Preston's Wet Day Camp

The problem with getting so behind in my blog is I miss writing about things I want to remember.  For example, I didn't write about how Maysen took Blake around on rides for a long time.  She laughed because he was insistent on which ride he wanted to ride next, but it made no logical sense.  He would pick one ride, then want to ride another one a long way away, then want to ride one that was right back where they were in the first place.  Maysen thought that was hilarious. The reason I didn't write about Maysen taking Blake around and I wrote about Stockton taking Anne around is obvious.  I had a picture of Stockton and I didn't have one of Maysen.  I really need help with my memory these days.

I was scheduled to go to scout day camp today, but I didn't want to go anymore once my brother Mike came to visit.  I rarely get to see him and I didn't want him to feel he drove all the way up here only to be abandoned.  I called and talked to Ashley while at Lagoon and got permission to skip.  There were going to be three adults (with me) and only 8 boys.  It took a little a little convincing, but I managed to do it.  I told Preston last night.  He sat down and cried.  He said that now he has nothing to look forward to.  I didn't know what to do.  I still didn't know when I woke up this morning.  I kept thinking, 'my brother or my child'.  Mike and his family were still asleep at 7:45 when we left.  I decided to go for a little while and come home early.  I meant to only stay for an hour or so, but Preston was having a hard time.  This camp was not run well.  We were put in a group with 25 other boys (last year we had a group of 10 and a group of 15) and the two leaders were first years.  They kept arguing with each other on how to do things.  I have no idea what possessed the people in charge to put those two boys together.  Things started off okay.  We were assigned the obstacle course first.  Luckily Preston was towards the front of the line so he didn't have to wait too long.  Some people were just starting when others were finished.  This was Preston's favorite station.  He was able to do the course 2 1/2 times.  I have pictures mixed together from his turns.

Preston

Preston & Luke

This swing was his favorite

The tire swing was surprisingly hard to get through.  Brother Breen said that he didn't think any of us could do it.  Of course that meant I had to try.  I scurried through it when there wasn't a line.  The hard thing is you can't push yourself through because the tires move.  I was able to do it, so Brother Breen was wrong.  That is what is important. :)

 Slide down this and don't get slivers!

Ashley is in the picture above.  She is our cub master and does an amazing job.  I am SO glad I don't have her calling!  She has had this calling for years now.  I hope she doesn't get burnt out with it.  I would not want to be the one that has to replace her.

 Luke & Preston

The next activity the boys did was learn to unfold, raise, take down and fold a flag.

Preston, Brady, Lincoln, Eli

There was a weird tug of rope activity.  The ropes were in a cross so there were four teams of boys.  The problem was the leaders didn't have loud voices, so Preston couldn't figure out what to do.  He couldn't find a spot and didn't understand.  He started crying.  I helped him find a spot.  Right when I did, Lincoln pulled the rope and tried to get everyone to go to another side.  He was trying to do what the leaders wanted, but Preston got caught in the rope.  I don't know how to explain it.  Lincoln wasn't at fault, but Preston had a rope burn around his waist.  I took Preston out and had him by me.  He was pretty upset. The kids were out of control and chaos was everywhere.  None of my kids function well in chaos.  Especially my boys.  It gives them a lot of anxiety.  The next activity looked like two wood planks with ropes on them.  It looked like each plank would fit each boy.  I was trying to get Preston calmed down and help him continue with the camp.  I kept crying that he didn't want to miss it.  I pointed out to him what was going to happen next and said, "I think you will need to work with the other boys to go forward'.  One of the two boy leaders said to me, "Can you let the boys figure this out for themselves?"  Holy cow was I mad.  I said, "No, I can't.  Can you see he is having a meltdown?"  The boy then said something like, "The boys need to figure this out for themselves." I snapped at him and said, "He doesn't.  I am going to get him under control.  Don't tell me what is best for him, I am going to calm him down no matter what your agenda is."  I can't remember exactly what I said but I was so annoyed with this boy leader and I was annoyed that Preston was confused and hurt.  I was annoyed with how this day was going.  I was annoyed with the lack of organization.  I was annoyed that Preston and I were here instead of with Mike and his kids.  I was annoyed with the way the first year leader that had no control over the kids and continually argued with his partner was talking to me.  I know he was probably stressed out and I didn't talk to him too kindly, but holy cow he was snotty!  I have no idea what possessed the camp to put two first year leaders together.  There were many other leaders there that looked like they were amazing.  We did not get to experience that. These boys should have been trained, instead it made for a miserable day.  Obviously I did not leave Preston to go hang out with my brother. How could I leave him in that mess?  To make matters worse, it started pouring rain on us.  The kids were freezing.  Here are some pictures of Preston at the slingshot and archery station.  He actually hit the target in archery!  I didn't notice in slingshot.

Preston

When we finally got to our lunch break I talked Preston into going home early with me.  He was miserable, I was miserable, I just wanted to get out of there.  I did not want to eat in the rain.  I did not want to watch a skit before our next stations.  Luckily for me, Preston agreed. Preston was buckling himself in when he realized he had left his pet rock that he painted.  Our car was a long ways away.  I asked him on a scale of one to ten how important it was to him.  He looked at me with his big brown eyes and softly said six.  I couldn't resist.  I started walking back.  Preston came running after me and we walked together in the pouring rain.  He found his pet rock, but he couldn't find his fossil thing he had made.  There were a lot of dixie cups with the boys names on them that had these fossil things in them.  They were on the microwave.  It was pouring buckets, so there was a lot of water around even though it was under a canopy.  When we would pick up a cup to see a name we would get an electric shock.  Preston and I were quite fascinated by this.  We kept trying different things to see what would give us more/less shock.  The shock would just go up our finger.  We would try standing different places to see if what we were standing on made a difference.  Preston showed the other scouts in our pack.  They were fascinated.  We did little science experiments for about fifteen minutes.  This was Preston's favorite part of the camp.  Mine too.

Mike was gone when we arrived home.  Matt and Sam were here.  Mike had taken Skye to visit one of his childhood friends that is suffering with cancer now.  He is in stage 4 and has only been given two years to live.  I think it was two years, it might have been two months.  His name is Matt.  He is married and has three children.  I can't even imagine.  Anyways, Preston was happy to play with Larkin, Blake and Anne.  Bubs and Ange came over to drop off some clothes for their kids. I'm going to watch them next week.  We decided to go swimming. Bubs went home to get swimsuits for himself.  Mike got pizza for everyone.  I had never seen a pizza sandwich before.  I guess that is a thing.

Mike

We swam in the pool until pretty late.  It was a lot of fun.  I don't think the cousins had ever gone night swimming before.  We had quite a crowd.  Mike, Skye, Larkin, Blake, Matt, Sam, Anne, Jeff, Bubs, Ange, Lincoln, Ella, Abby, Millie, Dad, Max, Maysen, Jorja, Preston and myself.  It was Ella's birthday.  She opened her presents here.  Skye went and grabbed a beautiful flower hairpiece she had just made and gave it to Ella.  She picked blue because it was Ella's favorite color. Skye was so sweet, Ella was so thrilled.

Mike and Stockton were at the cabin.  Actually they were driving home while we were swimming.  Mike got an inflatable boat for Father's Day last year.  This year he got a sail to add to the boat.  He tried it out early with Stockton.  Mike loved it.  These are the pictures he sent me.

Mike and Stockton arrived home around 1:30 in the morning.  I was still up talking to my brother Mike.  I was glad they decided to come home tonight instead of leaving at 3:00 in the morning in order to make it to church!  I set up the pull out bed for Stockton so he could just crash there.  Skye, Larkin and Preston were sleeping in his room. He was so tired it didn't matter to him.  Yay!  Everyone is home!

Mike at Lagoon

Preston had scout camp today.  We got him up and out the door by 7:30.  Today is also my family reunion at Lagoon.  That is why I'm skipping scout camp today.  Preston seemed to like it.  It was a construction camp and they had a lot of building activities.  Preston made a Minecraft bead thing.  It was really cute.  I thought he must have used a pattern that was available.  Nope.  He made up the design himself.  Mike left Lagoon and picked him up.  He got here close to 5. It is nice having season passes.  Max was so excited to see him and they were off.  I didn't see him hardly at all.  Poor Maysen had also been waiting for Preston to ride some rides with her.  She waited a long time at the pavilion for Preston to come back.  I don't think he had any clue Maysen wanted to be with him.  Maysen doesn't really know my family at all.  We only see each other twice a year if I'm lucky.  She is a lot older than the first cousins on my side.  I wish she had a good cousin friend she could be with on my side of the family.  Stockton is in the same boat.  The difference with Stockton is he is obsessed with Anne. He took Anne off by himself for a long time.  Mike found him and snapped some pictures.  I think Anne was in heaven!

Stockton & Anne

Why is this post titled Mike at Lagoon?  Well.....I'm not talking about my husband Mike, I'm talking about my brother Mike.  I was getting everything ready to leave when my brother Mike called.  He said, "What are you doing today?"  "Ummm....going to Lagoon....what are you doing....you aren't in town are you?"  "Not yet"  "WHAT!!!  Did you know it is Lagoon day?"  This is the point where I panic and think I need to make a decision.  Should I go to Lagoon and see my extended family or stay with Mike.  I was trying to think fast to see if I could change plans that quick.  Mike laughed and said he was coming to Lagoon too.  I don't know why that wasn't my first thought.  He decided yesterday to come.  He brought Skye, Larkin and Blake.  I was so excited!  It was so much fun to see him!  Mike arrived a little after 1:00. I kept checking my phone so I wouldn't miss it when he texted me.  I was sitting with Tammi when I said, "Mike is at In-and-Out in Draper, so he will be here in about an hour probably."  About thirty minutes later Tammi noticed my husband playing with Jorja.  She said, "Wait! Mike's back there...do you mean your brother Mike is coming?"  Yep. She was pretty excited to see him.  I can't remember if she had to leave to get the twins back to Idaho before Mike got here or not.

Mike said the one ride Skye really wants to go on is Cliffhanger. Maysen wanted to go on that too because that is the only ride at Lagoon she has never ridden.  I told Skye she would get really wet.  She looked confused.  Maysen, Skye, Larkin, Heather, Max, my dad and Cathy headed down there.  Larkin was too short so my dad waited with her. He was so excited about getting out of this!  My brother's usually call this ride the Dishwasher.  This time the ride really scared me.  I didn't feel like I was held in well.  I was holding on tight in case the seatbelt popped open.  A lot of good that would have done.  I don't think I have ever felt like that on a ride before.  Anyways, when we were finished Skye told me she thought we were going on Cannibal.  That is the ride she really wanted to go on.  Oops!  My dad took Larkin on Wild Mouse while we were waiting.  Then Larkin, Skye, my dad and I rode it again. I was with Larkin and Skye, Mike was with Blake.  We switched later in the day so Mike could ride some big kid rides too.  Mike was able to take Skye and Larkin on both Wicked and Cannibal.  I'm sure other rides as well.  I had fun hanging out with Blake.  He is adorable.  Blake and Anne had so much fun together.  When it was pretty late we took them to the little kid bumper cars.  Blake loved it right off the bat.  The first time Anne went she was stuck the entire time.  We decided to give it a try.  I would walk in with her and straighten her car out.  Oh man! She spun and spun in circles with the biggest smile on her face.  Blake and Anne rode that ride for over an hour . . . until the park closed.  As soon as the ride would end Blake would run off it and back into the line.  They never had to wait, so it was pretty cool.  I remember doing that when I was little.

Blake

 Blake & Anne

 Anne

 Blake

Mike and I took two separate cars to Lagoon.  I drove up Maysen, Jorja and Preston.  Stockton drove the jeep with Mike.  Mike and Stockton left Lagoon early and drove up to the cabin.  Stockton had four more night hours of driving he needed, so they decided to do this.  Nice that he has learned how to drive a stick shift too.  Mike didn't call me when they got there, but the door alerted me, so I know they were safe.  My brother Mike is staying here with three of his kids.  I'm so happy!

Eye Test

Everyone in the family got their eyes looked at today except me.  Mike came home early from work and took Maysen, Jorja and Preston.  I took Stockton straight from dive practice and met Mike there. Preston's eyes are fine right now, but one eye is starting to go bad. Jorja has the worst eyes of the kids.  Maysen and Stockton's eyes both improved. That surprised me.  Mike's eyes are horrible.  No surprise there.  He is getting glasses and hopefully that will help with his headaches.  He can't get contacts because there is so much scaring on his eye.  He had radial keratotomy seven times twenty years ago.  About ten years ago he had PRK surgery.  He has another surgery scheduled for next Friday.  There is a weird bump in the corner of his eye.  He tried to pop it with a needle the other day. I couldn't even watch. Anyway, looks like it needs to be surgically removed.

Jorja had a friend Hailey come over and watch movies.  She wanted Hailey to come over at 1:00 and come to the eye appointment with us. I tried to convince her that she would be incredibly bored and feel awkward.  Finally we just told her there was not going to be room in the jeep.  Don't know why we didn't realize that before!  Mike took my van and picked her up on the way home while I stayed with Stockton.  They seemed to have a lot of fun.  Jorja made red velvet cream cookies for the event. They were quite delicious.

Drivers Test

Stockton missed the first half of diving so he could take his drivers test. Actually he was supposed to have two hours in the morning, an hour break, then two hours in the afternoon.  He only made it to 45 minutes of the last session.  He took his driving road test this morning.  There were four kids in the car, so it took a lot longer than we thought.  He was nervous for it, but ended up with a perfect score.  Yes!  Now all he has to do is four more hours of night driving and take the final written test.  If we can just figure out how to get his class back . . . . 

S-O-A-R

Maysen and I woke up very early and headed down to Logan.  All freshman have to attend an all day SOAR event before they are allowed to register for classes.  This is the first one of the year and we decided to get it done.  We planned our drive just right and were able to check-in before a huge crowd arrived.  Maysen now has her Utah State ID badge. She wants to wear it with a lanyard around her neck.  A lady punched it so she would be able to.  We had her double check to make sure it still worked.  It did.  We had a little extra time before the first session and were able to get her scholarship check from the Sons of the Utah Pioneers to the right place.  It was weird though.  We talked to several different people.  When we finally got to the right place she just took the check.  She stamped the back and said we were good.  I asked her if that was really all we had to do.  Yep.  So there is not another Maysen Smith?  I'm pretty sure there isn't, but how are they going to get it into the right place?  Good thing she doesn't have a common first name.  As we were walking away she called us back and asked for Maysen's A#. That makes more sense.

Maysen and I were split for the first half of the day.  We were able to meet up for lunch.  We snuck down to the gift shop and got her a sweatshirt.  It looks cute on her and she was pretty cold.  We were split again for the rest of the day.  Maysen finished a lot earlier than I did. We had worked on her schedule and the people working with her said there was nothing wrong with it.  They asked her if she would like to change anything.  She didn't.  She will have two psychology classes. One is behavior psychology where she will get to work with rats.  She is excited about that.  She also has a horticulture class and a history of chocolate class.  I was sitting in the front center row of the auditorium when Maysen texted me that she was done.  The presentation just started and I did not want to get up.  I snuck out when it finished before the last one started though.  The presentation I was in was from the health service department.  I learned that it was free to go to the on campus clinic.  It is paid for with her tuition.  I also learned the on campus clinic is across the street from her dorm.  Nice.  Hopefully she'll never need to use it though.  Once I left my meetings I found Maysen, got some free blue aggie ice cream they were handing out and headed back to our car. Maysen's dorm is across the street from where we parked, so we decided to poke around.  They gave us a tour.  It was nice to see inside.  I think it will be just perfect for her.  Once you are inside it doesn't feel as gigantic as the drawings made it feel.  It is just right.  I hope she gets a great roommate!

Maysen and I went straight to Jorja's softball game.  It is her last game of the year.  I was glad we were able to make it for a few innings.  Jorja has really loved this sport.

Swim/Dive Meet

Today was the first swim and dive meet of the year.  Jorja had only been to three swim practices and two dive practices because of softball. She still did it though.  Her dives were pretty simple.  That's okay. Stockton of course did awesome.  The one thing that was weird was they made him do a front dive and a back dive.  He rarely practices those.  His back dive was not good at all.  All of his other dives were great.  It was cute to hear the little kids talking about him.  'Watch that kid!  He's a legend!'  Ha!  The one thing I didn't like about the meet, and the reason I don't have any dive pictures is I was asked to be a judge.  I really don't like doing that, but I survived.  For some reason my kids suits didn't come with the swim team order.  I filled out all the paperwork on the first day of signups, just our information was left out. The kids swam in their regular suits.  Jorja will only make it to two meets this year.  I guess she will only have a team suit for one.  Maysen and Stockton stayed and watched Jorja and Preston in their swim meet.  Preston did the 50 free and 50 back.  Jorja did the 100 free, 50 breast and 50 fly.  She did not want to do the 50 fly.  She said there was no way she could finish it.  She was wrong.

Preston

 Jorja

I love watching Preston swim.  He is not competitive at all.  He is always the last one by a ways.  By the time he makes it back there are usually a lot of people cheering for him.  He has no concept how slow he is.  I find this extremely adorable.

Preston in lane 1

 Looks like his suit is having a hard time staying up

 Preston looking around....you're in a race Preston! Haha!!!

 Here he comes!

 Almost there and smiling at me!

 Finished with tons of applause!

 Back stroke

 This one really takes awhile

The kids were pretty exhausted when they got home.  Jorja and Preston also had swim practice this morning.  Stockton did two of his road drives.  That took several hours.  He just has his test left.  That will be so nice to have done!  Mike gave a late Family Home Evening lesson. He talked about the universe and how there are so many unknowns. People like to act like science is 100% accurate, but in reality science is always changing.  He showed a cool show about the universe and the enormity of it.  I guess the show was about more than the universe . . . 

Father's Day Mug

It was such a beautiful day today.  We had family dinner and it was nice to be able to play outside.  I made cream puffs.  I haven't made those in years!  They are delicious!

Ella & Anne

 Abby, Ella & Anne

 Jeff & Matt

 Bubs

 My dad supervising the kids.  Makes me a little nervous.

 Bubs

I was so excited to give my dad his Father's Day present that I gave it to him today.  He loved it!  This is the mug he would always use at the cabin.  When we bought it the original owner, whoever that was, took it home.  I always thought it was my dad's mug.  Nope.  He just always used it.  It was really nice of the person who owned the mug to let him have it!  Ha!  Anyway, Mike and I found this on E-Bay.  He loves it.

Dad

After I took my dad's picture I asked if I could take a normal picture. He said, "What do you mean?"  I then showed him the picture.  It is the picture below.  He looks a little drunk!  For the record, he is not drunk, he just has a hard time taking a decent picture.

Preston's Piano

Preston has gotten pretty good at the piano.  The great thing is, he does it all by himself with his teacher.  I don't help him at all.  He had a piano recital today at the library.  He played four pieces.  I tried to upload them, but the file was too big.

Preston

Preston, his piano teacher Sister Newman, some of her other students

We stopped and looked for a book Preston wanted.  He put it on hold. We then went to see what other books that author had that was available.  Low and behold, the book Preston wanted was there! He was pretty excited about that.

Stockton & Preston

Maysen spent the day at the zoo with some people from vet class.  She would send us random pictures of animals during the day.  That was fun.  She got home just in time to go to Preston's recital.  He was happy about that.  Preston tells me all the time how much he is going to miss Maysen when she is gone.  He has been helping her give Zeke his medicine.  Maysen is going to ask Preston to take care of Zeke for her while she is away.  I think he will be excited about that.