Owling with Jr. Jr.

Written by Jeremy on October 17:

My 9 year old son and I went owling up on Alpine Loop last night. It turned out to be a very successful night! We packed up snacks, took a blanket and a powerful flashlight and headed out. The drive up was fun, we talked about all sorts of things on the drive up Provo Canyon. Once we were on the loop we'd pull off on the side where the road allowed and searched the aspens. My son took ownership of the flashlight, I controlled the phone that had the owl calls on it. I would play a series of hoots while he would turn the flashlight to any sight of movement- real or imagined. We continued through the night. Every time we got out of the car he would snuggle into me for warmth. He would whisper questions and I would whisper back pulling him in tight. We did this for hours enjoying every minute. We saw a racoon as it crossed the road. We saw shooting stars and looked at the tail of the milky way. Soon it got too cold for my son and we turned around and headed back. We talked for a while until, snuggled in his blanked, he fell asleep. We didn't see any owls. We heard one respond faintly in the distance, but none came in. My son thought maybe he saw a pair of eyes reflecting from out of a tree but we weren't sure. We may not have seen any birds but the trip itself was very, very successful.

Fall Break- Definitions

October 16 was National Dictionary Day. Throughout the afternoon, certain words came up in conversation that we looked up in the dictionary so we could give a general definition to those who wanted to know. Here are some of them:

juxtaposition- having things next to each other so you can see/experience the contrast

posterity- descendants of someone

irate- angry

delirious- "Wild with excitement, enthusiasm, etc." 

Jr.: Wild with Etcetera! 

Everybody: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.

The kids also had fun with blocks and the blocks box.

That night, Jeremy and Jr. Jr. went out owling. While they were gone, I sent Jr. and Lucky to bed. I was so tired that Nichole took Jet while I slept on the couch. She watched a movie and later Jr. came out and took Jet and got him to sleep. When Jeremy and Jr. Jr. got home, Nichole had gone to bed so Jeremy told Jr. he could watch a movie Nichole had already seen. Jet and I both woke up while he was watching the movie so I took Jet and watched the rest of the movie with Jr.

Fall Break- A Walk in the Wind

The first full day of Fall Break. Nichole and Jr. had a project to work on so Jeremy and I took the rest of the kids for a scooter ride in the canyon. We told the boys to bring coats just in case. I didn't take one myself thinking it would be warm enough with just a long sleeve shirt. I didn't realize it was going to be that cold and windy. We got out early enough to beat the sun to the trail we were walking. That made it colder. Poor little boys. They made it, though- the two-mile trek from Vivian Park to Bridal Veil Falls. 

Jeremy dropped us off at Vivian Park then went to switch vehicles at Bridal Veil Falls so we'd have the van as soon as we finished our walk. While we were waiting for him we went to look at the water. There was a pumpkin in the water. What?

When Jeremy got back we headed out.

Jr. Jr.'s fingers were too numb to scooter a lot of the time. He kept asking for snacks to warm him up so I took the scooters a lot of the time. I'm sure glad I brought snacks.

At least at one point we found a bridge in the sun. That warmed us up a little. Jet wasn't too miserable. He managed to fall asleep in the stroller.

When we got to Bridal Veil Falls there were not that many people there so I was able to get a picture of the boys with the falls before we hurried to warm up in the van.

"We made it!"

When we got in the van, Jeremy got a text showing a drawing Nichole did on the computer.

Beautiful job, Nichole.

 

Later in the day, the kids made mug cake cookies for each other. Jr. Jr. started it when he made one to make Lucky feel better after accidentally knocking him over. Sweet children.

Note: Since we took our walk in the wind, a fire started that went into Provo Canyon and burned a lot of area in there. So please enjoy the pictures on my blog from before the fire.

Fall Break- Slumber Party!

We used to have slumber parties the last day of school leading into Fall Break or Spring Break. We had one last Fall Break but last Spring Break was a little unusual as it was a break from online school. I don't think we had a slumber party. We decided to have one this Fall Break.

I was so tired I fell asleep on the couch while Jeremy and the kids started a movie.

I woke in time for popcorn and the end of the movie. Thanks, Jeremy, for making popcorn.

Jet was wearing his "bugs" shirt since it was Chocolate Covered Insect Day. The bugs on the shirt are brown so they look like they could be covered in chocolate. 

The three boys (not baby) slept in sleeping bags in the living room. The rest of us slept in our rooms.

Family Home Evening

One night for Family Home Evening, Jr. gave us a great lesson about avoiding sin. He referenced a talk by President Monson called "True to the Faith," from April 2006 General Conference.

In the talk it talks about fishermen using octopus lures called maka-fekes. They're made from seashells attached to a round rock. The octopus grabs onto the lure and won't let go so it's easy to just flip it into the canoe. We have to be wary of evil maka-fekes, things that look good to us at the time but if we don't stay away or let go once we grab on, we are in serious trouble.

Jr. had us make our own maka-fekes with paper shells and rocks and yarn to attach them to each other. Awesome job on your lesson, Jr.

 

Speaking of how awesome my son is, he's also been trying out recipes from his school food class. One day he made me a "food group" quesadilla.

Yummy. Thanks, son.

Good Morning?

 

Dragonwatch Launch Party!

Brandon Mull's new book, Dragonwatch: Champion of the Titan Games, came out October 13. We attended a virtual launch party for it. I'm sure you know by now we're Brandon Mull fans with book signings and book reports and closing windows on Midsummer's Eve. I've blogged about how we've listened to his books on CD on car trips and we've even done Halloween costumes based on characters from his books.

The launch party was so fun. They showed favorite moments from past launch parties. They had a contest to see who was the biggest fan. They had questions and answers with Brandon Mull. It was fun for our whole family to watch.

And earlier in the day, Jeremy picked up a poster and bookmarks from the Orem Library.