Okay- I guess I will just have to continue to filter myself. I can't stand the fact that going private means that none of you read my blog! Forget it.

I don't really know why I am so behind on my posting. I have just been feeling very uncreative and unfunny lately. But I guess I need to satisfy the select few who might care about our boring day to day happenings.



A couple of weeks ago, we took the kids out of school, threw some crap in the car and drove up to Oak Creek Canyon to have a little family camping trip. We all needed to get away. I wish we had gotten even further away. I mean, I'm not complaining. It was beautiful and relaxing, but I was a little sad that we could still hear street traffic from our campsite. The place we used to camp in GA was soooo peaceful.....



Anyway- here are a million pictures to tell our story:

This drive could NEVER get old. It's stunning.

What else do you need to survive a road trip besides a few good movies, some pillows...



and a belt with which to strap a flashlight to your head? I don't know. I just don't know.

Here's our beautiful campsite- for some reason nobody chose to camp anywhere near us. Maybe is was the kids darting around screaming at the top of their lungs.

I'm not sure what she was doing here, but this face makes me happy.

Yep- that's pretty much every picture of Owen these days.

Those of you who know me will get just how terrifying this is- I had to do my business in the bathroom and just as I was relieving myself, I looked up and saw the mother of all black widows. Holy crap...literally. I can't even explain how huge this thing was. I also can't explain how stressful it is to poo into a giant abyss while choking back sobs of fear. Not fun, my friends.

The campgrounds were so beautiful and Owen and Hazel were determined to explore every inch.

while eating popcorn balls

which resulted in a few stops to clean popcorn from their teeth....with their shirts?

Owen did everything little boys should do while camping. He peed on several trees (I chose not to photograph that), played with fire, and broke some sticks over his knee...and probably ate a bunch of dirt.

That night we made silver turtles (foil dinners- hamburger patties with potatoes and onions)

Hazel loved everything- including the onions...

Owen wasn't as enthusiastic

That night we, of course, roasted marshmallows. I think I had about 6 smores. My belly hurt. Isn't Hazel such a good multi-tasker eating her smore while prepping two others? Mama's proud.

Am I drunk in this picture? Or maybe just a lack of make-up makes me appear so. And do I always need to get Hazel in a choke hold to get her to pose for a photo?

Hazel started to get cold and whiny and scared of all the skunks that were literally surrounding us. Owen offered her a little warmth and comfort while being the brave big brother.

The next morning, skunks were forgotten as we started the day with powdered doughnuts.

Then we packed up camp and headed over to Slide Rock. We had to stop to pose on this gorgeous tractor. It was strange to see how natural Nathan looked on a tractor.

Here it is. Beauty, right? I know. A couple of people were actually IN the frigid water. See that little head poking out of the water?

Owen joined the select few and waded into the water. He then proceeded to slip (hence the name slide rock) and fall into the water in the last of his clean clothes.
Hazel laughed and pointed and watched Owen flounder from the comfort of this warm rock.

And here's a little clip to make you feel like you were a part of our joyous one-nighter.

FINALLY going private...

If you would like to continue reading my blog, please either leave me your name and email address in a comment or send it to me at:

lingseyd@gmail.com


And I'm still working on that stinking video. I have NO idea why it didn't post, and now I can't get it to upload. FURY!!!!

Do you have a few minutes for an "inventure" ???

I recently picked up the camera to take a picture and realized that Owen had apparently figured out the video function. There were around 15 new videos recorded on the camera (along with lots of new pointless photos). Maybe it's just because I'm his mother, but this made me laugh until I had tears streaming down my face. There's more to come, but here's the pilot. I think this kid might have quite a lucrative career ahead of him.

PS- add your email to a comment if you want to continute reading my blog. I have finally decided to go private. It's the only solution I can think of to all these stalkers that read my blog and then make assumptions about me based on the things I write. :) And yes...I'm talking about you.

Owen's latest accomplishments...i

He's my first child, so I have no idea if this is late or not, but Owen finally learned how to ride his bike. It kind of took us not ever mentioning it and pretending not to care. It also helped that the boys across the street who are 3 years younger than him already knew how. Positive peer pressure. Sorry it's so dark- it was late.

And here he is playing one of his latest piano pieces. Once again, crappy recording....but you get the idea. I just can't get over how grown-up he seems lately.

Owen Dynamite

Somehow Owen managed to slip out the door the other morning with flip-flops on. He is not allowed to wear flip-flops to school. I took him to school. This means he was in the car with me and I never noticed.

Anyway- so he gets off the bus that afternoon with a little plastic bag containing his flip-flops and these hideous contraptions on his feet:

Are you freaking kidding me?! They're practically moon boots! I can't believe they didn't call me. I would have come running from ANYWHERE to save him from the humiliation. This is straight up inhumane. I think I am going to sue.

Hooray for Hazel

Today was Hazel's first day of Preschool. She thought she wanted to be a big girl and go to school...until I actually enrolled her. Then she had second (and third and fourth) thoughts. I guess even though she yells at me all day, she actually enjoys being around me and didn't want to suffer through the seperation. :)

She cried all morning (for a little over an hour) as we got ready for school and kept saying "I'm not going to school!" For the first 30 minutes, I was gentle and encouraging and sympathetic. Then I just got fed up. I wanted to scream "SUCK IT UP!" I knew she was going to love it, and I hate that she has to throw such a huge fit before even trying something. Sigh.

Anyway- she was precious when I dropped her off. She held my hand sooo tight and kept wanting to whisper things in my ear as we got acquainted with the classroom and the teachers. Things like "Tell her (ask her) when we are going to play with the blocks" or "Tell her when we are going to cut with scissors."

When I left, she burst into tears, but I quickly kissed all over her face, gave her a couple of big squeezes and cheerfully said bye. She cried "WAIT! One more kiss and hug!" I complied and she took her teacher's hand and entered the classroom. Once I got all my errands done for the day (it's amazing how fast it goes without kids!), it took all my self-control to not drive back up there and pick her up early...or at least just sneak a peek into her classroom.

I wish I had been as smart as my friend Nicole and captured the look on her face when I picked her up. She has never been so excited to see me! They were sitting in a circle singing songs and she yelled out "MOMMY!!!" but didn't move from her spot until her teacher told her she could. She was just so precious. Her teacher even wrote me a note giving me a play by play of how Hazel did on her first day. I think it's in the car and I'm too lazy to go get it, but she said that Hazel was a fantastic, precious little girl and got really involved in all their activites and made friends easily. She also told me that Hazel ate all her lunch and took a good nap. I wish I could have watched every moment!

Here she is looking at all the other kids on the playground...not quite ready to join in.

Her cubby. Even when she is feeling a little apprehensive, she doesn't hesitate to smile for the camera.

She looks way too big.

Tonight during Family Home Evening, we all told what our favorite part of our day was, and Hazel said "My favorite part was school." Awesome! Cause you're going back in two days. :)