First day of school

 Corbin and Maggie both started school last Tuesday. Corbin started first grade. His teacher is Ms. Given. Maggie is in four year old preschool with Ms. Helen again. They both did great and loved their first day.

 When I asked Corbin about his day he liked everything except lunch. He said it was too crazy. They had a buddy that was a sixth grader that helped them walk through the line and get their tray. He said there were too many people and it was really loud. 

 Maggie likes school unless she thinks too much about it. She always tells me that she had a good day when she gets in the car, but later she will tell me that she doesn't like it, she doesn't want to leave me, or the other kids won't play with her. This is exactly how school ended last year. I hope it doesn't last too long and she learns to just love it.

 Kent is home with me for another year, but he wanted his picture taken too.

Lagoon

Mark and Marianne gave each family Lagoon passes for Christmas last year. Our family has loved them, and we used them way more than I thought we would. I took our kids yesterday for the last time before school starts next week. It was a perfect day, not too hot or busy. Corbin gets a little bored with all the little kid rides, but it was still fun for him.He likes when we go with other families to he can ride Bombora and the jumping dragon. Maggie and Kent are completely content with all the mother goose rides.

The train is one of our favorites. Our whole family can do it together, and my kids love seeing those poor animals.

Island Park

My family went to Island Park for our vacation this year. We left on Wednesday and started at Willow Park Zoo. My kids loved this, especially Kent. He seriously loves almost all animals. They have a petting zoo now and that was their favorite.

 We played at the park for a few minutes after the zoo. Everything is always more fun when we do it with cousins.

 We ate lunch and then were on our way. We headed up to Island Park. As we were getting close, we kept seeing road construction signs. They started kept making me more and more nervous. We were ten minutes from our cabin and the sign said expect 90 minute delays. When we hit the construction Matt got out and talked to the guy holding the sign. I thought we would be forever so I started taking random pictures of my kids to entertain them. Luckily, there was a side road that we took that led us straight there. Although everyone else that waited to get through said it only took about 15 minutes.

 The hot tub like always is a hit.

 On Thursday we drove to Yellowstone. It was insane! The traffic just to get into the park took us forever. It took us about an hour to drive to Old Faithful. We waited there for almost an hour before we saw it erupt. It was super cool, my kids liked it. Kent missed it. He just couldn't stay awake that long. After it was finished, we headed to the cafeteria for lunch. It took us so long that as we were walking out Old Faithful went off again. This time Kent got to see it and thought it was pretty cool.

Friday was my favorite. We went to Harriman State Park for a little hike around a lake. Then enjoyed a picnic lunch.

 The whole family in front of the lake.

We went to Island Park Reservoir Friday afternoon. It was perfect for sitting on the beach, but a little cold to be in the water. My kids loved the kayaks, and just playing in the sand. Uncle Jed helped teach them some geology too.

One of Maggie's favorite parts of the entire trip was the Sharpie shirts. She was so excited to make her own shirt again this year. She said it is going to be her preschool shirt now. 

Friday night Corbin got sick which is never fun on vacation. He felt better by morning, but we still just headed straight home Saturday.

Willard Bay

 My dad was able to get the boat out on the water last week for the first time of the summer. My kids were so excited. I was watching from the dock as my dad and all my kids, Steph's kids, and Shannon's kids were in the boat. I watched them for about fifteen minutes as my dad tried to get the boat started. Then another boat came over to try and jump us, but the lady wasn't quite sure where her battery was and my dad didn't have long enough cables. Finally after about a half hour he was able to get one motor running. Then out on the water after we had been going for a few minutes, the other one started up.

 My kids were just along for the ride, barely even getting in the water, but still loved it. I wanted to get them on a knee board or at least out swimming, but it was hard to do when I wasn't willing to get in there with them. Maybe next year. 

 I love these two boys and how good of friends they are.

 Corbin did get in and swim for a minute, but he didn't get too far from the safety of the deck and definitely wouldn't get on the knee board. He loved just the few minutes though. He would have definitely stayed out longer, but I had to get Kent back home to nap.

 Kent was so tired. I had to try to keep him awake on the boat so that he could have a decent nap when we left.

Haircut time

I love Maggie's hair. I always want to style it super cute and I love having it long. Maggie hates her long hair. We fight over it all the time. So it was definitely time to go shorter. She was so excited to go to a salon and have Shelby cut her hair. She was really shy when we were there, but she enjoyed it. Shelby even spoiled her with a pink braid. We only cut off four and a half inches, but it has made a huge difference in making her hair easier to do and easier to wash and brush out.

Mantua

My sisters and I headed up to Mantua campground for the afternoon last week just to spend a couple hours. It was a rough go getting up there. Kent wouldn't nap and Maggie was bawling about something. I didn't even want to go, but Corbin had been really good and really wanted to go. I was going to just send him with one of my sisters, but it was just easier to take him up there. I was just going to drop him off, but Maggie calmed down and Kent fell asleep so we all ended up staying. It turned out to be a wonderful way to spend our day. They were all happy once we got there and it was so gorgeous.We just needed a little something new and exciting. We hung out and explored with just a few treats for a couple hours and it was a perfect afternoon.

 They found a fort and played so great the entire time we were there. Like always, we were the first to leave and my kids were so sad. It almost made me want to go camping. I can't believe summer is coming to an end. I am so excited, but also sad.