Haircuts All Around

 We started out the summer (yes, I'm THAT far behind) with haircuts for everyone.  Liv and Mims both decided on a swimming-friendly a-line bob, and they both looked fantastic.

 I am the stylist here, and I should point out that if I were ever to go into business as a beautician, I would have to have an incredibly patient clientele.  Each of these haircuts was perfected over the course of a week. "Come here, Liv.  I found another piece that's too long."  "Mimers, let's buzz that neck."  My girls put up with it because they have to, and I do it because I'm cheap!

Bella got a haircut, too, and it was evidently so inspiring that she felt like she wanted to expand on my artistry.  A couple choppy layers and some blunt bangs later and . . . 

 . . . voila!

Luckily for us, Bella's hair is not only so stick straight that it's completely unforgiving, it's also the slowest growing hair in the family.  She'll be sporting this avant garde coiffure for some months to come.

Victorious!

Any of you who have never run the Blue Mountain 5K should.  It's a real treat.  Beautiful trail.  Popsicles and ribbons for all the kids who finish the one-mile run.  Door prizes at the end.  Awesome. If you had participated this year, you would have seen Mimi (yes, my seven-year old) run the mile in 6:51.  Amazing.  And John ran his fastest 5K since high school.  I was so proud, I nearly burst into tears.  (Which wouldn't be the first for me at the end of a race, but usually I'm crying from pain and exhaustion, not delight.)

How observant are you?

Take a look at these two pictures:

There are two things you should have noticed.
1)  My youngest daughter loves my mom with all her heart.  If my memory serves me correctly, she said "Nana" before she said "Mama."
2)  An extra pair of size two panties and a plastic grocery bag can tide you over in a pinch when you find yourself two hours from home on a Sunday without an extra diaper.  (Turns out the gas stations in Green River do not sell diapers. Or wipes.  That was an interesting change duty in the bathroom.)

If We Worked for the Forest Service

The Ashley National Forest offers some of its old Guard Stations for overnight stays.  They offer cabins, with bunkhouses, running hot water, and electric lights for as little as $35 night.  It's an opportunity to experience what it would be like to live as a park ranger.  (60 years ago, but that's fine.)  What a bargain, right?  

Here's what I learned:

1) My kids love to play.  The more dirt and trees, the better.  Add a bridge, their Grammy, Grampy, three cousins, some pipe cleaners, and an outhouse, and you've officially discovered heaven.  

 2) As much as I already dislike heights, I dislike them even more when I see pictures of where my husband took my children while I was elsewhere.  (Do you see those tiny colored specks?  Yes, those are people.  People who are related to me.  The horror.)

 3) Babies can sleep anywhere.  So can seven-year olds.

 4) My mother-in-law is charity personified.  She volunteered to sleep in this quite possibly rat-infested bunkhouse with all seven children.  (Our children plus Chris and Krista's.)  I took a tiny amount of pity on her and kept Maddie to sleep with us in the main cabin.  In the mornings, I almost didn't dare ask how it had gone, knowing my children as I do.  She never complained.  Let's give this woman a hand.

 5)  It turns out that this little cabin was equipped with neither running water nor electricity.  Since I had only stocked myself with enough fortitude and cheerfulness for a "cabin" adventure, I rapidly depleted my reserves when I realized it was going to be more like a "tent" adventure.  (Since hot showers are my therapy of choice, I can get a little testy when denied one.)

6) Vanity is superfluous baggage in the mountains.  Toss on an old ball cap, put on an old race shirt and your hiking boots, and you're set.

She hates her crib. . .

. . . so she climbs out to sleep in the box her new tricycle came in.  

No accounting for taste.

Labor Day Adventure

I think I've mentioned before that John's Jeep has become our little adventure vehicle.  With all of the Uintah Mountains basically at our doorstep, and an iPhone to stuff completely full of topographical maps, we regularly head out on little expeditions.  Yesterday was one of our most adventurous.  

After an hour-and-a-half drive, we headed up the trail for a mile-and-a-half.  Bella started out as leader. . . 

 . . .while the three of us older ladies with aching joints :) pulled up the rear.

 Soon, however, it because necessary for the oldest and frailest of us all to do the packing and the pulling.  Bella kept telling me she was "dying".   (John says that when we are traveling up the road like this, in a block, it makes him think I need to start singing "Get out the way of me and my crew-crew-crew.")

 This is, quite possibly, my favorite of all the lakes we've visited yet.  It was absolutely gorgeous and the ground around it was not marshy at all.  (The mud cleanup after some of our lake visits really puts a damper on my enthusiasm.)

As we were trying to find some fish in the lake, we heard rocks falling from the cliff.  When we looked up, we saw this:

 Zoomed in:

 Did you see the mountain goats?  We only had John's phone camera, so the pictures aren't as good as if we had the real camera, but yay!  Six mountain goats.  Two grownups and four babies.  I kept thinking that if I was the mama mountain goat wandering around on that narrow ledge with my tiny babies, I would be a nervous wreck.  "Babies!  I want to see at least two of your feet touching this wall at all times.  No, I do not care how your dad is walking.  He can make his own crazy choices, but unless you listen to your mother I'm going to make sure you never comfortably lie down again!"

The real mountain goats, of course, inspired my own little babies to scamper around the rocks.  We escaped nearly unscathed--nothing a few bandaids couldn't fix.

Happy Labor Day!

First Day of School

First Day of School.  I found this fantastic printable sign on Pinterest, of course.

 Apparently, Olivia was nervous?

 But Mimi was ever-enthusiastic.

 And for the first time in a long time, the girls needed jackets on the first day of school.  Kinda crazy.  Jackets in August.

 John decided if we were going to be replacing backpacks, we were going to replace them with something that would last.  However, my thriftiness wouldn't let us spend more than $20 on an elementary school backpack--Jansport or not.  So, the compromise is these identical plaid backpacks, the only Jansports we could find to fit the budget.  I cut out some vinyl initials to differentiate between the two.

 Good luck, girls!  You'll do great.