Aspen Grove

In mid-June, we went up to Aspen Grove in Utah for our fourth time at Family Camp.  I scanned our family photo this time, and also snagged the one from 2011 (our second time there.)  It's fun to see them side-by-side!

  

Sunday was pretty chill.  At Aspen Grove, Sunday means church in the morning, family quiet time, picture-taking, meals, and an evening devotional (for the grown-ups) and movie-night (for the kids.)  Ryan and I skipped the third hour of church, and were able to have a really nice walk/chat near the river together.
   

Throwing Rocks

Corinne took this.  Hooray for the cafeteria!

Hide and Seek

Corinne took a bunch more pictures at the devotional.

She was in love with this cougar statue.

 
That evening, there was even a moose running around camp.
  

The other days were filled with classes, crafts, hikes, and activities.  Frontier Night is always my kids' favorite.  I was excited when finally, after three years of fear, I completed the ropes course!  It wasn't that bad.  No pictures of me, though.
      

 

  

Tomahawk Ryan

  

 

Ice-Cream Sandwich Eating Contest

  

One day, all the adults in our group drove down to the Provo River and rented inflatable double-kayaks.  I've never been so close to murdering my husband, but I guess it was fun.  Afterwards, we went into Provo itself and sugared up at Swig.  Pink cookies and Dirty Doctor Pepper are pretty much the best thing in the world!
    

We can't leave Aspen Grove without painted ceramics.  Elise did a dolphin, Connor a jet, and Evan a round pot, which he marked with a question mark stamp since he didn't know what he was going to put in it.
   

  
Our room was basically the same as the other times.  It was nice having rooms on the same floor as all our friends - we were able to stay up every night talking and playing games without neglecting our sleeping kids too much.  I learned to play Mormon bridge!
  

The final night included the end-of-week shows by all the kids' groups.  They were super cute, of course.  The family dance afterwards was great.  Corinne and Evan were superstars.
    

Evan (Left Side)

Elise and Sarah

Connor (Left Side)

     

After checking out on the last morning, we drove up the canyon and stopped at Cascade Springs.  I can remember my grandparents taking me here, so it was neat to see my kids just as impressed as was.
   

VH "Family Reunion"

         

Cecropia Moth  It was as big as Elise's hand!

We were next able to spend a few days visiting with my family.  Saturday night we met the Murrays in West Jordan for an authentic drive-in experience.  The movie was Inside Out, which was actually pretty great!  It helped that all my kids stayed in their pickup truck the whole time.
    

On Sunday afternoon, we took Grandma Cloe on a drive up the Nebo Loop.  We stopped at all the scenic overlooks, and even took an hour or so at Payson Lakes.  Despite growing up here, I don't think I'd ever seen all this!
  

Ryan flew home for work, but I got to stay a few more days.  We jumped rope, watched thunderstorms, and played with Grandma and Grandpa.
  

  
On our last day, the third of July, Kelli wanted to take my older kids to see the Candy Bomber drop stuff at a park in Orem.  It was about a million degrees, so Kyle and I volunteered to babysit the little ones at home.  I guess it was not a great experience, although I can't say I was surprised.  There were way too many people, virtually no candy, and all the kids got lost.  We appeased them all with store-bought candy when they got back.
      

Treasure Hunters

We drove home on July Fourth, arriving in time to watch fireworks from the church parking lot with Ryan.  Connor had been feeling depressed, saying that he regretted all the time he spent playing video games and watching TV, when he should have been spending time with his extended family.  He was so remorseful about it, I promised him we'd come back for another visit before summer ended.  Sweet kid.