Camping! Well, Kind of Camping...

Another year of camping!  This year we did things a little different.  We usually go to a campground, but didn't want to be around a lot of people this year because of Covid.  So we decided (and my dad actually agreed!) to camp at my parents house in their front yard!  It was actually really nice because we had a clean bathroom to use and a kitchen to cook meals with and somewhere to hide when it got up to 95 degrees outside.  I'll do a quick overview of our awesome Mitchell camping trip.

Thursday: 1st day of camping so we got there in the afternoon and really just set up camp and hung out for a little while.  David bought a tent for him and Asher to sleep in and I slept in our bigger tent with the girls.  We also brought Millie who had to stay tied up the whole time she was there, which she did not appreciate.  We all got pizza and the kids went swimming.  My parents had set up a little water slide thing and my girls stayed on that the entire first evening!  

We did one new thing this year - we had a little auction.  We were all asked to bring a few things from home to donate to the cause and my mom provided a bunch of things.  All the kids were given 25 cents and the adults were given 50 cents to buy what they could.  I was laughing so hard the entire time!  It took awhile before the kids really got the hang of what an auction was because the first few items they were all bidding above what their budget was!  At one point Ava and Clara, both 3 year old girls got in a bidding war and it really just ended when Ava got bored and wandered off.  A few people pooled money with spouses or kids to get things and it was just a fun time.  I think all the families ended up with something good and it was a fun thing that I hope carries on in the future!

After it got dark my parents set up a projector and we watched "The Sword in the Stone", which Asher thought was hilarious!  Then at about 10:30 we finally headed to bed.  In my tent, Ava woke up about 1am and had a minor meltdown.  Ever since we started potty training her she has woken up at night a lot.  We usually just take her to the bathroom and then she falls right back asleep.  But since we were in a tent and she went to bed so late she had a much harder time settling back down.  So I was trying to calm her down for about 30 minutes before she finally fell back asleep.  Then at 4:30am the girls started fighting over blankets because they were sharing a cot, but that only took a few minutes before they calmed down.  Then at 5:30 we were the first ones in camp up for the day!

Grandma's awesome water slide thing!

All ready for the movie to start!

It's a good thing my parents have such a big yard.  I hated mowing it growing up, but it's so fun now because now we can do stuff like this!

Friday: Like I said, the girls and I were up by 5:30.  We wandered up to the house and hung out there until everyone else got up.  When I got up I saw David had texted me during the night.  He had some sleeping pads, but sleeping on that hard ground really hurt his back (something that we get to deal with for the rest of his life unless he has surgery) and at 5:00 he decided to drive back home so he could sleep on a bed and have a heating pad on it.  Asher didn't wake up until 8:30 (2 hours later than he normally wakes up!) and he didn't even notice David had left.  He's a pretty heavy sleeper.  

We were on breakfast that morning and since I had plenty of time to get things ready because we were up so early, it was no problem to make the pancakes on my own.  This day was pretty easy-going.  After breakfast the kids wanted to go swimming in the small pool my parents have set up so they did that for awhile.  They also played with toys and things they had gotten at the auction. 

I also was on lunch duty (hoagies...I really pick difficult meals to cook...) so while I was putting everything out, my mom was talking with all the kids.  One other activity my mom had arranged for was a treasure hunt.  She had hidden a container that had $100!  She said that a few times a day she would give out clues about where it was hidden.  The first clue she gave out Thursday night - "Somewhere in the subdivision"  There is a subdivision being build in front of her house so there are a lot of empty lots still.  Right before lunch she gave another clue - "It's by a fire-hydrant".  I wasn't there because I was getting lunch ready, but she said as soon as she gave the clue all the kids (and a few mothers!) ran to my sisters car and they were scouring the subdivision looking at all the fire-hydrants!  They were unsuccessful at this time, but they were all so excited and had fun looking for it.  Then they came back and we had lunch.  

 The rest of the day was spent swimming and talking and having fun.  I'm pretty sure it was this night that we got the clue that led everyone to the treasure.  Joni especially was obsessed with finding it!  We all agreed that all the families would look for it together and split the money.  To be honest, I'm not really sure what the last clue was, but I do know that everyone immediately ran to their cars and piled in to go find it!  David and I stayed at my parents house to watch our girls and my sisters baby so they could all run.  And they were successful!  It was in an empty lot half buried in the ground in a pot.  So each family got $20 and everyone was happy!

At night they broke out the glow-sticks and turned on some music and we had a dance party before bed!  David came back to my parents house for a little while, but went back home so he could sleep on a bed.  I had him take Millie with him and moved Asher into our tent.  Ava woke up again that night, but didn't take quite as long to calm down.  All of us slept in until almost 8 the next day!

We got some Lincoln Logs from the auction and Ava and Mia had so much fun playing with them with Isaac!

Pool time!  This turtle was a big hit!

The kids all really liked the shark, but it kept bucking everyone off!  It didn't stop them from trying though!

Dance party!

Saturday: Saturday we started off the day much like Friday, everyone having breakfast and lounging and some of the kids wanted to go swimming.  We were all in charge of 2 meals and I had done both of mine on Friday so I was all done cooking!  One thing was different about Saturday because this day my dad rented out a dunk tank!  The kids had fun dunking the adults and some of the kids were brave enough to get dunked!  Not your typical camping activity, but it was fun!  After the dunk tank the kids tried tossing water balloons to each other.  It was hilarious to watch Ava and Mia try to do it!  They both kept tossing it at each others feet and then giggling when it exploded!  That eventually led to a water balloon fight and all the kids had a blast!

That afternoon it was so hot (the hottest day of the whole summer!) so we all went inside to have lunch and hang out until it cooled off a little bit.  We did puzzles and colored and the kids watched a movie.  It was a great time to just hang out and talk with people that we see all the time...but seriously all us Mitchell's really do enjoy just hanging out with each other and talking.  

 After our inside time we went back outside for more swimming and dinner (make your own pizza and have it grilled!).  After dinner, Emily had a super fun activity for the kids.  She had her 2 older sons put on shirts that had candy attached to it and the younger kids chased them around to try and get the candy!  It was also hilarious to watch.  Then the kids had rides in the trailer of the 4-wheeler and we watched another movie on the projector.  David came back during the movie and stayed the night.  He took my cot and slept in the tent with the girls and I slept on the ground in the tent with Asher.  Ava woke up again (I really hope she grows out of that...) so David took her inside to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  Other than that we all slept pretty well.

Tossing the balloon at each others feet. ;)

Grandma was hot and jumped in the pool!  All the kids thought it was awesome!

These girls love their Grandpa!  They think it's the best thing when he tries to get them!

Mia got a little partied out.

For the younger kids Nathan ended up laying on the ground so they could get candy.

Rides in the 4-wheeler!  My girls love playing with Cache and Clara!

Asher was kind of breaking at this point, but I promise was having fun!  He has the hardest time out of all my kids when his schedule gets off kilter and doesn't get a lot of down time.  But camping is always his favorite summer activity!

I love these little kiddos!

 Sunday: Our last day.  We had decided beforehand to have a Sacrament Meeting and mini-testimony bearing session for those that wanted to attend.  It was a nice way to end our annual Mitchell Family Camping Trip!  After church we all packed up, went home, and sat around the house because we were all too tired to do anything!  Until next year!

July! (minus the camping trip)

This summer seems to have flown by!  I can't believe July is already over.  Here are some of our adventures!  The last week in July we had our Mitchell Family Camp-out, but I'll do another post about that.

4th of July!  Normally we go to the city parade, but not this year.  We spent the morning being lazy around the house.  Later in the afternoon we went to my parents house to go swimming and have dinner.  After we got all the kids together and the adults drove various things (truck, lawnmower, motorcycle, bike) and we had our own parade and threw candy to the kids!  We had a few fireworks and then headed home.  It was a fantastic day!

Happy Independence Day!  I like these three.

Swimming at Grandma's!

This is how most of the pictures of the three of them look.

Our parade!  They just rode back and forth until they ran out of candy.  The kids thought it was great!

We have been going to a lot of parks this summer.

We go to a lot of birthday parties in the summer.  Mia knows how to enjoy her cake!

Asher had some warts on the bottom of his foot.  I took him to the doctor to have them frozen off.  I'm pretty sure the doctor left the liquid nitrogen on too long because he ended up with blood blisters so big he couldn't walk.  They have mostly healed by now, but it was a very frustrating couple of weeks.  From now on we will be handling warts using different methods.

While Asher had his huge blisters and had to hop around on one foot, Ava snapped a slinky onto Mia's face and Mia had marks across her face for a few days.  Our family was a little pathetic for awhile.

The girls have an amazing nursery leader!  She comes by every Sunday to drop something off, and it's usually super cute like this butterfly!

I wanted to take the kids to see the waterfall the Idaho Falls is named for (it's like a 2 minute drive from our house, so it wasn't a huge deal) and we ended up making a fun day of it!  We went to a little park right next to the falls, got pizza from a new place, ate the pizza by the Idaho Falls Temple, and then finished the day off by getting snow cones!  They were having a lot of fun, although you can't tell from this picture.

This park was so adorable and great for pictures!

I love this picture of her!

While we were eating pizza, Ava decided Bear needed to be buckled in.

Snow cones are my favorite summer treat.

She looks so cute in her piggies and "Belle" shirt!

After we got home, the girls wanted to watch the claymation "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". One of David's sisters (Julianne or Marci?) gave the DVD to us a few years ago and my girls have recently dug it out.  They love watching it!  We watched this Christmas show about 5 times in one week.