Naptime mischief

Joel and I took a nice Sunday nap today. Before going to bed, I made sure all the doors were securely closed so that Leif couldn't escape to the great outdoors.

I should have made sure the craft closet door was securely closed too.Leif discovered the wonderful scents of Mr. Sketch markers. It looks like he particularly liked blueberry. Too bad they're not washable.

I find Leif's taste buds to be suprising. Sure, he loves popsicles, lollipops, and chips, sad-- but certainly not unexpected in our junk food society. Some of his other favorites though, make me laugh. For example: freshly ground wheat flour! Every time I grind some, he's up there on the counter sampling the batch.

"Hi there, I'm Mr. flour eater. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, excuse me...cough.....cough.....I think I inhaled this stuff! Cough."

Yes, he loves to eat flour.

He also LOVES mushrooms fried in butter. He can hardly wait as I'm cutting the mushrooms, and I have to keep telling him that they're almost done. He eats them so fast I can barely keep up! Another favorite of Leif's is baked kale. It's crunchy, garlicy goodness and simple to make. You stir kale leaves with olive oil and minced garlic and bake until they've started to crisp. I sprinkle a bit of salt on them before eating. Leif and I are the only ones on our family who find this really delicious, so maybe we're strange. You should try it and let me know what you think. :-)

Koosharem 2011

We just got back from our annual July trip to southern Utah! I'm very glad we went. But I have to share a funny experience. The morning we were packing to go, it ended up being a bit rough and I began to think we should call the whole trip off. First, I walked/crashed into the bike rack on the back of the suburban 4 different times with my face and the last crash was a doozy! It gave me a huge purple goose egg on my forehead and I actually cried. Seriously, do I have peripheral vision problems or something??? I've decided it was probably just a case of being completely oblivious to my surroundings, and it scares me that I could be that oblivious. :-) Luckily, Joel reminded me to put some arnica cream on it and that took the swelling down quickly so I only had a bit of bruising.

And then, when we finally got packed and left, about a minute after we were on the freeway we had the suburban blow a radiator hose! Thankfully, Joel noticed the temperature gauge before we ruined the engine. He had to do some improvising, which included rerouting, and clamping, and stuffing tools down hoses, etc. It worked well enough for us to limp into Wendell for parts and coolant. So, almost 2 hours after we started, we were finally on our way. Phew!

Now for some Koosharem photos:

We all enjoyed some amazing storms and rainbows during our stay. That part of Utah always seems to have afternoon thunderstorms and they are so refreshing. Look close-- it's a double rainbow.And this sunset. Stunning!
Everyone played a lot of volleyball this year. Good times.
And of course, Uncle Thad had the pasture golf course set up. That's always a hit. It can be quite an adventure because if you hit the ball out of the mowed area, you are searching in the tall grass for your ball.
Heidi decided to do a scene from Anne of Green Gables-- you know, the Lady of Shalott funeral scene. The grass was so deep and lush.

The girls had fun putting flowers in Leif's hair and carrying him around.
Heidi had so much fun with her cousin, Sophia, that she went back to Phoenix with her for a few weeks. I miss my Heidi so much! I hope she's not dying of heat stroke. The end of July is probably not the best time of year to visit Phoenix but she really wanted to go.
Now of course, everyone in the family knows the real reason for going to Koosharem is for the fishing. At least for the menfolk! Here's Reagan with his catch. One day they caught 40 trout.
Taylor took some great flower pictures at the reservoir..........
Hailey captured a good one too......
I brought my sewing machine this year and I was so glad I did. I am notreally a fisher woman, in fact, I've never caught a fish in my life. So while everyone was fishing, Leif and I stayed home and did projects. Well, I did projects and Leif amused himself playing with people's shoes. Oh, speaking of shoes,I have to share this photo real quick, so I'm going off topic for a second. One night, back in Idaho, Leif wanted me to put his shoes on so we could go for a walk, but I was doing the dishes so I ignored his request. Next thing I knew, he was outside, sluffing along in Torsten's shoes, planning to go who knows where. My little cutie loves shoes and loves to escape. He's given me quite a few scares. And no, that is not a busy road he's standing in. Thank goodness!

So back to the original topic. I set up my machine in the attic "pink room". I love the old wall paper up there, though the room has a funny smell that everyone says comes from the bats that live behind the walls. It's such a neat old house.
I pieced some quilt blocks for my quilt along, sewed this table topper for cousin Karen.......... and a made a "hot potato" or "potato sack"......?I can't remember what the heck it's called, but it's supposed to cook potatoes in the microwave better than the normal method. I'll buy some potatoes soon so I can try it out. I know, I live in Idaho and I don't have any potatoes in the house. For shame!

While we're talking about potatoes, here I am mixing up a batch of funeral potatoes for dinner. (proof that I really was there)
One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting Capitol Reef. The colorful rock formations are so amazingly beautiful! It's nice to have the Fremont River flowing through the park to add some coolness and mud to the day. The water almost looks like chocolate milk to me.We're swimming in chocolate!Our annual mud tromp.....Leif had a go of it. I was surprised that he seemed to like it okay. Usually mud scares him. Normally even chocolate icing makes him nervous because it looks like mud.
The whole clan.
The Capitol Reef area was settled by Mormon pioneers and they planted orchards full of fruit trees. The park invites the public to pick fruit from the orchards when it's in season. After we ate a picnic, we crossed the bridge and picked apricots in the orchard area before the kids jumped back in the water. That water was a magnet! Not too cold and not too deep.
Aren't the cliffs fabulous?
The perfect shades of warm orange, corals and reds to pop in contrast against the blue sky and green trees.
After exploring a few caves, we headed home. We stopped in Torrey for ice cream. Delicious!Then back in Koosharem...............we had an impromptu barbershop on the porch as Karen cut everyone's hair and the guys told stories.
Okay, this is the end of what I think is my longest blog EVER. Better hit the sack.

McCall was gorgeous. We only got to camp there one night but it was worth the drive. The only ugly part of the trip was from Glenns Ferry to Boise, (isn't that part always a drag?)but the next few hours from Boise to McCall were heavenly! Idaho's cool wet spring made for lush meadows and beautiful vistas. Lost the camera before I got any photos of the lake, but that's okay. We'll just have to go back.

Taylor ate some seriously dyed candy on the drive and ended up with a blue lips that made us all laugh. Here's his lips at least an hour after eating the candy. Hmmm....pictures too small to see much, but anyhow--I'm missing Taylor!! He's been off at scout camp since Monday. Taylor's the comic relief around our house and it's too quiet when he's gone.

I'm having so much fun sewing along with the "Sewn" quilt blog. Leila posts a new block pattern every week and explains some quilting techniques too. It's perfect for a newbie quilter like me! Here are a few of the blocks:
This really has been the summer of sewing. Maybe it's because my garden is so small so I have more time? Who knows, but anyways, besides making quilts and bibs for friends' babies, I've finished a skirt for Hailey, for myself, and for my neighbor, made a quilted table runner for my Grandma, and a quilted pillow for my Mom, and did a few other misc. projects-- like this buttoned hand towel thing-a-ma-bobber that Leif can't pull off the stove and throw on the floor. I like these style of hand towels because Leif really enjoys throwing everything on the floor. Even things like ceramic bunny mugs, cell phones, and crock pot lids. It's a constant battle. You know, it'd be better if he threw hand towels on the floor, now that I think about it.

Okay, while I'm here, can I just confide that some times I consider giving up on this little blog because I am not organized enough to do it right! I can never figure out where the heck the camera is when I want to snap a quick picture, or where the camera is when I want to take pictures off of and put them on the computer, or where the card reader is, or where the charged batteries for the camera are hiding.......it never ends! Am I the only one with these types of problems? :-) A solution I've considered is to ask for my own camera this Christmas. Even a cheap little one would do the trick. Maybe then my camera card won't always be maxxed out with Lego movies and trampoline antics.........maybe. But I guess, until then, I can do more "literary" posts when I haven't any pictures to share.

June has flown.....

June rushed by in a flurry of activities: clogging camp, Girls Camp, robotics camp, Climb Your Mountain camp, "real" camping at McCall, Music Fest, Roaring Springs, and lastly, attending a Shakespeare play at the outdoor theatre in Boise. Luckily, I didn't personally participate in all that, but my kids did and now we are all ready for the LAID BACK portion of summer-- you know, swimming, reading, and plain old playing with friends, and all that. (Okay, mowing the lawn, practicing the piano and a bit of math is included in that schedule too but that's to be expected.) Thanks to all the wonderful friends and family who hosted my children in town during June so that my driving time was lessened. I really appreciate you guys ! And the kids enjoyed some wonderful experiences!