Sunday, July 17, 2011

Our Cabin Adventure

We go to the cabin so often that sometimes it just seems like a chore, or something that we do to pass the time.  This weekend, we set out to nail that dang squirrel that has taken up living quarters in the cabin.  John doesn't think that he 'gets in' anywhere, but that he actually lives inside.  Holly found a 'bed' in my dads helmet, and there are significant signs around the cabin of 'life when we are gone.'  What a mess these creatures can make!  We never caught the squirrel, but we had fun up there anyway.  Our weekend went something like this:

John came home from work Friday afternoon ready to go to the Herriman Rodeo.  What the heck?  I came up with a better idea.  Let's go up to the cabin!  He was as shocked as I was, to say the least.  We packed up whatever we happened to have in the fridge (or freezer) and loaded the kids up and headed up.  We made it to the cabin by 5:30 that evening.  We ate some dinner and lounged around...this is easy to do in such a comfortable place!






We stayed up late and we all slept well!  On Saturday morning, I woke up to the smell of breakfast.  John made breakfast!  (Okay, he does that a lot, and actually likes it, but I can't remember a time at the cabin where I haven't made cheese waffles!)  We cleaned up house and went for a 4-wheeler/Ranger ride.  John taught the kids how to ride his 4-wheeler.  They were all awesome.  I was impressed that a 3 year old could maneuver such a big machine with such ease!  I always love these rides.





We came back into the cabin to find no luck with catching the squirrel, so we lounged around some more!  We decided to go on a little 'hike' up the hill and see what things in nature we could spot.  All of the kids found walking sticks, Madden included.  He was not about to be left without one!  They loved it!  John named Jack 'Old Man of the Mountain', and then Jensyn decided that she wanted to be 'Old Lady of the Mountain.'  That one makes me laugh because we always call her 'Grandma Shipp' because of her yellow hair, among other things!  The kids even let me take some pictures...Jack was quite the poser.  We had so much fun on this hike!  We found 'fuzzy-wuzzies', butterflies, and other bugs.  Madden has sharp eyes, as we call them.  He found on the side of the trail a butterfly on a leaf.  When we all gathered around it, Madden started blowing on the butterfly.  It made us all laugh.

 Finding the fuzzy-wuzzy



My handsome boys! 
 Walking with the walking sticks.
"Look at the butterfly I found!"


My boyfriend and me

Once we got back from our hike, we headed back to the cabin to load up guns to head over to the shooting range.  Jack loves spending time with his dad shooting, and the girls just liked riding the 4-wheeler.





We made the kids up a scavenger hunt where they searched the entire 3 acres for a variety of things.  They found them all within about 20 minutes, but they had a blast doing it.  We tried to name different flowers and plants, they are quite knowledgeable kids when it comes to plants!

Right before dinner (yep you read it right) we took the kids over to the Bear River Lodge and all indulged in either a soft serve ice cream cone or a root beer float.  That was way more fun than I could have imagined!  Honestly, I think we will have to add that to every cabin weekend we have!  It just added something different to our routine.



We never caught the squirrel, but John and Jack saw him several times.  They said he was a fat bugger.  But, who wouldn't be, staying in this mountain home and eating anything they could get their teeth on!

Our vacation would not have been complete without a traffic jam on our way  home!

I could reach my hand out and pet these 'puppies' as we were driving by...but they scared me!


Another well spent weekend with my family!  I am so grateful for each moment that I have with them!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Summertime Fun

 I don't know what I'd do without sweet Logan helping me ALL THE TIME with these kiddos!  She is awesome!

 Madden...always on the go.

 My sweet heart girls.
 I love this smile!

 Believe it or not, I am not even freaking out about the dead lawn.  The kids have been playing on a slip and slide that Jensyn won during the 4th of July Bike Parade.  They have had hours of fun playing in the sun!  Besides, the lawn grows back, doesn't it?  Well, it already has!  I am all for the outdoor fun!

Draper Rodeo

John asked the kids on Friday if they wanted to go to the rodeo.  They have no idea what a rodeo is, but they said yes because it meant they were 'going somewhere.'  When they 'go somewhere' with dad, that's always a fun time.

Here's a few highlights of our family date night.











Sunday, July 10, 2011

Handsome Boys


These darling boys light up my life.  Jack decided the other day that he wanted to change his name.  He said that he wants us to call him John Daniel McAllister, Truck.
The last time he changed his name it went from Jack to Jack-Truck.  I'm glad that he kept the 'Truck' on there...I'm not sure what his obsession is with that is.

Madden is turning into Jack AND John's mini-me.  He LOVES John and asks for him often.  His sweet little face lights up when John walks into the room, especially from work. This morning when Madden realized that John was still in my bed, (he leaves by 6:00 every morning) Madden climbed on him and started kissing him all over John's face. 
I hope my sweet John knows how much his kids adore him.  They look up to him, idolize him, and want to be just like him.  I don't blame them.  They won't be sorry to grow up to be just like their dad.  

Jack got a new pair of boots that he thinks he needs to wear everyday because he wants to be like dad.  He is fine wearing long sleeve shirts with jeans-with his boots in 100 degree weather because John does it.  I guess there are much worse people in this world for my kids to idolize!  Thanks, John, for being the very best dad on the planet.