Labor Day

On Labor Day we took advantage of $2 admission per child (and adults free) at Jungle Jim's Playland.  The kids had a lot of fun on the bounce houses and other rides.
















We took a picnic lunch and ate it at a nearby park.



Darrell and Emily



Darrell and Megan

Then we headed to Temple Square.  It had been a while since we had been there (not at Christmas time.)  There weren't that many people around so it was kind of nice.

Tyler,  Megan, Emily



The kids thought it was fun to take pictures with the statues...



and pretend to be statues.

Tyler



Megan wanted me to take pictures of her posing.





Emily decided to get in on the action too.

We were able to go on a tour of Brigham Young's house and of the Conference Center.  Here are the girls at the very end of the tour on top of the Conference Center. 

We finished off the day with roasting marshmallows with our neighbors.

We love you Grandpa!

We're thinking about Darrell's dad today on his birthday!

We love you!

Back to School

August was an exciting month because Tyler headed back to school and Emily and Megan started school. 

We had to be to the school before the first day of school for a PTA meeting so we stopped by to see Tyler's room.  His 2nd grade teacher is Mrs. Matsumura.



The first day of second grade.

The girls didn't start school that day, but they did participate in the photo booth.

Megan



Emily

The girls had their pre-assessments later that day and they got to meet their teachers.  Megan has Mrs. Van Mondfrans.  (The kids just call her Mrs. Van.)



Emily's teacher is Mrs. Sorensen.



A week later it was the girls' first day of kindergarten!

Emily and her Barbie backpack





Megan and her Disney princess backpack

Sisters



Sisters...and brother

Kindergarten--so exciting!



Lining up out back on the playground

Megan



Emily



All of the kindergartners walked around to the front of the building to enter the doors for their "clap in."  It's an awesome tradition where the whole school lines the halls and cheers and claps for the kindergartners as they enter the school.  It was pretty emotional for this momma.

Emily (in the back) at her desk.



Megan



At home after the first day.  They both loved their first day of school.

That evening we went and got sundaes to celebrate.

Emily and Tyler



Me and Megan

I just had to document this:  The first couple days that I went to pick up the girls Megan would hold on to the playground bars and say, "I don't WANT to go home!"  (I know, Honey, I wish it was all-day kindergarten too!)

Camping

We were able to go camping in August.

Darrell wasn't able to get away from work for more than a day, but the kids and I headed up by ourselves for one night.

My tent-pitching helpers.

Megan



Tyler



Emily




Emily went through the weeds and attracted a bunch of burrs on her shirt.



Tent set up and trying out the camping chairs.



The kids setting about exploring the campsite and collecting "treasures."





Dinner was burgers cooked on the Coleman burner

It rained a little bit that night, but we made it to the tent without getting too drenched, and luckily there wasn't much mud in the morning.

Breakfast in the morning was little boxes of cereal--so fun.



The kids and I went on a hike up one of the trails that led off the campground.

Here we are barely up the trail and Emily's all sad looking because she had already been crying about how hard the hike was going to be.



After telling the kids they were strong and healthy and could handle a big hike (and bribery of licorice if they did well for specified amounts of time), we headed on our way again. The hike was pretty much all uphill and was kinda hard for little ones, but the kids did really well once they decided it's better to suck it up and walk, rather than whine and miss out on licorice.  And the scenery was beautiful:





The kids collected rocks along the way.



Here's a close-up of Emily's tie rock.



Lunch was Lunchables.



It was a hot day, even up in the mountains, so we headed to the nearby creek.



Megan



Tyler



Emily



Walking on the rocks





Emily learned the hard way what happens when you walk on rocks in the middle of the creek.  She slipped and landed on her bum in the water and got pretty wet.  You can see her getting up if you look really close.  Emily didn't appreciated Megan and me laughing at her, but it was kinda funny.



The kids worked on their collections and made little houses out of them.







Darrell came up in time for dinner.  We had hot dogs and s'mores.





Darrell, Emily, Tyler and Megan



Darrell took the kids down to the creek and they all came back with soaking wet feet.  Must've been fun!



My view inside the tent on our last morning.



We had pancakes for breakfast.



Emily



Crackers and string cheese before heading home.



It is always sad to pack up and head home, but we had a wonderful time!