Soaking Up the Summertime

We've been trying to pack as much outdoor time in as we can before the horrors of winter set in. A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Salem Pond for a picnic.

We took some bread so we could feed the ducks while we were there. And by "feed the ducks" I mean, of course, launch giant balls of bread at their heads while screaming "Incoming grenade!" I would have stopped this, except everyone knows all birds are evil and will turn on the human race at some point in the near future, so I figured the boys were doing humanity a service.

The ducks soon realized that we were part of the Fowl Resistance Movement and swam away. Have you ever seen ducks swim away from a free meal? That's the power of the Bott boys.

Once we were out of bleached flour-based missiles the boys decided to play in the trickle of water that runs through the park into this giant sludge pond.

It was hot and exhausting work. Luckily there was an easy solution to the heat...

Tukk made it approximately 12.4 seconds before falling into the pond. He managed to keep one shoe dry, and when he asked me to take the other one off I assumed it was because he wanted to keep it from getting soaked. But as soon as I took it off he proceeded to stick it into the water so he could "wash" it. He spent the rest of our park day walking around in one wet shoe while the other dripped in my purse. Somehow these things make sense when you're a 4-year-old boy.

 And of course no visit to Salem Pond would be complete without a trip across the bridge. Luckily Uncle Andrew was there to teach the boys the proper technique for bridge spitting.

We also took a camping trip to the BOG.

 We went for a hike one afternoon and found this from 2004. Ahhhh... good old Sakalou.

 Caulder has been mastering jumping with the remote control truck he got for his birthday... at least when he manages to get it away from Cole. I think Santa had better bring another special little guy his very own RC car for Christmas so he can stop stealing his 7 year old's.

 While we were at the BOG we found this pile of wood shavings, and the boys (and Muggzy) spent about 30 minutes climbing up it and jumping back down. I don't know why we bothered building them a cabin in the backyard... we should have just made them a wood chip pile.

We had to stop for a pic with the bear, or whatever this creature is. The eyes are disturbing. They haunt my nightmares.

 We carnied it up at Onion Days with my mom and dad. I couldn't believe it when CJ was dying to go on this ride. A couple of years ago we couldn't even get him to go on the kiddie coaster.

This was my hot date on the Ferris Wheel.

The redneck truck ride is a must. 

But our very favorite was the giant slide. I'd never been on it before, and it was pure awesomeness. We had to race down it twice (Caulder beat Tukk and me both times), and I'm pretty sure I was laughing the loudest. It's possible that I need to get out more.

 Tukk had his first field trip, and Cole and I both had work off so we got to tag along to the apple farm with him. 

And this weekend we convinced Grandpa Farney to fulfill Tukker's wildest dreams and take us all on a horse ride. Tukk keeps telling us he's going to be a cowboy so we need to buy him a horse. I think we'll start with cowboy boots and see how much mileage that gets us.

We went up Santaquin Canyon, and it is absolutely beautiful this time of year. 

The leaves are so red it looks like the mountain is on fire. Gorgeous.

It was a fantastic night. 

Love hanging out with my cowboys.

I Died a Thousand Deaths

While watching this happen.

It's a game called Deploy that our crazy neighbors play off the back of their boat. The boat doesn't have a propeller, so you can jump off the back while it's moving. Tukker really wanted to try it, so Cole jumped with him... while I had a heart attack on the boat.

My neighbor assured me he only went underwater for 1 second. She is - obviously - a liar. Seven eternities passed while I waited for his tiny little head to bob back up out of the wake. My mom tried to point out that it doesn't look like he even went underwater at all in the video. She's obviously delusional. It was 7 eternities. At least.

Next time we're sticking to rides on Big Mable. My nerves just can't take Deploy.

Or, even better, pizza on Big Mable with no movement at all.

These two think my paranoia is hilarious. 

Since I clearly don't have overprotective issues, Cole and I thought to ourselves, "Hey selves, what would make a 100% safe, panic-free family activity? How about rock climbing? Yeah!"

Our selves are total idiots.

So now my ulcer and I get to deal with free climbing moments like this:

And this:

And watching my children pretend they're mountain goats while they climb things like this. Do you see that tiny little blue dot at the top of the cliff? That's my baby. 

His brother climbed that same cliff in about two minutes. I could barely keep the slack out of his rope while I was belaying him because he was cruising up so fast. And he's the cautious one.

Thanks to these two, I'm pretty sure my ulcer and I are going to have a long, beautiful relationship together.

My Baby's a Preschooler!

The Tukk started preschool last Wednesday. He was so excited he could barely contain himself. Not only did he get to go to school like the big boys, but he got take his new backpack AND wear his new shoes. Epic day. 

His socks said "Small but MIGHTY." I'm pretty sure they were made specifically for him.

 We took him into the school, and after picking out his library book he got to go play while the rest of the kids arrived. Cole and I told him we were leaving, and he just said "okay!" and went back to playing. I had to force him to come give me a goodbye hug, and when he finally dragged himself away from the toys the hug lasted about .25 seconds. Apparently that's all the time he could spare for his mother. He clearly doesn't understand the rules about being the baby. The baby is always required to love the mother, to hug the mother, and - if he can't muster up actual tears - to at least pretend to be a tiny bit sad about leaving the mother. This crap about "I'm a big boy now" does not fly with the mother when it comes to the baby.

You'll be shocked to hear that when we picked him up, the first thing he told us was, "I'm hungee!" It had been two hours since his last meal, so of course starvation had already set in.

Not long after he got home this happened:

I'm telling myself the extended nap wasn't from the excitement of going to school... it was from the heartache of leaving the mother. Yes, I'm sure that's it.