Work Hard, Play Hard

Things have been going on around here: hard work and wholesome recreation. Let's start with the fun stuff: Camping at Maple Grove. This was our 2nd family camping trip ever. We went with a group of some of our favorite people and had a program and a flag retiring ceremony. The rest of the time was spent running wild for the kids, and some good talkin' and singing by everyone around the campfire. Cannon manned his post at river's edge basically the entire time, throwing rocks and shouting "Awesome!" He only left to eat marshmallows at intervals and then to go to bed.

According to the girls the best part was playing in the stream. The worst? Sleeping. Now that we own a tent, we like to consider ourselves official "campers." Our next purchase will be an air mattress.

We had s'mores for breakfast, more running around, and a craft called "Flower pounding?? The kids gathered purple phlox, columbine, Indian paintbrush and other wildflowers. Instead of "pressing them" they tap between fabric or paper with a hammer. Their boquets actually turned out really well and now we have crafty souvenirs to add to our mountain collection. All in all it was a fun trip that ended with a quick drive home to showers and a nap!

Now for the work, HARD work: A wheelbarrow and shovel have been Brandon's faithful companions the last 2 weeks. First it was hauling dirt. Then it was hauling rock--8 tons of it! All that rock had to be mixed (2 diff colors) and sifted (lots of unattractive dirt came with it) and shoveled and spread. What a project. It is nice to see some progress on the yard and now when I drive in I feel like I'm pulling into the parking lot of a St. George shopping mall. Props to Brandon for all that hard work. He's a good man and I think I'll be giving him a massage every day.