The Great Outdoors?

Jess planned a great campfire dinner and we set up camp in the mountains but were a little nervous after hearing from the park ranger that there was a bear a quarter mile away the night before.

the dinner was perfect, Roe roasting hot dogs, I stuck with the smores.

Preston did a great job of leading the games, Tree/ Axe? can't remember the name...

My Utah bestie  Chele always manages to meet up with us so we can get our kids together, our families have grown since last time.

the glow light was more like a lightsaber

we did some geocaching, one led us to this stream, no cache here.

They spent a lot of time and prep getting this tent up and prepared for the evening, this is when I should have intervened.

doing what we do best, eating...

The camping was great until it came to the sleeping. I could feel every piece of dirt and rock below me, my feet were freezing and nothing sounded better than sleeping in the car, and so I did. It didn't get much better though, set off the car alarm at 2:30am, ended up denting the front of our burb and had a dead battery the next day, I think my camping days are over. My husband and sister were not proud of me.

Just for kicks

 We got to see Henry's team play soccer, (not pictured) and see him score 2 goals, they were a fun team to watch. We also went to our first professional soccer game and watched Salt Lake Real play a team from Canada.

 I didn't expect swearing fans in Utah when a fight  broke out between the teams.  I love that the games are only 90 minutes with no OT, it doesn't take up your whole day. I also think that it is a requirement for players to have crazy hair and be actors part time, it seems a few of them liked to fake injuries to pass the time or get rest. 

Timpanogos Half Marathon

 Trav finished his first half marathon!! We had to be bussed up the canyon between 4 and 5 am, so we did not get much sleep the night before, had to leave Pond house at 3:20am. I was proud of him, he started a little fast, but still felt ok when he was finished, might have helped that it was DOWN a mountain. I figured he better check this off before he turns 40, he could totally be a runner, did not train much and still did awesome.

 loved our "free" shirts at packet pickup

It really was a gorgeous race, poorly marked, but it was only the 4th year. We finished pretty much by ourselves and I later realized that was because we started a half hour early with the marathoners, this what happens when I am in charge. And here I thought we had gotten first place;)))

Celebrating with our temporary tats, yes we got made fun of for showing off our 13.1.
Its ok, we didn't know anyone anyway, but I would have made fun of us too.

Are we there yet?

 We left last Thursday for Utah to visit the Pond fam for a whole week, we made it in in less than mapquests predicted 16 hours, stopping only twice for less than 30 min each time. The kids were excited to see their cousins they hadn't seen since last summer:((((

 We hiked Ensign Peak the first day, it was a little hazy out but still an easier hike for our littlers.

 The girls need to stick together, they are definitely outnumbered.

Im a bit concerned our 4th might be lazy, he preferred the backpacks on the hikes and didn't even want to get out of the car the 2 times we stopped on the way to UT.

Cheers to my sister who planned our activities and hosted our family for a week.

Weeknights at the Ballpark

The ball season started out rough with a lot of rainouts. I think my kids only played 2 of their first 9 games oh and yes we lost 3 gloves.

Jude played coach pitch this year and was on the Royals, he was very successful and confident hitting off the coach, lets hope this continues with machine pitch next year.

He was all over the field and wanted to "dive" for the ball, it didn't matter if it was coming to him or not.

How cute is that baseball booty?

Grandpa & Kingston, I am actually impressed that Kingston didn't dress himself like grandpa this day in a button up and jeans because that is his usual outfit of choice.
A snow hat and hawaiian beads makes a lot more sense in July though.

Trav helped coach 3 teams, that played 5 games a week not including practices. Thankfully 2 of them were Pirates so this helped with shirt changes.

Monroe LOVED pitching again this year. She has been successful in this position and I often thought the kids would be better off hitting off her who pitches a nice slow down the middle strike than their coaches who struggle.

I think it helps that the kids only get 2 strikes and their out, made her job a little easier.

The siblings played a lot of red light green light this year.

We have the best parents that come and cheer our kids on!

and give them some tips too (Grandpa showing Jude how to play first base)

Jude got to play with 2 of his good buddies from Marlatt, Thayer & Advith.

These girls are really getting their game on, they went undefeated in the season!
I think it helped that we have a great General Manager & coaches. Coach Bryce had very few strike outs with these girls, this is a stressful job!

Xander enjoyed playing several positions, unfortunately in his age group there are few that play that know the game or have played much, this makes it hard to watch.
He had a great coach too that is very positive and committed to the kids, we are ready to bring on the tournament next week with them!

Not so sparkly 4th

 I worked the 4th of July so the kids spent the day at the pool or two with friends.
They got a little lot sunburnt. I do love that I have a husband that likes to be a kid and do fun stuff with my kids while Im slaving away in the OB world;)

 Roe was in tears with red eyes and a sunburnt face, think she was a little tired too.
We spent the 4th with friends and it was super great but I didn't take any pictures:(
I realized I am no longer the parent or maybe my kids are too old to dress my kids in cute matchy 4th of July getup, what is happening to me?!!

Kingston did not love the loud fireworks, this was the best pic I got of King & Emerson sporting headphones, this made the night a lot more tolerable.

Buy me some peanuts & cracker jacks

 We made it to K State fan day @ Royals stadium & scored some purple kc hats

 and buy me some lemon ice, soft pretzels, and other tasty ballpark food!

 These 2 chatted the entire game talking about adventures over their week apart

 They have fun activities in the outfield including a way better mini golf course than we have (only 5 holes tho)

We got the win in the bottom of the 9th against the Angels, good family funday Sunday at the K!