Camping and Catch up

We spent last weekend camping with my parents in Utah, at Cedar Breaks Natl Monument. It was at 10,000 elevation- even we Flagstaffers felt it!

I was filled with trepidation before the trip; I loved camping pre-children, but this was the first time we were going with three crazy babies, and I was not sure what to expect. The most common piece of advice I received turned out to be the best: Camping with littles is not relaxing, but it is fun. So true! I never even got to think about sitting down and picking up a book- the kids (especially Rad) required non-stop supervision. Our campsite was gorgeous but a little small, and it had a steep downward sloping hill surrounding it. Rory and Bash were pretty good to go, but Baby Boy was constantly into things. It was a long drive for a 3 day trip but we'd do it again, and we're hoping to get a couple local trips in before the snow!

In other news, a couple weeks ago I told Blake I had decided to give up my smartphone. It's something I had been resistant to for months; being a stay at home mom I discovered that having a phone with internet was my connection to the outside world! I could read the news, check facebook, and do a gazillion other things that seemed to make my existence less confined. However, I frequently experienced guilt; so many times I'd reach for my phone when doing something with the kiddos; I didn't want them to look back on these years and envision Mama scanning headlines on a little screen instead of smiling at their cute faces. I'm not disciplined enough to abide by self-imposed limits so the phone had to go. Blake and I went shopping for a new phone on Monday and I got a funny little Blackberry flip phone- ideally I still wanted email capability (mostly for MOPS stuff) but I didn't want to be able to browse the internet. The Blackberry has email and it has an internet browser but it's so crude and clunky that I'd only ever attempt to figure it out in an emergency. The Verizon people were so confused when we made the switch :) So far I'm three days in and definitely feel less connected to the world, but like I told Blake, we didn't make me a stay at home mom so that I can sit and read articles on mothering on my phone while the kids try to get my attention :)

The big kids were painting and I wanted this little man to get to do something fun too, so
I decided to open a random thing of jello from the pantry for him. I didn't realize that it was so hot out the jello was practically liquid! Despite his serious face here he had an awesome time splashing in it, and he made quite a mess!

Walking boy!

View from our campsite. It was so high up there were no bugs and it didn't get above 68 degrees!

Ready to go to the ranger program

It was chilly in the morning!

Blake got this cool stove for graduation- it burns wood and charges small electronics while it cooks!

Sliding down the hill!

Trailmix break

Alpine meadow

Rory was VERY proud to become a junior ranger :)

I cooked in a dutch oven over coals for the first time! I made up a cake recipe using pancake mix as the base and apple cider mix to sweeten and flavor it- it turned out great and was pretty healthy :)

Trucks up and down the hill!