I hate canning

Reed loved helping peel the apples.

And Taryn, of course.

My mom did most of the work.

And countless hours later, we had applesauce. Are we still thinking this is fun...or economical? I think not.

Picking apples

Our first camping trip

The tent is the best part

The bonfire is my favorite part

Roasting marshmallows

Eating "smers" :)

They spent a lot of time playing with the flashlight in the tent

Silly kids

Cute...but it didn't last long.

The morning after, the breakfast of champions.

Fishing in the morning...without a hook but still fun. :)

Kid sister had to try too.

I love watching my kids play in the dirt.

Breakfast, round 2 ***Overall, our first camping trip was really fun and successful. The kids had a blast and Reed has been asking to go ever since (he also had a blast on the father-son campout a few weeks prior). I have to admit that sleeping in a tent was not my favorite. Reed had my crappy old sleeping bag and woke up 5 times freezing before sleeping with Kevin. Taryn actually slept in her pack-n-play for a few hours before she became a popsicle and I ended up holding her the rest of the night, meaning I slept for about 30 minutes the whole night. But overall, we had a lot of fun and plan on going again next year.

Summer adventures re-cap

Kevin tried to teach Reed the proper way to golf...

but there's no way that was happening.

Our new favorite kid-friendly hike to the Grotto.

Family home evenings at the temple are the best!

The kids loved Bridal Veil Falls

Doesn't get much better than throwing rocks in the stream.

Baseball game.

Me and the babe (Reed's new "nickname" for Taryn--Kevin and I don't use that word ever so he came up with it on his own. Even cuter!).

The real joy came from rolling down the hill though...

and eating over-sized otter pops.

Hiking the Grotto with Grandma is even better!

One of my favorite activities: picking raspberries with cousins!

Helping Daddy

Want some?

Sadly my kids won't eat raspberries unless they are in a smoothie, and none of us eat jam really. So we didn't come home with too much. I really just love the process and experience of picking raspberries though. And apparently, if Grandma hands you raspberries to eat, you will down 'em like they're candy. (She wouldn't eat them at home when I offered them to her).

"My horn can pierce the sky!"

Cahoots Race

Kevin and I signed up for a team 5K race a few months ago called the Cahoots. It was similar to the Dirty Dash race, but you run it with a partner and complete challenges along the way together. It was a lot of fun. I love doing stuff like this with Kevin. At one point in the race, Kevin had gotten "stuck" trying to climb up a tube. I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. Cruel, I know.

We had to make a team flag and wear it during the race.

Post-race, dirtied and happy.