Pioneer Day

What does Pioneer Day mean to you?  For our family, it means:

Trying out "Pioneer" games, like stilt walking...

Chillin' in the shade...

Being part of the WINNING quad-athalon team,

maybe because they stacked the deck with a champion rower,

a long-legged jumper...

a super-fast, used to chasing after crazy boys, wheelbarrow pushing mama...

and an expert 3-year-old tricycle rider!

a delicious, catered, dutch oven meal...

creating "Pioneer" crafts, like these lavendar wands,

which I'm told the Pioneer women used to wave in front of their noses when their neighbors got a little smelly from not bathing or washing their clothing regularly...

 But most of all, Pioneer Day means dressing up in "authentic" Pioneer clothing and getting your picture taken!

I'm sure our Pioneer ancestors were looking down on us, laughing and thinking, "They have no idea...."

A Porpoise-less Trip

I took the kids, and Kylie's friend Erin, out kayaking in hopes of seeing the harbor porpoises that play near the entrance to Agate Passage.  We enjoyed ourselves, but didn't see any porpoises, so Erin dubbed our trip "porpoise-less."  After we floated around near the Suquamish dock for a while, Kylie and Erin headed out toward the bridge and Jillian, Ben and I went back to shore.  I ended up pulling Jillian since we got stuck against a pretty swift current at the north corner of the Island.  For a while, it felt like we weren't going anywhere, but eventually we pulled through it and made it back.  I had Ben in my kayak, so for a while I was pulling the weight of three people.  I felt pretty buff!  We were disappointed to not see porpoises, but we will one of these days!

Girls' Camp

Since Jillian just turned 12, she was able to go to Girls' Camp for her first time last week!  And I got to be her cabin mom!  Kylie went as a "fourth year," which means she gets to be a YCL (youth camp leader) next year and the year after.  Exciting times!  We had a wonderful week.  I had a cabin of twelve 12-year-olds (along with another "mom") and they were all so sweet and kind to each other.  No drama, no fighting, everybody got along and had a wonderful time.  We had three awesome YCLs, who really ran the show and took care of getting the girls where they needed to be. My job as a cabin mom was easy and fun.  If the weather had been better, the week would have been perfect, but I guess we can't have everything, can we? 

This year's theme was Young Women, Heroes in Christ.  Each cabin had a Super Hero mascot.  Ours was the Power Puff Girls! 

On the first day, each girl was supposed to make a super hero cape.  Here are some fine examples!

Here's Jillian standing outside our "cabin."  She was so excited to be there!

One of the favorite traditions at camp is the Polar Dip.  Every morning at 7:30, the girls jumped into Coon Lake.  All 12 of our girls participated almost every day.  One only did it once because she gets migranes and was worried the cold water would trigger one.  One girl had a broken arm, but she still participated.  She climbed down the ladder up to her neck and held her broken arm out of the water.  What a trooper!

Here's Jillian and Keegan getting warmed up after the dip.  I did it the last day with Kylie and Jillian, and I must say, I regret not doing it every day.  It was very refreshing and not as cold as I thought it would be. 

Kylie completed the one mile swim again this year.  She's amazing!

Jillian was a good friend to Keagan, would couldn't go swimming because of her cast.  They spent a lot of time together.

On Wednesday, we did a service project with our wards, staining picnic tables.  The girls worked hard and enjoyed themselves.

Some of our girls at bed time.  They loved to play the "Starburst Game" that our YCL, Erin, introduced them to.  Each girl picks a Starburst candy, and then depending on the color, she has to share something about herself.  Red was a hobby or talent, orange an embarassing moment, yellow something about her family, and pink a love story.  The girls all wanted to get orange!

For crafts this year, we made dog tags.  They were a huge hit!  Jillian is stamping the metal letters onto metal washers that went with the tags.

Another favorite part of camp is the skits.  Our girls were so cooperative putting their skit together.  No one fought over parts, they all came up with the story together and didn't criticize anyone's idea.  They came up with a cute skit about robots who were taking over the world, and the Power Puff Girls came to save the day with their scriptures.  They defeated the evil robots by reading the camp scripture and then all sang "Scripture Power" together at the end. 

It was so great to see Kylie and Jillian really enjoying spending time together.  They spent a lot of time with Erin and Keagan also.

Crazy cabin moms!

We made crazy hats and then had a fashion show.  Gotta love Girls' Camp!

Las Tres Amigas!

My new daughters!  By the end of the week, it really felt like I had 15 new daughters...12 twelve-year-olds and 3 sixteen-year-olds.

There were plenty of spiritual moments as well.  Each night we had a wonderful devotional focused on the theme of Heroes.  One night was a play of women heroes in the scriptures, another night was a talk from three women who had overcome different challenges in their lives and each talked about a hero who helped her through, and one night Sister Starnes talked about being a hero to others.  I think the girls were very touched at the thought of being a hero to someone else, by the small and simple things they do.  At our cabin testimony meeting one of the girls said something that really stuck with me.  She said, "Girls' camp is more than just having fun and learning about Heavenly Father.  I feel like we're really starting to understand stuff."  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go with my girls, and to be a mom for a week to so many amazing girls!

First Camping Trip of the "Summer"

Since the weather was so fabulous on the 4th of July, and since summer often doesn't really start until July 4th in the Pacific Northwest, we weren't surprised that the whole week's forecast looked perfect! I planned a "Moms and Kids" camping trip to Fort Flagler for Tuesday through Thursday and several friends joined us. I think there were 10 moms and about 24 kids all together! We enjoyed the sun Tuesday and Wednesday, even got to lay on the beach in the sun and eat popsicles! But then Thursday morning we woke up to rain and the sun hasn't showed its face for more than a day or so since. Boo!

But we did have a great time the first two days. Both of my sisters were able to come with me.  I was so impressed with them going camping with their little ones, and without their husbands!  I didn't venture out camping without Brad until two years ago!  Jillian's best friend, Chloe, also joined us.  It was great seeing all the kids playing together, running around the camp ground in little groups, and not having to worry about their safety.  The all got along very well. 

Tuesday we set up camp and then played on the sand dunes.  The kids love climbing in the warm sand, and I love watching them! 

Wednesday was our only full day there, and it was also Jillian's 12th birthday!  She thought it was pretty cool to get to be camping on her birthday, with her best friend, and lots of other friends, too.



After a great breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we headed out to explore the bunkers. I love this one that is hidden in the hill overlooking the passage between Fort Warden, Fort Flagler and Whidbey Island. 

Julia Brooks, Jillian, Chloe Cook, and Sophie Knight

Here are most of the kids, minus Corey's, Regen's, and Tiffny's.

And most of the moms, Tifanie, Me, Chantal, Gretchen, Outi, and Leslie. 

Corey, Regen, Tiffny and Stephanie weren't with us at the moment.

After exploring the bunkers, we enjoyed playing on the beach.  Brad joined us later in the afternoon and brought a surprise treat...popsicles and ice cream sandwiches! 

Later that evening we had a birthday party for Jillian.  I can't believe she's 12 years old and in Young Womens now! 

Hyrum and Jonah were so excited to see her open her presents.  They gave her a beautiful journal and some cool pens to write in it with. 

Instead of a birthday cake, I made monkey bread in the dutch oven.  I also made chicken and dumplings in the dutch oven for dinner.  Both turned out fabulously, and I'm now hooked on dutch oven cooking while camping, especially since I used liners.  They made clean up so easy, and I was able to use the same pot for both dinner and dessert without any problems. 

We went to bed Wednesday night with high hopes of more beach time and exploring the next day and were so disappointed to wake up to rain Thursday morning.  We packed up camp and kept hoping it would let up, but it just got worse, so we headed home.  I got pulled over for speeding on the way home, but didn't get a ticket, thank goodness!  I told the officer we were coming back from camping, and he must have felt sorry for me with a car full of wet kids and soggy camping gear.  He told me he wouldn't rain on my parade any more than it all ready had, and warned me to slow down.  We are planning to go to Fort Flagler in August when  Scott and his family are here, so hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll get to enjoy ourselves!

Fourth of July

I know I'm a little slow getting things posted, but I didn't want to forget possibly the only sunny days we've had this summer.  (No joke, it hasn't been consistently warm here since the first week of July, and that only lasted about four days!)

We had a very nice July 4th.  I ran in the Fourth of July 5K fun run in the morning, then headed home to shower and get the family ready for the parade.  Brad drove Nate and Kylie down to Tacoma for EFY in the morning while I was running.  When he got back, we headed down to Winslow.  It was very strange celebrating with only half of my kids, a little taste of the future I guess. 

We met up with some friends to watch the parade. They had just come home from vacation with a new family member, an adorable puppy!

 

I love seeing the Service men and women in their dress uniforms.  It gives me a little chill and reminds me of the reason we're celebrating this great holiday.  I feel so blessed to live in a free country and I'm so grateful for all the men and women who fight for those freedoms all around the world everyday.

Ben was poised and ready with his squirt gun, to "cool off" any sweaty parade participants.  He surprised the cheer leaders and the girls' softball all-stars!

Brad with Rolo, the Cook's new puppy.  He enjoyed playing with him, but agreed that we will not ever be getting a puppy in our family!

One of the liveliest floats was the one from Island Church.  They had a whole band singing and dancing, and a twirling cake!  It made me a little sad that our ward didn't follow through with plans to have pioneers and a handcart in the parade, but as Brad commented later, "Which church would you rather go to?  The one with the rock band, or the one with the hot, sweaty people pulling a handcart?"  So maybe it was a good thing!

This was my favorite group, Toast from Blackbird Bakery!  Everyone says they have the best toast, and they even sell t-shirts that say "I Love Toast!"

After the parade, we headed over to the Knights for a picnic.  Our stake president's counselor, President Gorman, brought his potato gun.  This is our hostess, Stephanie, launching the gun!  Love the look on her face!

Three of our friends' families have recently gone insane brought home English Mastiff puppies.  They all came to the picnic, and here they are "greeting" each other.

The food was plentiful and delicious, the company was fun and also plentiful,

and the fireworks, well, the fireworks were amazing! I tried to take some pictures of them with the "fireworks" setting on my camera, but it wasn't working very well and I got tired of missing them, so I decided to just sit back and enjoy watching them.  It was a wonderful 4th, the perfect way to start our summer!