Summer Catch Up

We did so much this summer it was hard for me to keep up with everything. So this is my everything we did this summer post. My garden grew really good this year. I haven't canned really anything. I tried and failed twice. I forgot to put lemon juice in with my tomatoes. So I didn't dare keep them. I just used them in other things. And I tried to pickle peppers and murdered them, i just threw them out. I still want to try to make chili sauce, more tomatoes, and pepper jelly. We took the kids to Lagoon. Me and Jaycee went with Trevor, Katie, Max, Paige, and Mae. Jaycee loved it, we went on everything we could. We even snuck the girls on a couple they weren't tall enough for. Jaycee loved the Dragon, Lady Bug Drop, and Rattle Snake Rapids. We started at 11 and I had to drag her out a little after 9 because I had a soccer game at 10. I felt bad that we left Wesley home so I was going to take him with our bounce back tickets. Mike was out of town so I would have had to take him by myself. I didn't think he would want to ride the little rides by himself, and I couldn't take Jaycee and Wesley because then we couldn't ride any of the fun rides. We decided to wait until Mike got home. Mike gets motion sickness and Lagoon is not his favorite thing. But he was a good sport. We picked him up from the airport(he was in Chicago for work) and went straight to Lagoon. Wesley pretty much hated it! We was scared on most of the rides. He did like the one where you sit in the car and go around a little track. The bumper cars were ok. However Jaycee didn't love the bumper cars. We had a Borgstrom family reunion. It was at Stansbury Park, at the Country Club. That was fun. They had Panda Express deliver and there was a pool. It was funny Jaycee was jumping off of the diving board, so Wesley follows her up there. I went to catch him fully expecting him to not jump, jump he did, right on top of me and sunk me! I wasn't planning on getting my hair wet! So much for that plan. He loved it. We had a lot of fun. We went with my parents to Anderson Cove at Pineview and went boating. The kids love being at the lake. I don't think they would even care if there was a boat there. Wesley loves playing in the sand. Jaycee loves riding in the tube and swimming. She would stay in the water all day if we let her. A lot of their cousins were there so that's fun. Amber had baby Colton on the 27th of August. He was 7 lbs and 1 oz. He has blond hair and looks just like Tyson. And he came so fast. And he is so cute. We were going to see him, but I had to run to Walmart to get Jaycee's school supplies. While we shopping Wesley said "We go to the hospital and get a baby?" I wish it was that easy! We got to Amber's house and Wes wanted to "pet" the baby. So funny. He was more interested in him then Jaycee was, which surprised me. We went with Mike's parent to Las Vegas to help Mike's brother Andrew with some project in their new home. They put ceiling fans in most the bedrooms. Tore out some doorways. Put in a new kitchen faucet. Added some bookshelves in Miriam's room. While they were working the kids played. One day we went to an Aquatic center and swam. My kids love going to play with Miriam and Quentin. We spent a lot of our summer days over at my parents house. My mom bought a blow up water slide. She would have all the kids come over and play and eat watermelon, and jump. They would spend hours out there. It doesn't get better then free entertainment! My dad also is adding a porch in the back of his house so we spent a lot of time over there helping him with that. We had a busy summer and we had so much fun, but I'm looking forward to staying home a little bit more, and just relaxing. Maybe cleaning my house. Not that I'm looking forward to cleaning it, but that it has been neglected. Bring on the Fall!

Rain

I've always loved the rain, it seems as if the kids love it too.

 

Kindergarten!

Jaycee started school today!

It's hard to believe. She has been so excited, which is good because she really didn't like preschool. She told me she would like this school because it has a slide. I tried to explain to her that she would only get to go out on the slide for a couple of minutes a day. That didn't seem to bother her. She was so excited she woke me up at 7 o'clock wanting to get ready. I hope she loves it and stays excited all year.

She has a really good teacher. Mike and my sister Amber went to school with her, and I play soccer with her. I think that it has helped that Jaycee has been around her and kind of knows her. Here's a little poem she gave to us when we walked in.

 The First Day

 I gave you a little wink and smile 

As you entered my room today. 

For I know how hard it is to leave, 

 And know your child must stay. 

You've been with them for five years now, 

And have been a loving guide.

 But now, alas, the time has come 

To leave them at my side.

 Just know that as you drive away, 

 And down the tears will flow. 

 I'll love them as I would my own. 

And help them learn and grow.

 For as a parent, I too know, 

How quickly the years do pass. 

I have been in your shoes and had to 

 Take my own child to class. 

So please, put your mind at ease, 

And cry those tears no more, 

For I will love them and take them in 

When you leave them at my door.

I was ok until I sat in my car and read the poem, then I got a little teary eyed.  I know that she is in good hands.

This is when I picked her up.

She had so much fun, she did say she only got to go outside for a little bit. :( That is about all she told me other then she likes her teacher.
I'm excited to watch her grow.

 

Camping

First I need to start off with our trip to Mesquite. We were supposed to go to California for two week because Mike was going to be working there for a week then we were going to vacation for a week. Well, a week before the trip it was canceled. A very nice lady Mike works with let us use her condo in Mesquite for a week. Mike's brother Andrew and his family came up from Vegas to spend some time with us while we were there. It's always fun to be with family. We went swimming everyday. We were able to go to the Tuacahn Theater and see Aladdin and Hair Spray. Wesley wasn't quite old enough to go, but we snuck him in anyway, and he did so good! They both loved it. It even had a little 3D part in it. For Hair Spray we took Jaycee and our niece Miriam. They were so cute.

Hair Spray wasn't as good as Aladdin, and a little more risque then the movie, but I don't think the girls picked up on that. They just enjoyed being there.

We let the girls get autographs afterward and Jaycee was scared to death of Motermouth Mabel and of Edna Turnblad. It was pretty funny. But to her defence they were kind of scary up close with all their make-up.

Jaycee's favorite person in the play was Penny.  She was one of the best parts.

 In St. George we also went to the Brigham Young house on a little tour and to a splash pad. We also went to the Valley of Fire and tried to hike.

 I say try because it was 108 degrees out side and we were trying to walk on sand and Jaycee wore her open toed high heels she got for her birthday. Her little toes were getting burned on the hot sand. So me and Mike carried the kids, talk about a work out! We did see a lot of Indian writing. So that was fun. After are failed hike we went to a air conditioned museum. Anyway we had a good time.
We got home slept for one night then we went camping. My family was camping at Crystal Springs, so we joined them. Our first trip in the motor home. It was good. We didn't have any problems except that the air conditioner didn't work while we were driving.

We had smores they were so good, but so messy!

 Wesley was good at keeping a good distance from the fire.  We have since bought longer roasting sticks.

 Trevor put some copper in the fire to make it change colors.

 I was worried of letting the kids sleep over the cab, so I didn't, and this is exactly why, Jaycee is hanging off.  Mike is working on a sort of gate to put up while they sleep, so no one ends up on the floor.

 We had a good time, and our next camping trip was scheduled for the next week end.  Jaycee wasn't sure she could make it that long.  We got home on a Saturday and left on Thursday.  It was like torture for her.
When we got home from our first camping trip Wesley took his first official shower.

 And he loved it!

 Camping trip number 2, Downata Hot spring.  In Downey Idaho.  We had a lot of fun.  My camera died so I didn't get a lot of picture but I got a few.  Jaycee loved the water slides!  We had a hard time getting her off of them.  She actually learned to swim this trip! They had 3 water slides that they didn't allow life jackets on, and they wouldn't let anyone catch them at the bottom.  I thought it was a weird rule.  Anyway there was no keeping her off of them so she learned to swim! Paige and Mae also learned to swim.

 Mike came out of the slide too fast, this was the best I got of him.

 Jaycee wore her goggles on the slides it was so cute, she would have them on her head, sit down in the water and then when she started going she would put them on her eyes.  And it's not like they did a lot of good, you could see spaces all over.  They were a little too big.  Funny all the same.

 Wesley didn't do the water slides because you have to do them yourself.  No double riders, also a weird rule. They have a splash pad, with warm/hot water that he pretty much lived in.  He liked the swimming pool also, but I didn't get any pictures of it.

While we were there we celebrated my moms birthday.  I decorated our camp ground with balloons and banners.  We swam. My mom bought everyone ice cream. Later that night we set up a projection screen and watched a video Jaime had made for my mom.  It was really good. It was like a wedding video only all about her.  Then she had some of us and all the grandkids say something about her and sing happy birthday. It also had all the songs she used to rock out to.  It was really good and I think it kind of took her by surprise. Jaime's kids kind of let her in on the secret but not until right before we watched it.  Then Joy brought her favorite pie blueberry sour cream or something.  We had a really good time for the most part.  It did rain but whats a Bailey vacation without rain.
We also broke down on our way. One of the belts broke. We were stuck at a gas station for about 4 hours while we waited for Mikes dad to bring us some parts.  Luckily the gas station had a Arbys, so we had dinner then the kids rolled down a little tiny hill.  The kids had a lot of fun being broke down.  It was hot and they were super sweaty, but having fun. Before we left on this trip we spent 300 dollars to get the air conditioner fixed. One of the first thing Mike and his dad did in trying to get the motor home running again was to break that! So once again, no ac. They got it running pretty fast, not fixed but running, so we drove an hour with the heater on to keep it from overheating. Good thing that by the time we left it was dark and not so hot. So we made it into camp around midnight, then the next day Mike and my dad went and got the right parts and fixed it.
Just a side note, while we were broke down Jaime was at home trying to finish the video, it was giving her problems. She'd been working on it for almost 24 hours straight. Anyway I called her to bring me a cooler, because I was worried about my food in the fridge, I wasn't sure we would be going anywhere and I didn't want my food going bad.  Awhile later she went out in the garage to get something and saw the cooler sitting there and she thought "oh I'll get it later". But then decided just to put it in the car right then. As she put it in the car, out of the corner of her eye she saw movement in their other car.  Luke their one year old was in their truck in the garage.  So she ran over there and opened the door, she said he was drenched in sweat! She doesn't know how long he was in the truck, but it was long enough.  So if we hadn't called about the cooler who know what would have happened, and we didn't end up needing the cooler. That was just one of our little miracles.
We had a couple other little problems, in the rain one of the windows leaked, just so happened to be the window I was sleeping under.:) The propane take now leaks, it didn't before we left. One of the holding tanks leaks, there is also a leak in the bathroom. We knocked our spare tire off while backing out of our spot to go home. And we tried to empty our sewage take into a fresh water tank! Oops! That was crazy, but we eventually got it figured out.
Overall we had a really good time. And Mike has fixed most of the things that needed to be fixed.  So when the next thing breaks he will be ready! Happy camping everybody!
 

Our Motorhome

Mikes Grandpa Fowles gave us his old 1975 motor home a few months before he died.  Mike has spent some time trying to get it working and up to par so we can take it out camping.

 Last fall I spent some time on the inside, working on recovering the cushions and making drapes, washing the walls and ceiling. Mike put in new floors. Lately I've been scrubbing the oven and fridge.  I still need to clean the cab, the easy stuff I'm putting off.  Well, last week he took it in and it passed emissions and safety. Hallelujah! I was a little worried that I spent so much time on the inside before we new if it would run.  So I'm glad it wasn't all for nothing!  We are excited to try it out!