Camp

Jr. Jr. and Lucky went to Young Men Camp for 3 1/2 days. This was Lucky's first time going because last year, he came down with a stomach bug right before they were supposed to leave. Poor kid. He was fine this time.

When Jet saw us getting them ready for camp, he was in favor of getting ready for camp himself and was disappointed when I told him just his brothers were going. That little guy likes to be involved. 

We came to a compromise. I told him we could do camp stuff at home while the boys were away at camp. We had their schedule for camp so we could do similar things, although we had some of our own things to do as well. Let me tell you about it.

The day the boys left was Monday, July 20, Global Hug Your Kids Day. They got a big hug from Jeremy before I took them over to meet with their group and head out.

Later, I got to hug the rest of the kids. 

While the boys were setting up camp at camp, I had the kids at home cleaning up the living room so there would be room to do camp activities. Jr. even made a makeshift tent for Jet for a little while.

Apparently there was a lot of free time at camp. My kids at home were definitely okay with that.

There was a scheduled time for Game Center so we at home played Rummikub. 

When Jeremy came home, he and Jet had their special drink together. Refreshing when it's been so hot.

We did Family Home Evening and had phases of the moon cookies because July 20 was Moon Day. We opened up mint Oreos because I didn't think we had any regular Oreos then the next day I realized that we did still have regular Oreos. Sigh. So we had green moons. 

 

Jeremy: There. I made half moons, waxing and waning. I also made Muppet eyes.

 

My phone told me earlier that day the moon was a waxing crescent.

Earlier in the day we had an egg that looked like a moon. 

 

Tuesday, July 21, one of the camp activities was Rock Wall. We weren't going to actually climb any rock walls or go repelling down any, but we did go out to the canyon and went to Bridal Veil Falls where there was water coming down a rock wall. We set up the selfie stick tripod so Jet could use the remote to take pictures of the waterfall and us.

That afternoon, we did a service project. We went to a park and picked up trash to make it a little nicer.

 

Later, Jet asked for chips, even though he'd had a bag already. I told him no and there was no reason to eat junk food then I realized, "Oh no. It's actually National Junk Food Day, " so I told him after he ate his chicken, he could have another bag of chips. He did.

We also had woo-woo which Nichole wanted for Junk Food Day. 

 

Wednesday, July 22, we kind of strayed away from the boys' camp schedule and did our own things. We went to the BYU Paleontology Museum. It counted for a Summer Reading activity and we'd been promising Jet we'd take him. He wore his pteranodon wings.

He had a blast and made a new friend. There was another little boy running around who had apparently been there a few times (this was Jet's first time there) and wanted to show Jet everything. It was fun. He had his own little tour guide. 

We were proud of Jet only touching things he was allowed to touch and being respectful. We can definitely take him back there.

That afternoon/evening, we had some more outside time.

Then we went inside to set up a "tent" in the living room for Jet and Jeremy made a balloon campfire (with glowsticks) like we did back in 2009. Wow. That was back when we only had two kids. So Jr. Jr. and Lucky still have not had that experience but Jet got to do it this time. We did not roast hot dogs over the fire. We cooked those in the kitchen but Jet and I did "roast" marshmallows before I stuck them in the microwave to make s'mores. Jet loved it all.

 

 

Thursday, July 23, was Gorgeous Grandma Day. I wished that happy holiday to my mom and sister.

I went out in nature by myself that morning then helped tie quilts for humanitarian aid until Jr. Jr. and Lucky got back from camp.

That afternoon since Jet didn't get to go "fishing" like some of the Young Men did at camp, Lucky, Nichole, and I helped him do that. Jeremy put together a fishing pole and printed out some fish for him. I added some snacks and trash (old sock, empty candy wrapper, crumpled up piece of paper) and the last item, a stuffed shark.

Here are some of the things that were said.

Jet: I better put it in my bucket.

Jet: Oooh, Candy.

Nichole: Looks like the fish are jumping. That's the best time to catch them.

Nichole: I think the shark ate the rest of the fish. That was probably the last one.

Lucky tossed a paper fish a few times to make it look like the fish were jumping. One accidentally fell outside the "lake" and we all got a big laugh out of that.

 

So Jr. Jr. and Lucky had a good time at camp (and got very wet because it rained a lot) and the rest of us had fun with camping activities at home.

I'd call it a successful camping week. 

 

National Cooler Day

May 22 I was too busy getting ready for a trip to celebrate well so I told people this is what you get. I didn't even have time to cut up the watermelon. Nichole did. Happy National Cooler Day.

Jeremy did suggest while he was still at work that one of the kids take a frozen Costco lasagna and cook it in the oven. Oh yeah. That was a good idea. So they did. Happy Don't Fry Day.

The kids did help in some ways with getting ready for the trip. Besides taking care of food because I wasn't up to it, and gathering things, some of them also helped clean out the van so we could travel more comfortably the next day. Happy National Road Trip Day. 

Spring Break

Let's talk about Spring Break... for three of our kids. Last week was Spring Break... for three of our kids. Here are some of the holidays we celebrated (besides what I already mentioned in my April 9, 2026 post).

April 7 was National No Housework Day. I didn't tell the kids that was the holiday and asked them to clean. Bwah ha ha ha. But I celebrated.

 

April 8 was Draw a Picture of a Bird Day. This is what Nichole created.

She's awesome. I love that I could immediately tell it was a red-tailed hawk. Gorgeous.

 

April 10 was National Siblings Day. I encouraged a couple of my kids to wish each other a Happy that holiday but forgot to wish it to any of my own siblings even though I planned to.

It was also National Farm Animals Day. For dinner the night before, I made red beans and rice and hush puppies and garlic parmesan asparagus. On April 10, we had leftovers (including the beans and rice that had Polish sausage made out of what? Farm animals!) and I made more hush puppies.

This exchange happened while I was making them.

 

Jet: What are the dog things you are making called?

Mom: Hush puppies. 

 

He's so adorable.

 

Easter and General Conference Weekend

Easter fell on the Sunday of General Conference this year.

The Saturday of Conference, April 4, was Vitamin C Day so our Conference Nachos had green bell peppers and salsa and we drank juice with Vitamin C.

A sister from our ward stopped by between sessions and gave us some rice crispy treats as an Easter treat.

That Sunday, April 5, was Caramel Day so some family members had hot cocoa with caramel syrup in it.

There was plenty about Easter during General Conference. Wonderful talks.

I don't know how many times during Conference this time that a speaker would mention a piece of music in their talk (hymn or children's song) or read lyrics and immediately someone in our home would start humming it. Sometimes it was even me. I love that.

We love to emphasize the Savior on Easter Sunday then it's okay to have a little Easter Bunny fun the next day. We usually do an Easter egg hunt for FHE.

For our lesson, Jr. Jr. led us in one more scripture and thought for Holy Week. For our treat and activity, the kids hunted Easter eggs and we ate candy.

Earlier in the day, the boys cleaned and vacuumed the living room without being asked. Thank you, boys. By the time the Easter Bunny came, there were things all over. Eh, more places for the Easter Bunny to hide eggs. We didn't even bother to pick up a blanket that was on the floor. Eggs were just hidden there. Ha Ha. Nobody complained.

Since Monday, April 6, was Carbonara Day, that's what we had for dinner that night before the egg hunt.

Surprises of Cleaning

You never know what you're going to find while cleaning. This is what I found while changing the bedding on Jet's bed.

I don't even know what to say.