Daily Summer Life

Cal and I have had some epic vacation adventures this summer, but we've also had a lot of fun in our home town, day to day. I'll admit, I've found it difficult to keep him mentally stimulated in the absence of preschool, but I've tried my best to rise to the challenge. Here are some of the things we've been up to:

Bird Feeder -- I'm not sure where Cal got the idea in his head, but he let me know in no uncertain terms that he wanted to hang a bird feeder in the tree outside our apartment. We found a simple one at the store and sure enough, the next morning there were three little birds fighting over it. Cal had a perfect view from the living room window, and was delighted each time he saw a visitor. He'd always hush me -- "shhh! Mommy, there are birdies!" (pronounced 'boudees'  -- R's are hard.)

Achievement Days -- I'm still busy every other week with the young girls in my congregation. It's always a joy working with them, and summer is full of water balloon fights and swim parties. We have a new presidency in charge of primary, and they're making some fun changes. It's great to see new things coming down the pipeline.

 
Sewing Pioneer Outfits -- In a moment of overconfidence, I signed up to help sew shirts for the youth pioneer trek this summer.  The pattern turned out to be more complicated than I had first imagined, but after a lot of trial and error (which included Reed standing in as a substitute dress form while I pinned the sleeves and tunic to the yoke), the shirts were finished!

Play Dates with Friends -- I still organize a weekly park days for the young moms in my congregation, and we've been having a blast this summer. This photo is from the week the kids discovered a "mud-maker" in the park sand pit. A huge, sarcastic thank you to the park planner that thought it would be helpful. At least the kids had fun, right?

Here's Cal enjoying ice cream with friends at Moms' Morning Out:

Popsicles with His friend after swimming (while I waited with my friend who'd locked her keys in her car):

Camping -- Back in June, we went camping with a group of friends from the ward. Cal had a fun time roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, playing with glow sticks and sleeping in the tent. One memorable moment? Cal kept yelling "Be quiet! I'm trying to sleep" at everyone who made any noise whatsoever around the tent. 

 

 Berry Picking -- a definite perk of living in California! Back in July, we met up at Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville for some strawberry picking.

 Lunches with Mommy -- for days when I haven't felt like cooking :)

I have loved spending my days with this silly little guy, but I am so excited for preschool to start up again.

I'm pretty sure he is, too!

Sunday in Salt Lake

We spent Sunday with Reed's parents and went to church in Salt Lake. Rosemary made a delicious dinner and Richard and I brainstormed over genealogy. The best was seeing Cal bonding with Grandpa. He absolutely loves the time he gets to spend with the Olsens. We were so glad Richard was in town this time around!

Richey Reunion at Bear Lake

The last stop on our summer roadtrip was Bear Lake in Northern Utah for the Richey family reunion. We arrived a day before the group festivities began, so we made the best of the wait by exploring the Minnetonka Cave. 

 There were a million stairs to climb between the rooms. Cal was a trooper on the way up, but a little bit of a chicken on the way back down.

 After the fun morning at the caves, we spent the weekend hanging out at the sweet condo my parents reserved for us (thank you, Mom and Dad!), playing at the lake (which was interrupted by a wild rainstorm -- head for the hills!), a hilarious show at the Pickleville Playhouse, and family meals all together. Cal loved the Pickleville show; here he is on Daddy's lap in the audience:

 One of my favorite parts of the reunion was the skit night. Each nuclear family put on a skit depicting a family story. The Mark Richeys acted out a typical cousin dinner at Grandma Richey's house, complete with a rendition of "God Bless the USA" like Grandma always loved. I also loved Suzie's skit, which reenacted the time Grandma faced off with a group of Hell's Angels while moving her sister-in-law out of her house.

Cal loved the "down time" moments, when he and Carson got to watch Scooby Doo or Marmaduke on the downstairs DVD player. These two are such good little friends.

Thanks for a wonderful reunion, Richey Family! Love you all!

Epic Summer Roadtrip

Epic. The word doesn't begin to describe the trip my family pulled off this summer. Just weeks after Hannah got back from a service trip to the Dominican Republic, and a day after my family returned from Nauvoo, Cal and I hitched a ride with my parents up to our family's place in Waterton, Alberta.I know I've posted about Waterton before, so I'll just hit some of the highlights of the trip.

Cal was anxious to try out his new binoculars from Aunt Meredith & Uncle Scott & Carson, so he took them everywhere we went. He'd say, "Mommy! Need my 'noculars!"

They were actually quite useful, and several other family members used them as the trip progressed. Anytime someone would spot wildlife, someone would say, "Cal, can I use your 'noculars?"

 Uncle Frank came to stay with us for a few nights, and got us set up with boating and kayaking. Here is Markie on the small skiff at Emerald bay. Look at the excited passenger!

 Hannah preferred to kayak. She and mom attempted to brave the open lake to get to Bertha Bay, but the wind was blowing so hard it blew them backward even as they paddled.

 Cal loved the hammock so much, and even told me he needed to sleep outside in his "special bed" one night. I tried to explain why he couldn't, without using the word "bear bait."

 My mom and sister and I climbed Crypt Lake one day while we were there. It's an intense 10.7 miles along steep shale cliffs, and then there's a cool part where you crawl through a tunnel in the mountainside before emerging at the secret lake at the top. I wish these pictures showed the drop off a little better!

 We were pretty worn out around mile 8, or at least I was! When we finally came around the corner of the last bend before the bay, we looked up, and like a rescuing angel, we saw Frank driving out to get us in his boat! Perfect timing! We ran down to the dock where all the hikers who'd taken the Miss Waterton ferry were waiting for their pickup. As my uncle pulled up to dock, a lady said, "Your ride's here? Lucky!" We felt like hiking royalty or something. Home, James!

 Cal actually got Frank to climb up into the treehouse with him. Super cute!

We saw TONS of wildlife while we were there, including bald eagles, deer, foxes, coyotes, buffalo, TEN BEARS, and even a white wolf! Here's a shot of one of the bears:

 We had a picture at Red Rock. Cal was very entertained with climbing all over the rocks and into the creek. He used his binoculars as a microscope to inspect the rocks, too!

 And of course, there were multiple trips to the candy store AND the big scoop.

On the way back to Utah, we stopped in Yellowstone, which I thought was completely fascinating! My favorite part was the "paint pots" -- totally alien-looking!  Cal whined A LOT about the stinky geysers.

We got to see Old Faithful erupt twice. I don't know who named that thing, but it was not "like clockwork." The second wait got particularly long, but we made it right with a trip to the ice cream counter after the spout.

 In between spouts, we all went in to watch what we hoped would be a scientific/educational video about the park. Turns out, it was more of a cheesy thing, with an excited host name Ranger Brandon suggesting activities we could do with our family. It was pretty boring, until the wildlife warning they tagged on the end, where everyone including my 4-year-old was treated to the visual horror of a woman being mauled and trampled by an angry bison. Everyone in the theatre was shouting, "OOOOHHH!!! OoooOOOoooh!" Thanks, Yellowstone!

Then, we were off to the Bar J Wranglers Chuckwagon dinner and show in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was AWESOME. They serve up a big, yummy BBQ dinner and then entertain their audience with fantastic singing and jokes. We loved it! And Cal got to go on a wagon ride while we were waiting for dinner.

We explored the town a little, and even tried on a few things, before heading down to Bear Lake for the Richey family reunion.

And of course, Cal immediately found a candy shop. :)

Cal's Birthday

Someone very important had a birthday recently.  Our little guy turned four the day we left for our epic summer vacation to Utah, Canada, and everywhere in between.  Cal was pretty convinced that the plane ride was all part of his birthday celebration, and thanks to a kind flight steward who made a birthday announcement over the intercom and had all the passengers sing, it was part of the celebration!

Cal was so excited and surprised when he heard his name over the intercom, and when everyone started singing, he stood up and turned around on his chair to smile at everyone.  He held up four fingers excitedly and everyone laughed. 

The plane ride passed without a hitch thanks to Heather's dry erase workbook.  Look how focused he is: 

We flew Allegiant into Provo, which was a new experience for us, but it worked out perfectly.  Cal and I rented a car and finally made it to the Martins' home in Lehi, where we threw a family party for this little nugget:

 Balloons, pizza, presents, a birthday crown -- Cal was so excited about it all.  He has been requesting a car cake for the last 6 months, so I tried my hand at this crazy creation:

 A little droopy, but not bad! Here are the cousins posing with the car cake (complete with special #4 candle, which Cal insisted on keeping). I love that these two are such good friends.

 After dinner and cake, Cal got to open presents from the family. We scored a lot of educational toys to help with reading and writing this year. (Have I mentioned how excited we both are for Cal to start his preschool again this fall?)

 The next day, we rounded out our brief visit to the splash pad and gardens at Thanksgiving Point. It was a hot day! Perfect for a little water fun. We stopped by the huge koi pond to feed the fish.

 Then it was time to say goodbye. Cal and I were off to Canada with my parents. The boys were sad to leave each other:

 Thanks for a wonderful birthday party, Olsen family! Cal loved it! And the funnest part, was that he got to do it all over again at Grandma Linebarger's house the next night, too. Grandma had a cake ready with hot wheels cars on the top, and there were more present from the Richey family. Thanks to everyone for being so good to my little nugget.

Hangin' With Dad

Can you tell who loves his dad? :)