Aspen Grove

On the afternoon of my mom's birthday, we went up Provo Canyon for our third trip to Aspen Grove Family Camp.  This was our first year doing a full week camp, and our first time going with friends.  Three other families from our ward went with us, as part of the "Verdugo Hills Family Reunion" (the staff always assumes any group is a family reunion.)  The full week was great, not too long at all.  The going with friends was incredibly fun, but the down side was that I spent very little time alone with my husband.  We'll probably do it both ways in the future, since I'm sure we'll be going back.

This year, Connor was a Cub again (although one of the oldest ones,) Elise was a Bobcat, Evan was a Stomper, and Corinne was in the little Romper room.  They absolutely loved having all their best friends at camp with them.  One nice perk was that, since three of the four families were staying on the same floor of the lodge, we could put our kids to bed and stay up talking and playing board games in the common area.  
 

Sunday-Afternoon Family Photos

  

Phil is very competitive, so this year we were actually trying to win these contests.

  

"VH Bears . . .Grrrr"

Paintball

Make-A-Rocket

Evan shot his rocket like twenty times.

The bad thing about this year was that Elise and Corinne both got the stomach flu.  Elise threw up Monday night, and missed group on Tuesday.  Corinne got sick Tuesday, so she was stuck with us the remainder of the week, although Elise had relapses as well.  We were able to work around it for the most part, and still had a lot of fun.

  

Elise wanted to do Frontier Night despite having been sick all day.

Screening for gold and gems (Elise's can't-miss activity.)

Connor Doing the Same

(Ryan and the boys were on their own that night.)

Frontier Night Cured Her! (Temporarily)

Stewart Falls Hike

One of Many Volleyball Games

Yes, he fell asleep in front of chocolate cake.

  
This year we did a ton of crafts, thanks to the influence of the other moms who came with us!  Ryan and I made wood pens and threw pottery, I did a ceramic oil lamp and a leather bracelet, and the older kids painted figurines.  We were all pretty proud of ourselves.

   

Camouflage Tank and Sparkly Unicorn

Evan Getting Ready to Perform

Stompers and Trompers, Singing "Knapsack on my Back"

Elise - BYU Fight Song

Connor - "50 Nifty United States"

    

Last-Night Family Dance

Jump-Dancing with Ashton

At the end of the week, we all packed up and went our separate ways.  I spent Friday taking Corinne to the doctor (we were worried she had an earache on top of the stomach bug, but she didn't,) and I had the chance to attend a homeschool conference in Provo that afternoon.  Our family spent the night at my mom's, planning to drive back the next day, but we were awakened late at night by the sound of Ryan puking.  Connor got it the next day, and I got it Saturday night.  We finally left Sunday afternoon, with a bib tied around Evan in case the inevitable happened to him, too.  Bleh.  Anyway, we made it home eventually.  Many thanks to my parents for hosting our diseased family!