Fossil Creek Springs

I took all 3 kids hiking to Fossil Creek Springs. It was a beautiful hike to a swimming hole and waterfall. The kids had a great time swimming but the hike was soooo long. It turned out to be 8 miles round trip. Wow...it was long. It took us all day and I thought I was going to die carrying Jayda out of that canyon. We made it and here are some pictures.

The kids swinging from a rope swing!

Jayda chillin' after swimming in the water hole. The kids and I hanging out!

I hope to go back there some day, but I think I'll wait until Jayda can walk herself! I've learned my lesson.

Super Girl!

Jayda will be entering the Womens Body Building Championship...in about 20 years. She decided to start working on pull-ups now. Hahaha!

Saguaro Lake!

We took the kids to the lake on Monday since it was about 150 degrees outside. Elijio had some fun trying out his new wake board...well not so new since he got it for Christmas but new since he hasn't used it before. We had a ghetto rope since it got chopped up in the motor last time I skied, so he was only able to get up for a second. We did however take care of that problem so we can have some fun next time.

The kids also went out on the tube and rode around for a bit. They tend to get nervous when they ride the tube. They don't like to fall off.

Jayda went with us too. As you can see the boat is very calming. She always falls asleep no matter what on the boat. It makes for an easier time for us but she misses out on all the fun.

Jayda

Jayda is getting so big. She is now officially 20 lbs. She has 6 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom. She isn't crawling yet but loves to scoot across the floor. She has become a mama's girl since I've been home all summer. She just won't let me out of her sight. I'm feeling extrememly happy that I have been able to spend my summer with her. I don't know how I will ever leave her to return to work. I wish she could come with me...ha,ha,ha!

We haven't done much since school got out except for vacation but here are some pictures of us hanging out this summer.

Summer is so much fun!

Vacation!

We just got back from vacation on Sunday. We had an absolute blast. We started off with a short 7 hour drive to California to visit Magic Mountain. The kids are finally big enough and old enough to actually enjoy the rides. We had so much fun riding roller coasters and goofing around. Here are some pictures.

Then we headed north for Oregon. We traveled 16 hours with 6 people in our truck, while pulling a trailer with 2 motorcycles. It was a long day but we finally reached beautiful 70 degree Oregon to spend the rest of the week.

We headed to the beach one day. The kids loved the sand and water and wished we could stay all day.

We also hiked a couple different waterfalls and saw some beautiful countryside. I really can't tell you what keeps me here in this boring, hot desert. It feels like an oven most of the time and yuck, it is soooooo brown.

We picked strawberries. I think the kids ate more than they picked. Jayda had her first taste of strawberries and couldn't get enough. She ruined an outfit eating so many strawberries. We ate strawberries for days. Yummy!

Elijio and I went on a few motorcycle rides with our dear friends, Chuck, Jo Ann, Ron and Wendy. We saw a really neat waterfall, some great countryside, and Washington right on the other side of the river. I didn't ride my bike but it was still a great ride.

We were sad to leave but all good things must come to an end. We headed back home for the 24 hour drive. We DID NOT do it in one day. We split it up so we wouldn't go insane.

Jayda-in-the-box

Instead of having a Jack-in-the-box, we have a Jayda-in-the-box. She had so much fun playing in this box. If I would have known I could amuse her with boxes and wrappers I would save myself so much money.

Hmmmmm....what am I supposed to do with this box?

I guess I'm supposed to try and get out. Hmmmm...How am I going to do that?

I stood up...now what?

Reach for Daddy. He'll get me out of this thing. I love you Daddy!

Camping

We took the kids camping a few weeks ago. We had a blast. Grandma was there and the weather was perfect. What more can you ask for? We went to Roosevelt lake and took the boat. It was pretty windy on Saturday but I stilled braved the cold water and attempted to ski. Unfortunately, it was so windy I couldn't get up on ski's. However, on Sunday I did get the opportunity to get the rusty legs working again. We had so much fun.

Grandma and mom hanging out with one of the brat dogs. We had 5 dogs all together while we camped. Boy was that an experience.

The kids just loved sitting around the fire. It was a little warm but you have to eat marshmallows when you go camping.

Jayda thought she was such a big girl sitting in the camp chair. She just hung out all day. She loved being outdoors and was such a good baby all weekend. She loved being on the boat. It lulled her to sleep several times. Who would've thought?