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. 

 

Other October Holidays

October 24 was National Food Day. We ate leftovers. It was also World Kangaroo Day. Jet and I hopped like kangaroos.

October 25 was Greasy Food Day. It was also World Pasta Day. We ate kind of greasy pasta.

October 26 was Mother-in-Law Day. I wished several people Happy Mother-in-Law Day including my mother-in-law. I love her. It was also National Pumpkin Day. I know several people who carved pumpkins that day.

October 27 was National Black Cat Day. I often see black cats running around our neighborhood. Murphy's Law says on Black Cat Day, I wouldn't see one. At the end of the day, Jeremy reminded me that the neighbors had a glow in the dark black cat skeleton decoration. That worked for celebrating.

October 28 was the Anniversary of when the Statue of Liberty was dedicated and it was also Matt Smith's birthday so I really wanted to watch The Angels Take Manhattan (which has both the Statue of Liberty and Matt Smith) while working on a Halloween costume but that's an episode of Doctor Who we don't have. So I watched Daleks in Manhattan which also has the Statue of Liberty in it. For dinner we had fish sticks and vanilla pudding in honor of Matt Smith's Doctor. We didn't have enough fish sticks so I pulled some curry chicken from the freezer and cooked up some rice. #shelfcooking

It was also National Chocolate Day so Lucky made woo-woo for us. 

 

Even More September Catching Up

September 12 was Hug and High Five Day. Some of the teachers at the elementary school were giving high fives as students were leaving. Lucky made sure to give his dad a hug and "high five" when his dad came home from work. 

 

September 12 was also National Video Games Day. I remembered to wear my Mario shirt this time. Woohoo. I went shopping and the gal helping me to check out remarked on my shirt so I told her it was National Video Games Day. She was very happy to find that out because it gave her an excuse to play later. 

I never got to play video games that day but the kids did.

 

September 12 was also Chocolate Milkshake Day. We made woo-woo.

That evening was Lucky's elementary school Fall Festival. He volunteered to help out since he is on the student council. He got to run a booth during the second half of the festival and got to play and eat earlier. And being the sweet boy that he is, he shared his cotton candy with me.

 

September 13 was International Chocolate Day and National Peanut Day. You know what that means. Parfaits! 

 

It was also Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day. I asked the kids to take care of dinner. 

 

It was National Day of Service. I helped tie quilts and took some time to do other service that day. 
Jet had Primary Program practice then got pizza afterward. 

The next day was the Primary Program and he did a pretty good job this year. He sang some of the songs and stayed in his seat when he was supposed to and stood when he was supposed to for the most part. When it was his turn to say his part, he said it so quickly that it was unintelligible but that's okay. Still cute.

After church, Lucky came to choir with me then we decided to walk home together. I walked. Lucky somewhat walked, somewhat ran. Cute kid.

 

September 15 was Agatha Christie's birthday. Nichole and I discussed it because you know she's into mystery writing. 

 

September 16 was Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day. We had cinnamon toast with raisins on top for those that preferred it.

 

September 17 was Monte Cristo Day so of course we had Monte Cristo Sandwiches. We love celebrating that holiday that way. 

 

September 18 was National Cheeseburger Day. I didn't make cheeseburgers but I took some ground turkey and made stroganoff to go along with sauteed zucchini from our garden. And toast because toast is popular around here, especially with homemade bread.