Memorial Weekend at Horsethief-Day 3 and 4

To start of Day 3 we woke up to a rainy morning, which ended being okay because we headed off to church. There were also lots of indoor crafts going on throughout the day.

Daddy and Sophie on their way to breakfast

During the afternoon we worked on making some boondoggles....those plastic key chains that you knot together.  Blake was trying to get the hang of it and teach his skills to Allie:)

The afternoon was again forgiving to us and we got to head up to the sport court once again.  We ended up digging out a parachute which all the kids enjoyed for quite awhile

Sophie enjoyed the freedom to run around

We busted out the double dutch ropes and and had some competitions between the mom's and dad's.  Due to 2 pregos not being able to jump very long, the girls did not make it very long in the competition

On Memorial Day, we woke up to beautiful sunny skies.  Allie was able to do some rock climbing.

We also ventured out in the canoes since the water was finally cooperating and not choppy.  Sophie wasn't to thrilled about getting her picture taken

Here are all 10 kids that survived 4 days and 3 nights together.  We had a blast with the Givens, Coltrins, and Harris's.  What great memories we had with these families at the YMCA Horsethief Camp!!!

Memorial Weekend at Horsethief-Day 1 and 2

I booked a cabin at the YMCA's Camp at Horsethief Reservoir for Memorial Day weekend.  I had read about the camp in a brochure back in January and decided to book it and find friends to fill it with:)  The best part about the camp was that we just showed up and the activities and food were all prepared for us.



Here we are loaded up for a weekend of fun in the mountains

Horsethief Reservoir sits right outside of Cascade, West of Warm Lake



We got assigned to the "Snake" cabin

Sophie was excited about her bed and of course she had to find the toilets right away

The first night everyone drove in and got settled.  Allie and Brandon were up late working on their Perler Beads

Saturday morning we had lots of activities to entertain us....first we hit up bow and arrow shooting.  It was probably one of my favorite activities

The Idaho Rock Wall

The first day we just did "bouldering," which is free climbing on the rocks without harnesses.  There was a slide down the backside of the wall the kids could climb up to and go down

Sophie wanted in on the action and did some bouldering herself

Later in the morning, some of the adults went zip-lining, including Blake and I.  I tried to layer on the coats so they couldn't tell I was 18 weeks pregnant

Cam and Sophie patiently waiting for the adults to come in on the line

Blake coming down the coarse

I thought I was going to hit the pole and just had to reassure the staff that they saw me coming;  I didn't want to go squishing the baby:)

Saturday afternoon we went rifle shooting....this picture is a little scary to me.  I feel like this picture is taken in Afghanistan where they train young kids to shoot guns

Allie and dad working on getting that target

Sophie patiently waited at most of the activities

Before dinner, we headed to the sport court to play some street hockey.  The kids loved it, as well as the adults

Saturday after dinner we had the Wacky Olympics, where the families all competed in silly games the kids enjoyed.

Sophie reluctantly gave up the fight and fell asleep after a long day.  It's a little difficult to fall asleep in a one room cabin, filled with 7 bunk beds, 8 adults, and 10 kids all running around like crazy at 10 pm.

Preschool Graduation

Well it's official, Allie graduated from preschool and is moving onto KINDERGARTEN.  She couldn't be more excited to start school next year and because of her excitement, I am so excited for her. 

Morning of preschool graduation

I told Allie to draw a picture for her teacher to go with her gift.  A little while later Allie came out of her room with a cute picture of her teacher and all her classmates

Our fun teacher gift-a watermelon with some favorite things about Allie's teacher and year at school stuck on little tags poked into the watermelon

The preschool teacher and kids put together a short program for the parents

There was lots of singing, some talking, and the teacher even read a little "report" about each of the kids.  Sophie wanted in on all of the action and was pretty much up front by Allie the entire program.  

When a chair opened up for a split second, Sophie decided to grab it

The preschool graduate.  Some favorite qualities her teacher noticed in her through the year were:

-She is a great listener and always listens the first time

-She watches out for the kids around her and helps them out

-She gets along well with everyone

-She is smart and she has loved watching her sound out words and loved receiving notes Allie would write her

Allie LOVED her teacher Miss Crystal.  She is very sensitive like her Mom and doesn't like change.  When we walked out to the car after graduation Allie started bawling. When I asked her what was wrong (already knowing why she was crying, because I always cried at the end of every school year), she said how sad she was to be leaving preschool and to be leaving Miss Crystal.  I know you will cherish those fun memories and there will be plenty more fun memories to come. 

Watch out Kindergarten and class of 2025....here comes Allie!!!

Hand, Foot, and Mouth

Following Sophie's 18 month check up we took a drastic turn for the worst.  I started blaming everything on the shots even though I'd never heard of such crazy side effects.  The day of her shots, which was Wednesday, she started vomiting.  The following day the vomiting continued and was accompanied by fevers.  Later on in the afternoon, we were driving in the car and Allie commented how Sophie had bumps on her legs.  I told her we'd check them out when we stopped the car.  Sure enough Sophie had little pimple like bumps up both of her legs; a rash, I guess that can be another side effect of shots I thought.  

Friday arrived and the so called rash was now on the tops of  Sophie's feet, the bottoms of her feet, and on her hands, and as the day progressed it was moving up her arms and back.  Hand, Food, and Mouth disease was my first thought at this point.  I called into the Dr.'s, knowing if I went in there would be nothing they would do.  The nurse informed me that she in fact had Hand, Foot, and Mouth and gave me several concoctions I could try to keep her comfortable and keep her eating if it spread to her mouth.  She also informed me the unlucky kid did not have vomiting due to the shots, she was just unlucky and caught some bug on top of it all.  

Saturday, the poor girl was miserable.  Blake had taken Allie up to the cabin with some friends for a "daddy-kids" weekend.  Luckily I was able to snuggle Sophie with all of my time throughout the weekend.  She was very uncomfortable but we were lucky the rash stopped spreading Saturday and just remained from the neck down.  By Sunday all the lesions started crusting over and it appeared the kid was recovering from the chicken pox.  

The poor back of Sophie's legs and her diaper area seemed to be the worst areas hit.  She was constantly putting her hand into her diaper to scratch:(

The lesions down her leg

Her poor feet were covered on the tops and the entire bottoms were covered.  I was surprised she still continued to walk; it looked so painful 

Sophie the Monday following our awful weekend.  Everything was still healing, but she appeared to be in better spirits.  I hoped in the shower and she was gone from my bathroom when I came out.  I found her up in Max's bed with a pack of gum chomping away on multiple pieces.  So glad this girl is on the mend and back into being my mischievous busy body !!!

18 Month Birthday

We had a great day on Sophie's 1/2 birthday; we typically don't recognize half birthdays, but when it falls on grandma's real birthday, we always seem to remember it's Sophie's 1/2 birthday.  The weather was wonderful and hot and we enjoyed lots of time outside.

One thing Sophie LOVES to do and does for hours a day is stand at the back window and watch the birds. We have our feeders up and the birds have finally made it back.  It is so fun to watch all of our visitors because we get lots of little birds on the feeders and then lots of bigger birds are always hopping through the yard catching worms.  Sophie stands with her face plastered on the glass and I constantly hear, "MOM, tweet tweet"

We filled up Sophie's pool that morning.  I had put Sophie's swim suit on earlier and she was not interested in getting in.  Later on, she jumped in with clothes on and all and had such a fun time splashing around in the water

Having fun in the pool; I'm going to have to watch her close this summer because she just kept diving in with no fear once she figured out how much fun her little pool was



Happy 18 month Birthday Sophie.....we love you so much!!!