Fall is a great time to spend outdoors. We haven’t been out much since Zack was born, but lately, we’ve been trying to change that a bit.

We went hiking at Tony’s Grove. There was snow and Curtis wore flip flops. He didn’t enjoy the hike much after a while.

We also went exploring up in Mantua. I love walking through the campground in the fall when no one is there. It has lots of fun places to explore.

Henry’s preschool had a field trip to a corn maze and pumpkin patch. He adored the big straw pyramid and spent a long time climbing and crawling through the tunnels. The kids also finished up their football season. Neither of their teams won that much, but they both had a lot of fun.

I am happy with the way Peter is growing up. He has learned to be obedient and the kind: he’s the first kid to pitch in and help out. He excels with all his school work. He knows what he wants and what he doesn’t want. He hates getting surprised by about anything and struggles to try new food. He loves basketball, and the NBA and more basketball. 

We had a great time on his birthday. We went to his cousin’s house for a party and went to Boondocks to play.

Having a baby is pretty great. But then as I was just starting to get into a good groove, I got a bit sick, baby also got sick and live gets thrown off again. We are both recovering just fine now.

Everything takes a lot longer, especially because Zack prefers to be held all the time. Literally. He sleeps better with a warm person next to him. When I was sick, I wanted a nap so bad and had a tender mercy from the Lord when he slept by himself so I could take a good nap.

This is Henry’s first day of preschool. He is loving preschool: super excited to go and loves to show me all that he does. 

This is Zack’s current version of a smile. 

This little guy is doing just great. Gaining weight, nursing well (which is a happy surprise because I basically didn’t nurse him for the first three weeks of his life) and he’s generally happy. If he’s being held. It’s a lot of work though, just to help someone eat and sleep and poop. I’m glad he’s so cute. 

The remaining children are all doing pretty good at school. Henry loves preschool, and the other kids slipped into their new grades without any fuss. 

The boys started fourth and second grade.

And Zack came home after 19 days in the NICU.

So life is pretty good.

Around midnight: I get up for five minutes to turn on the irrigation. (We have old-fashioned flood irrigation.) Then as I’m going back to sleep shortly thereafter, I roll over and I feel a gush of fluid, and I know…my water broke! No questions about it. I get up, wake up Joe, and we realize we have to go to the hospital. So the next while was spent packing and figuring out where to go that is covered by our insurance and takes care of preemie babies. I’m still wrapping my mind around the fact that I’m going to have a baby.

Checking in, getting all the paperwork in took a while. And then we waited. I had antibiotics, a couple of steroid shots, and some iffy contractions, and a few attempted naps. Eventually, it turned into Pitocin. Finally, it was a little bit harder to watch the show we were watching but not too bad…and the pressure moved lower…and I knew I was getting close.

So I called in the nurse, and sure enough, we headed over to the OR. (They always deliver preemies in the OR.) And within ten minutes of getting there, and one good contraction, my little guy was here. Pink, small but not too small, and crying just a bit. I held him for a minute, and then they whisked him off to evaluate him.

At five weeks early, he was 5 lbs 11 oz, and 19 1/4 long. No problems with breathing, a little cold but otherwise just perfect for his age. The strangest thing of most lasting impact is an extra thumb on his right hand! (I have no problem with that, it just makes him an interesting baby and we will figure out if we need to do anything about it down the road.)

Even though this wasn’t the birth I expected, I’m happy with how everything went. I had plans to deliver at a birth center, and I frankly wasn’t very happy with the care I was getting and had a lot of doubts. Going to the hospital wasn’t a disappointment. Labor and recovery were easy for me: I was watching TV through my contractions up until the end, and that lasted about twenty minutes. (I’ve never had an epidural not because I am a strong person, but simply because I have easy labors.)

Baby is doing well, and I’ll write more about him later!

We found out about this little adventure on a blog and headed up one Saturday. We combined a visit to the caves with a picnic at Second Dam. And then when Henry fell into the stream and got all wet after proclaiming boldly, “I can do it myself!” we went home.

Curtis is wearing a Superman cape because he is awesome. We also rowed the canoe clear across the lake this same day. I say “we”, but it was mostly Joe.

We went on a day trip to the City of Rocks in Idaho a few years ago and planned a camping trip this year. The campground is fun because it’s pretty spread out and beautiful views and fun places to explore right by the campground. (But the bathroom and water situation is pretty primitive FYI.)

The kids loved climbing. There are tons of rock climbers around, but there are also a lot of fun trails and easier climbs up the rocks that don’t require any gear or knowledge. Joe, Peter, and Curtis all made it to the top of Practice Rock, and Bath Rock, even when Peter was pretty scared of heights.

Climbing practice rock:

Window Arch:

By the campsite: 

Climbing Bath Rock:

Hiking at the nearby Castle Rock State Park: 

I bring band-aids everywhere I go, and I buy them in bulk. For good reason. This is the second time in the same day this little dude feel down and scraped up his legs. 

Every summer we do swim lesson, and I make sure and take pictures of the kids with their certificates so I know what level to sign them up for next year. They all passed off their classes and are becoming great swimmers. The two older kids were doing flips off the diving board.

I bought a slip and slide again after our other one gave up the ghost last year. It is something I remember doing a lot in the summer growing up. The kids love it, and all four were injured in some minor way the first time we brought it out. It attracted a lot of friends too, which is always fun.

Short hikes have been a big hit this year. For once, Peter actually asked to go on a hike, instead of reluctantly tagging along when I plan one out. We went back up to the little waterfall near our home. It’s slowed to a trickle but is still pretty and a fun morning hike.

It was a free day at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden, so I dragged everyone down there. We usually like it, but at the end of an already full day, it was underwhelming for the kids. You can tell by their enthusiastic expressions.