Corbin is 14!

 Corb turned 14 yesterday! He wanted a mountain bike so he and Matt went and picked up what I ordered for him on Friday night. It wasn't at all a surprise, but it was a good gift. It could have been a little bigger, but it will work until he grows. He seemed pretty happy with it. We were at the waterslide for a good part of the day on his birthday. That night when we came home he went to North Fork to ride with his friends. I actually was a little surprised at how much he loved it with no trepidation. I thought he would be a little slower or more nervous, he just loved it all and thought his friend Max was too slow. 

Grandma and Grandpa Davis came up after his ride around 8:30. Corbin and his friends were stuck behind a wreck on the divide so he was a little slow getting home. It was a gorgeous night to just visit outside though. When Corbin came home we sang and they gave him his presents. I didn't even make or buy a dessert this year. I am getting more lame every year. He was thrilled with his pickleball paddles and legos though. It was a good day! 

Waterslide

 Yesterday Melissa rented a massive waterslide for all the kids. It was definitely the biggest one we have ever played on. Van was too scared to go down it. Finally after a few hours of him playing trains inside with Quentin and playing in the splash pad I convinced him to go one time. I got scared at the top to hold him so I just held his hand. I ended up elbowing his head and he was so sad. He did end up going one more time later for Matt, but he didn't like it then either. The rest of the kids had so much fun! Corbin wasn't thrilled that this was how we spent his birthday, but after he got going he enjoyed it too. They all played for hours. I loved looking at the pictures of Claire. In every picture she looked so completely terrified, yet she loved every second of it!

Dance Party

 The girls had their end of year dance party this week. They got to go to flow rider and iRock in Ogden. This is the first year I have ever gone with them because I thought maybe Claire was too little to go alone. It was super fun. They both started with rock climbing and loved it. Maggie could easily make it to the top. Claire had an awesome kid belaying her that helped her make it to the top once. 

It took a lot of convincing to get Claire to even try flow rider. Once she did she loved it! The boy that was helping the littles was darling. He rode the body surfing board with her and then held her when he surfed. Once she did it a couple times he also had her stand up and do jumps and leg extensions. I felt bad I didn't have any cash for a tip because he was really so great. He made it so fun for Claire. Maggie was able to do it on her own and probably spent more time body surfing than rock climbing. It was also super fun that most of the girls from Maggie's team were there. Claire was the only tiny for the first hour. I was glad I stayed with her.

Fifth Water Hot Springs

On Friday we hiked Fifth Water Hot Springs. We were pretty undecided if we were going to go or not. I really didn't want to stay at the house the entire day so I said we were going and everyone followed. It was totally worth it. It was almost five miles round trip. The hot springs and falls were amazing! A lot of the hike was in the shade, we followed the river most of the time, and there was a breeze. Van and Claire did pretty good. Van was beat by the end and had to be carried the entire way out.  It was hot, but not unbearable. It was a great hike! I did realize no matter how much I run I am not in hiking shape. Carrying Van and Claire for part of the way made it even that much more difficult! Claire walked nearly all of it though. She did awesome! She didn't necessarily love the hot pots because they were too hot and stinky. My older kids I didn't even see the entire time. They were much faster than us. 

On Friday night we drove into Mt. Pleasant to eat dinner. We ended up splitting up so my family ate with my parents. The next morning, I drove Beau to a campground 10 minutes from our house. I had told him it had a paved trail and we could do our run there for the morning because I knew I couldn't do the dirt road leading to our house. It was just a campground so Beau, Shannon, and I just ran the road around people's camping sites for an hour. Not the best location, but it was a paved road and I got my six mile run in before we got home in the heat. We got home even later than planned too because we blew a tire on the freeway in Clearfield. Matt had to change it on the side of the interstate. Then we had to take the van in later to have the tire replaced. A little crazy ending, but overall a great weekend in the books!

Thistle Vacation

 My family rented a VRBO in Spanish Fork Canyon this year, in Thistle. The house wasn't quite what I had expected when I rented it, but it worked out really good. We all got there after dinner on Wednesday so we just hung out that night. 

On Thursday we went to Splash Summit in Provo. It was so much fun! The kids loved it, even Corbin who wasn't so sure. Van and Claire had the cutest lifeguard for a half hour on the slide. Every time they went up he would tell them what to be as they went down. They were a cowboy, a superhero, etc. It was darling. The older kids loved the slides the most. They looked a little scary to me, but I did do one mild slide a couple times. Kent and Spencer were living their best life and were elusive the entire day. They would be seen here or there throughout but they made a point to do every slide in the entire park, including the little kid once. They were just loving it all! 

That night the boys found a rattlesnake. Luckily, the older boys found it and not Van. Maggie brought her cotton candy machine which was a hit with almost all the kids. Claire figured out how to jump rope and was thrilled to get three jumps in. Really the best part of these vacations is just the amount of time we get to spend with cousins. The boys were all in a room. Maggie was with Grace the first night and then with us the other two. It was super fun!

Family Pictures 2024

I didn't get family pictures last year. I was super excited to get them done this year. Our spring was so crazy busy that we ended up scheduling them at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning. It was bright and early, but I am happy they are over with now. My family is growing up! Van was super grumpy when we first started. Luckily my dad had given me pumpkin cookies the night before and I left them in the car. He was much happier after his cookie, but the whole photo shoot was over in 40 minutes so we didn't get a done of options with him happy. Overall, I am happy with them.