Camp Aspen Lakes

We definitely haven’t met our camping quota this summer!  We bought this fancy, new tent… and only used it once so far!  When the invitation came up for some group camping with friends from our old ward, we couldn’t pass it up!  Camp “Aspen Lakes” was great.  It’s normally a LDS girls camp, but when school starts, they rent their sites out to anybody.  The have some lakes with canoes and ziplines, and even a challenge/ obstacle course.  Some friends came up just for the evening and the kids had a blast.  Dallin and Drew were in heaven with so much territory to explore.  I’m glad the kids have fun… and yet….

I’ve been weighing our adventures with the kids lately.  There’s always a balance between “effort” and “fun”.  I assume that the “fun” has to be greater or equal to the “effort” we put into the fun.    But as we have more kids and the kids grow and require more prep work, I find myself having less fun.  Example: I didn’t even unload my camp chair from the car because who has time to sit?!  I’m hoping as the kids do get older and can help with things, I can relax a little more while on vacation.  What a thought!  Until then, I do love to see the kids having a blast and I think it’s worth having an imbalance on my part for a while.  They only get to be kids once!

Fishing in the Uintas

After Swiss Days fiasco, the actual day of Labor Day was pretty quiet!  Beverly and Lloyd came up and we all went fishing.  I don’t think we’ve been fishing all summer.  We went all the way to Mirror Lake and got stuck in crazy parking lot traffic with hundreds of people that all wanted to be there too!  So we went across the street to Moosehorn Lake and it was dead.  Good fishing too!  Drew kept “exploring” (aka, wandering off), Anna stayed with Grandma, and Dallin kept getting scolded for scaring the fish away.  It was relaxing as it could be with 4 small children, who aren’t quite experts yet in holding still and waiting patiently for fish to bite.  But we did get some fish!  I cooked them up the next evening and the kids were so proud.  They want to go again.  But we’ll see if Grandma and Grandpa are anxious to take them ever again.

Swiss Craze 2018

Oh, dear.  Another Swiss Days come and gone!  And gone so fast!  Ya know, if we left town on Thursday night and returned Sunday morning, we’d never know there were 50,000 extra people in Midway (except for a lot of matted grass and lonely road barriers)!  Hardly any locals leave anyway, it’s way too exciting... and there wouldn’t be anyone left to volunteer at the food booths.

Bevan and I were in charge of the Swiss Days 10K, again.  We REALLY are thinking about turning the race over to someone else.  You’re supposed to be in charge of something for only 3 years, and it’s been 5 for us!  But it can’t be just anyone.  They have to have a love for Swiss Days, and a love for running, and a love for un-paid busywork.  Actually, we’ve got the race at a point where the work is pretty minimal and a lot more organized, as long as we have lots of help on race day!  That’s why I’m so glad my amazing family comes to town!  Nora has been the biggest help over the years with whatever new babies of mine that need to be watched that morning.  I also appreciate Tom and Kim’s family, who are all such experts at the timing station and prize table.  I couldn’t do it without them!  The only hiccup this year was that the bagpiper was sick, which made us sad.  And also not being able to use part of the parking lot for our setup, but we made it work.  There was still enough room.  We had slightly fewer numbers this year, which is never a problem.  We had plenty of time for chuckwagon-breakfast-eating, parade-watching, snow-cone-making, and even the beginning of a nap.  If we don’t do the race next year, I want to sit and watch some of the entertainment, like the yodeler or the swiss girls!  Or help Anna sell lemonade and Diet Cokes to passers by.  The fun is endless!