I guess I will start with our latest vacation (yes, we had them in back-to-back months). July 11-17, we went to one of our favorite family vacation spots: Aspen Grove. This is the third year that we have done the family camp, and we all very much enjoy it (we're already looking at going again next year). All of the kids had moved to a new age group. Esther was a Bobcat, Jayson was a Tromper, and Lizzie was in the oldest Romper group. This also involved different drop-off locations for Jayson and Lizzie.
It was a very nice and relaxing week. I love the beautiful mountain scenery. I love the food. I love all of the different activities, all of which are optional. And I love how they take my kids for several hours each day. :D We had a lot of fun, and made some new friends. Here are some highlights, in no particular order:
- Dance Dance Revolution contest with Susie. I was worn out for the rest of the day.
- Discovering a new board game (Carcassonne), and playing it with new friends, one of whom is a cousin of one of my best friends from college.
- Swimming in the pool with all three children. Esther discovered that she could swim by herself with a life jacket on. Both she and Lizzie went down the slide into the pool this year.
- Esther enthusiastically singing her Bobcat cheer and the "Fireman" song in the closing program.
- BYU Creamery ice cream available at the store whenever I wanted some. I had more than was good for me. :)
- To my great suprise, winning first place in the air rifle shooting competition.
- Watching Susie play and win first place in the women's singles badmitton.
- Shooting paper rockets during family time on Monday.
- Random visits from Ava, an energetic 4-year old who was staying across the hall from us, and whom Esther met in Primary on Sunday.
- The huge smile on Esther's face when she got a song and a birthday cake the night before her birthday.
- Naps.
So as you can see, we had a good time. I'll have to upload some pictures when I get around to getting them off of the camera and onto the computer.
The day we got back from Aspen Grove (Friday) was also Esther's birthday. My mother came down, and we had an enjoyable time together. The next day, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese, and also had one of Esther's best friends from school (Torrey) over to our house. It's hard to believe that my little baby girl is now six. I have two more years to teach and hopefully provide a good example before she has the opportunity to be baptized.
Yesterday was also an enjoyable day. The Elder's Quorum sponsored its annual "Trim and Swim". I went and helped mow lawns and haul away dead tree branches in the morning. In the afternoon, my family and I went to a nearby large home that has a pair of swimming pools (complete with waterslides) for the "Swim" portion of the activity. I wore myself out, and Susie, Esther, and Jayson all got sunburns, but we had fun.
This weekend was also the 24th of July celebration, which is a holiday in Utah, so I took the opportunity to set off some more fireworks. This time, I didn't burn my thumb (like I did on the 4th), and everyone seemed to have an enjoyable time. Esther and Lizzie took naps so that they could watch the fireworks. I was glad to include them, although it was a major pain to get them to bed after that. Jayson was going to watch a late movie instead (he doesn't care for fireworks at this point in his life), but the poor guy slept right through, only waking up briefly to complain that he was still in his clothes. I helped him into his pajamas, and he went straight back to bed.
I've still been struggling with the computer games. Yesterday, I came very close to re-downloading one of the ones that I deleted back in April. I had actually started the download. Fortunately, it is a very large download, so I took the time to look through the mail. Included in the mail were the latest church magazines for August. As I thumbed through the Ensign, I happened on an article about online computer games. It was enough to bring me back to my senses and stop the download. I'm grateful for the Lord and His tender mercies in watching out for me. I really feel like I was snatched out of an extremely dangerous situation.
I'm also grateful that I am in the position to teach my children about this. I know at least one of my children shares my tendencies for computer game addiction, and I want to help guide her to a safer path, if possible. It's not that computer games are bad. It's the excessive and addictive nature of them that make them dangerous. Besides, there are so many better things with which I could be spending my time. Thank you to those of you who have prayed for me. Your prayers are deeply and gratefully appreciated.
That's all for this round. Maybe I'll get some pictures posted later.
