Daisy's baptism day

The Cabin

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the other BIG chore list rewards I had planned for the kids this summer was a trip to my parents cabin in Show Low. We have never stayed longer than 3-4 days up there, and I thought it would be fun to take them up there for a week just to change things up from the normal boring summer day sitting-in-front-of-the-TV-because-we'd-get-heat-stroke-if-we-went-outside kind of day. We left Monday afternoon and had a revolving door of friends come up for a few days at a time throughout the week. Justin came up Thursday night with some other friends who were staying through the weekend. Brighton, Adaira and Dale were in HEAVEN having friends to play with all day long. Daisy had a hard time adjusting to sleeping and napping in a new place, but by day three we were doing okay.

Dale and Will playing on the trailer

Sweet sweet Daisy enjoying the soft cabin carpet

I didn't get a lot of pictures the first part of the week, but after Justin came up with our friends Kari & Wes, we all decided to go to the Family Fun Park in Lakeside. Dale could not wait to get in those go-karts!

Brighton was pretty excited too, although he was bummed because we thought surely he'd be tall enough to drive with an adult passenger by now, but he wasn't.

Only a few more minutes Dale!

Brighton has learned from his Dad that you don't make normal faces in pictures...

The two seaters were awesome in that they had a steering wheel on the passenger side too so the kids thought they were steering.

Adaira was next, and I kept telling her "Drive Drive Adaira, we are going to crash!" and she kept telling me to drive because she was afraid too. Such a cautious girl...

Adaira and I and Kari and Oaklie. It's so nice to have found friends like Kari & Wes. They have a boy Brighton's age and girl Adaira's age. They also have two kids close in age to Dale & Daisy but they are opposite sex.

Daisy was too little to enjoy any crazy rides. But she rocked that hat all week long!

These trampolines were a new addition to the park and the kids had to try them. They cost the same as the go-karts, so we bought them one ride on the go-karts and one "ride" on the trampoline.

I'm pretty sure Adaira has grown about 3 inches in the last three months. Look at those skinny legs!

And she's off!

Pretty cool shot taken by Justin

We originally only bought tickets for Brighton & Adaira to go on the trampoline because we didn't think Dale would be brave enough or notice that the older two were doing it (I took him inside the Fun Park building where they have arcade games and such). Dale did make it outside though and saw his big siblings on there and got right in line with his arms folded across his chest waiting for his turn, so we bought a ticket for him too. As soon as Brighton got off, Dale hopped right up there and started trying to harness himself up before the guy on duty could even finish getting Brighton off the trampoline. I love that kid!

Justin says the smile on Dale's face the entire time he was riding was more than worth the extra $6 for his ticket. He is right.

Funny how he freaked out at a little water squirting him on a ride at Legoland, but shoot him up like a rocket and he's thrilled!

Not pictured was the Show Low rodeo, held on Saturday June 30th. It was the kids' first rodeo and I think they thought it was pretty cool to watch the cowboys get bucked off the horses and the steer roping. We didn't get to stay for the whole thing, but it was a new experience for them and pretty fun! Next year I'd love to be more proactive and sign them up for mutton busting!

It was a little difficult doing the first part of the week on my own without Justin, but I think this would be a great tradition to start with my kids every summer. This was officially year #1!