The summer break has ended and now I’m working on keeping kids caught up on school, driving to sports practices, and figuring out what to do with my time when I’m home during the day with Evie. Zack started all-day kindergarten, and he loves that there are two recesses. Everyone is adapting pretty well to school.

Adventure-wise, we went to Tracy Aviary, Hill Aerospace Museum, and the lower falls in Adam’s Canyon. Zack had a birthday too!

Day 1: We stopped by the Salt Flats and played whiffle ball. At this point Peter decided to play whiffle ball everywhere we went. We drove near Lake Tahoe and camped. We made it to the lake later in the evening to play around. Mostly driving this day.

Day 2: This was Sunday. We drove to church in Yuba City, and walked around the temple there. Had a picnic at a park, and then drove to Humboldt Redwood State Park where we camped.

Day 3: Explored Humboldt Redwoods. We hike the Children’s Grove, Big Tree Area, and Founder’s Grove. Stopped by the visitor’s center in the middle of that, and had a picnic. The evening was spent getting a little lost, and finally finding a good place to play and swim at the Eel River.

Day 4: Drove to the coast. We hiked to Trillium Falls, and then went to to tourist version of the redwoods at the Trees of Mystery. (It was actually rather fun, even if it was expensive.) Stopped by a beach briefly, and also did a short hike on the Boy Scout Tree trail. Finished the day at Harris Beach State Park to camp.

Day 5: Explored Harris Beach State Park. It sounds relaxing, but there was lots of walking. Played sports on the beach, got in the water, and found lots of cool creatures. Also did laundry, and ate pizza at a restaurant.

Day 6: Drove to Cape Blanco to see a lighthouse, and then headed inland again. We hiked Fall Creek Falls. That was a hot hike, but luckily a good pool to play in at the waterfall. The area we drove across for the next couple of days had a lot of smoke due to wildfires, and many areas were closed. We camped at Crater Lake. We briefly got a view of Crater Lake, but mostly it was too smoky to enjoy.

Day 7: Lots of driving across BLM land, and the most random stop at Crack in the Ground. My kids kept asking me why we were stopping here, and my response was that my sister said it was cool. It was cool. Stayed at a hotel that night, after six nights of camping.

Day 8: Stopped at Twin Falls for lunch at the 2nd South Market, and then went and saw Shoshone Falls, and a BASE jumper off the bridge. Then we drove home.

Great vacation. We had to deal with kids throwing up twice, one dead car battery, lost keys twice, a sleeping bag that was left behind at a campground, one broken air mattress, and toddler tantrums. But all the problems were fixed quite quickly.

Also, my husband made a find the kid game, here’s the game, and here’s the answer key.

One thing I love about where I live is how easy it is to find new places to go. Our library was temporarily closed, so we went to a neighboring library. They had more activities for kids and it was a lot of fun. I also noticed that there was a pioneer museum next door, and looked it up and found out they did a Pioneer Day event. So we went to that and it was a lot of fun.

We also drove up a canyon to go to Grotto Falls and Payson Lakes. We had tons of fun even if there was algae and our gas tank got all the way to empty (we did make it to the gas station, but just barely). While I was there I was already planning a trip back to the same area to do more new things.

We invited cousins on a hike to Bridal Veil. The trip took an unexpected turn when a person rappelling the waterfall fell, and Joe and his brother helped moved him out of the waterfall. He was hurt, but seemed like he’d be okay, and then we got to see all the people that show up when someone gets hurt in the mountains, and it was a lot.

We also went tubing on Deer Creek Lake with friends. Lots of fun, except for Peter who doesn’t like tubing but did like the candy, and I got seasick. Luckily not until the very end. Zack was so proud of himself for being brave and going on the tube. Henry and Curtis went on so much and so hard that the tube broke at the end!

For my birthday, we went up the Mirror Lake Highway and went hiking to Provo River Waterfalls, and Fehr Lake. We hauled out the kayak and paddleboard and had a great time out on the lake.

Since I last wrote, Curtis, Joe and Peter went to young men’s camp. Zack had swimming lessons. Henry performed his play Finding Nemo.

We’ve been to parks, Storytime, and Splash Summit. I had an overnight trip with my sisters where we played on the lake and went hiking and talked.

For the forth, we went out on the lake and hiked to Upper Falls in Provo Canyon. And set off and watched fireworks.

Evie’s birthday was next, she had a great time. Maybe not so much when she had a diaper disaster in the middle of everything, but that was more Mom’s problem than hers. I loved watched her get all the attention, especially from her brothers.

We had cousins over, and also went to the Space Center for a mission.

Definitely staying busy this summer!

One ambitious Saturday we went up to Salt Lake City and visited Red Butte Garden, The Natural History Museum, and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. And I just took pictures of the garden, because it’s my favorite. It is the best public garden in the state.

Zack finished up his soccer program he did. We went to Highland Glen Pond for some nature time, and Joe took the boys camping one evening. Peter had more basketball camps. So we are staying busy and engaged, but there’s still time to have fun at home too.

June is dropping kids off at summer camp. Peter is doing multiple basketball camps, Henry’s in a play, Curtis has football, basketball, and space camp, and Zack has soccer and swimming.

We fill our free time going to parks, Splash Summit (we have season passes this summer), the library, and an occasional adventure. We also put up the pool, and built a swing set in the yard.

Plus there’s still all the normal chores and with kids home more it sometimes means there is more help, but it often means there is just more work.

Go outside. I’ve been working in the garden and also hiking and such.

Finish projects. It feels good to accomplish things. Sometimes this means splitting big projects into smaller ones so I still feel like I’m making progress.

Connect with others. I’ve been going to the school events where everyone is celebrating, inviting people to join me on adventures, saying yes when people offer help, and offering to help to others. Life is better with other people.

Seriously. The snow is melting in the mountains, allowing for more hiking. It’s even warm enough to go out on the lake on the canoe (which we did for our anniversary).

The kids are ending soccer and having preschool graduation and finishing up big projects like the Medieval Fair.

I have one week of school for the kids left. Then summer!