) responded by pointing at his sister and said "she's a boy, Buddy's a boy and I'm a girl. Does it matter?" The girls weren't expecting that and started conversing and saying bad words at them in spanish. The boys fantastically turned it around and translated (incorrectly of course) to rework the conversation into the girls were now saying that the boys were really awesome and cute, and that the mean girls needed to go poop really bad! The girls stomped away in anger. Should I be applauding the boys behavior? I don't know, but I am. I keep telling the kids how proud I am of them for just keeping everything light and filling the world with humor, because seriously a world without humor would be totally lame....and not to mention, mean people suck! To celebrate, I jumped for joy for almost 2 hours straight.....

Who am I kidding, I'm old and I've had a baby, the kids jumped for 2 hours straight while I took frequent mommy breaks to the bathroom! So all in all a super fantastic, glad the cousins have our backs, day!