Going Camping!

Last Thursday afternoon-after I finished up with my Chemistry lab-we loaded up the van and headed to the mountains to do some camping and get some much need rest & relaxation.
Here we are, on our way-we even took Coal.

Dad decided that we were going to stay in a little cabin, instead of a tent, which worked out really well. Flushing toilets, running water, now that's my kind of camping. Here's the cabin, it had two little rooms-one with double bunk beds, and the other with a little kitchen and table:

By the time we got there it was already about 5:00 so Kory immediately started the fire and we cooked our dinner. The kids were really thrilled about roasting hot dogs and marshmellows over the fire.

Shortly after we got there Sophee asked me, "So where are all the animals?". To which I replied, "I don't know honey, they don't just show up as soon as people get here". Not even a minute later she walks outside and yells, "They're here! The deer are here!" Sure enough 2 deer had wandered into the camp and got within a few feet of us. The kids were pretty excited and got a little rowdy, which quickly scared them off.

Later on they came back and I was able to get a couple of pics. Here's Kory with one of them:

We only saw 1 male deer, but he didn't stick around for very long. The second night that we were there the kids fed a couple of female deer some bread right from their hands.

We went on a couple of little hikes around the camp and found this teepee. The kids thought that it was pretty cool:

We spent a lot of time sitting around the table playing games and doing puzzles-no electronics for us, even our cell phones were dead.

Sophee:

Audree:

Kaylee:

Joshua:

My pictures seem a little fuzzy. Maybe that's because it seems that there are always some grubby little hands all over the lens.

Anyway, we had a really good time just taking it easy-and the weather was completely perfect! Even if we weren't totally 'roughing it'.

Pumpkin patch . . .

. . . sort of. As much as a pumpkin patch as you can get in the desert.

Anyway, my kids had all of last week off due to Fall Break. I, unfortunately still had to go to school, so we were pretty limited on the activities that we could do.
Last Monday morning my SIL calls me on a whim and talked me into going to Vegas with her.
We took the kids to this little pumpkin patch that was in a casino parking lot. They got to ride some carnival type games:
(That's Kaylee up front next to the #4).

Audree, Josh, and Sophee in the bounce house:

Sophee coming down the big slide:

Audree coming down the big slide:

Feeding the goats:

Posing for some cute pumpkin pics. Sophee:

Audree:

Kaylee:

And Josh:

It's only been 2 months

Okay, I realize it's been awhile . . . and I only have 2 college classes. I should be able to keep up with running the household and only taking 2 classes right? Well, maybe, if it weren't for the fact that one of those classes is Chemistry.

Chemistry is not my forte.

Chemistry is like learning a totally different language.

Chemistry is butt kicking hard!!


Okay, so there's my excuse.

Please note that I have taken the time to put up 4 new posts below!
Now I'm good till the end of the year, right? Or at least until I'm done with Chemistry. If I survive!!

Sophee has finally lost it!

. . . her first tooth, that is.

She's been waiting for this for at least a year now, thinking she'd never lose her baby teeth.

Once she figured out that her tooth was a little loose she started wiggling it non-stop, and it came out a day later!

Check out the new toothless grin. So cute!
She is so proud of herself, and the dollar that she got from the tooth fairy.

Cousins come for a visit!

Back in early September my sister and her husband took a much needed vacation to Vegas, and we got to spend a few days playing with 4 of our cousins. It was so much fun! You would think having 8 kids in the house would be chaotic, but they all played together so well, that no one ever bothered me, or whined to me about being bored. Meal time, on the other hand, now that was a little crazy, but we had such a good time.

My little nephew, Joel, was quite fascinated with the doggie door. This was his access in and out of the house, as he could not open the sliding glass door by himself. (Just a note: I would have gladly opened the door for him, but this was his preferred method).

Just checking out how it works:
Pushing his nose up againist the glass for the picture.

And making his escape.

Sophee, Jessica, and Lacey decided that they needed to make Audree a birthday card, so I got out some 3 x 5 cards that I had bought on clearance and some crayons and handed them each a card to color then went off going about my business of cleaning things up.

A little while later Kaylee came and found me to tell me that the girls were 'totaling wasting all the 3 X 5 cards and making a huge mess at the table'.

I told her that it was okay, since I only spent 35 cents on the whole pack of cards, and if it was keeping them entertained for that long that it was well worth it.

Here are just some of the creations they made:

A closer look:

Then girls then proceeded to use a kleenex holder that I had in the bathroom as a mailbox to deliver all the letters. I thought it was quite cute, and it kept them entertained for hours.

Who can beat that for only 35 cents?

Anyway, the kids had a great time and can't wait to get together with their cousins again!

Audree turns 7!

Just a few days before Audree's birthday we took her to get her ears pierced. She's been wanting them pierced for awhile now, but just worked up the nerve to have it done. She was super brave, even though there was only one lady working there, and she had to have each ear done separately. She picked out gold heart earrings with a diamond in the middle.

What a cutie pie!

We just happened to be watching my sisters kids for the weekend, so we took them all to McDonalds then came home and opened presents.

Then had cake. Audree actually requested that we have cinnamon rolls for her birthday so we had those for breakfast, then I went ahead and made some cupcakes for after lunch. What's a little extra sugar on your birthday? Those are some plastic rings on the cupcakes.

Then, with the money that she got from both sets of Grandparents I took her to the store and she picked out this:

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Oatman

Back in August my SIL, Kim, and her two boys came to visit. They wanted to go to Oatman to feed the burros, so armed with some carrots from Grandpa's garden, we went. Unfortunately it was kinda' rainy, and the burro's were retreating so we only saw 2 the whole time.

Since the burros were no where to found we walked around, ate ice cream, and took some silly pictures. Here's Kaylee:

Sophee:

And Audree:

Kory and Josh were at a swim meet, so they weren't able to go with us. Here's some of the Burgess cousins:

It was a quick trip, but it's always fun to get out of the house every once in awhile.