Sunsplash!

The kids and I made a "bucket list" of things we wanted to do this summer for fun. It wasn't very big. Spending a day at Sunsplash was one of them. We have only gone twice in the past few years. This time the kids wanted to share it with their Dad. We had a blast. We thought we would only stay a few hours with it being hot and all. Well we ended up having a blast and stayed until they closed. I had only been down one waterslide in my life that my cousin Kathy got me to go down in Utah. After Kaleb and I went down the first one together...we were hooked. Even Victoria liked it. Jared talked his Dad and I into going down the Half Pipe. You ride a double inner tube straight down and curve and go straight up the other side. I was feeling a little gutsy and Kaleb said he would do it if I did it with him. The girls said no way. Okay...can't be that bad. Of course Kirk made us go first. He said it was polite to do so. So Kaleb and I drop out of the shoot...now anyone who knows Kaleb is aware of his high pitch scream...Kaleb screamed all the way down and up the other side and down again....It was so funny...the look on his face...I couldn't get up out of this raft I was laughing so hard. Everyone that was standing around waiting was laughing. We went to walk away on the other side of the slide down the walkway and a guy asked him if he was the one screaming the whole way. It was really funny. Later that night I woke myself up in my sleep laughing to myself. I can still see his face.

He is so cute.

Look Who's Ice Skating!

Victoria had a very busy week...She learned to Swim and Ice Skate all in the same week! She thinks it is because she is almost 5! I think she may be right.

Jared loved the thought of wearing his sweatshirt to irritate me. He had to dig way deep in his closet to find his beloved sweatshirt that I would love to burn. He has over worn that thing. In the past I have had to pratically rip it off his back to run it through the wash! Geez. I am glad that taking them to go ice skating with friends gave him an opportunity to bug his mother!

I couldn't keep up with these two. They were having so much fun they were purposely falling. I was doing everything to make sure I didn't fall and these two were sliding on their knees every chance they got. Good thing they don't have very far to go. I kept envisioning something break if I fell so I just made sure I didn't. This is Daphne's proof that she did ice skate. She looked so cute inching around the rink as Victoria and the other kids were passing her up. She is always such a good sport and just keeps plugging along. Kelly or I would give her our arm to help her along and then she would be off on her own again. She only let Jared help her once. Jared has his own style of skating. I could never get a good picture of him. I think he figures the faster he goes the easier it is to stay up. Daphne didn't do too well and fell when he tried to help her. So we decided that before he hurts her he should probably stick to skating solo. Kaleb and his pal Zach. Kaleb refused mentally to wear long pants. When it is 110 degrees outside it is really difficult to wear long pants even if it is 50 degrees inside. He just couldn't do it.

Kaleb being Creative

Kaleb has always been fascinated by the sewing machine. From the time he was a little guy he loved to sit in my lap and watch me sew. It always made it difficult to maneuver what I was trying to sew but he got such enjoyment out of it I would let him. He has sewn bean bags in the past. Here he is sewing flannel towels for us to put under the dishes on the counter. (we have alot of dishes...and needed more space.) He did an awesome job. He sewed this little alien all by himself. He got the pattern out of a library book and scrounged around my fabric stash. He is a true Headley. He could have chosen easier fabric to sew. He chose all difficult fabrics and did very well. I am always impressed with his ability.

Friends!

Victoria and Hannah always have a great time together. They may be two years apart but are very similar and play non-stop when they are together. They are always planning out their next play date. I hope they will always be friends.

Chauncey Ranch Summer Camp

I got a week job as a camp nurse last week in Prescott for YMCA Chauncey Ranch. The really cool part of the deal is that Daphne, Jared, and Kaleb got to attend the camp and Victoria got to hang out with me. It was a blessing that we graciously took. I had the normal morning and evening meds to hand out. Otherwise, Victoria and I roamed around hanging out watching the activities and partaking in a few. It is a horse ranch so the camp is mostly centered around riding and horse type activities. Daphne signed up for as many horse activities as she could. The lead horse wrangler even pulled her into the Saddle Club for some extra trail rides. It was pretty awesome. Kaleb rode a horse for the first time which I missed because we had a medical priority. Kaleb is in this next picture completely surrounded by kids. This was a Team Challenge where the kids had to balance themselves on a platform that rocks like a teeter totter. The kids sized themselves up with each other and stepped onto the platform at the same time and moved to opposing places. They really had to work at it. It took a couple tries. If either end touches the ground they had to start over.
Daphne and a couple other kids got to help give four horses a bath. She loved it. These horses are so well groomed and have silky coats. We were told that horses on pasture have healthier coats than horses on supplements. Plain ol' bermuda grass. This is another Team Challenge that Kaleb was involved with. He is in the center of all of the kids on the one platform. There were two platforms with a rope hanging in the middle. One person jumps to retrieve the rope and then all of the kids swing across and have to fit on the next platform. It was alot harder than what it looked. Some kids were just like monkeys. Others had to really work at it to stay on the rope. This one took them about ten times to complete. They were pretty pleased with themselves afterward. You weren't allowed to talk either. And the big kids automatically took care of the little kids. It was sweet.
This was the Nurse's cabin. We had our own room, bathroom, shower, infirmary and this room with all the supplies we needed. We went through quite a bit of Calamine lotion. The mosquitoes were having a field day. I never saw any... but had 20 bites on one arm. One of the counselors actually tried bug spray one day and got bit more than usual. Daphne giving Old Spice a bath. The horses just wanted the grass. Victoria made friends pretty quick. The pool was a highlight of the day. Jazmin in the center was the Camp Directors daughter and Lacey was a camper. They were all pretty cute together. The wagons were for kids who were younger and stayed for only half the week. Each wagon had their own air conditioner. Taking a break. Michelle in for her daily slathering of calamine lotion. She is a foreign exchange student from Scotland. She said they don't have bugs at home that bite like this. So bug bites was something new for her. She was really nice and down to earth. We really liked her. Victoria sitting at the desk playing with play doh. She moved right in and made herself at home wherever we went. Victoria getting a ride back from archery from her big brother. All of the campers got to choose what activities they wanted to do. Daphne, Jared and Kaleb would continuously choose the same activity not knowing that the other ones did too. They were constantly surprising each other. They liked it. They became popular with the other campers because they were all siblings. Jared won't admit it but a few of the girls liked him. They kind of had an "in" because they were friends with Daphne. They thought he was cute.
I love this picture...it looks like Jared is about to shoot the arrow into Daphne's back and she is smiling:) They both really like archery. Daphne was able to perfect her aim by the end of the week. Though I did see quite a few fly into the bushes. Daphne and Sophia drying their "bums" (as Michelle would say). Their kayak became quite flooded. Daphne's pants were actually dry in time for horses the next session.
Jared is in the kayak in the middle and Kaleb and Victoria are in the canoe in the foreground. They never got enough of the canoeing. The Paint ball crew. Jared is on the right. Daphne on the horse again. The horses name was Chuck Norris. These two were hilarious to watch all wrapped up in tin foil. Victoria talked about this for days. She really liked Liam on the right. He was a foreign exchange student from England. I think she liked his accent. Daphne and Macayla hit it off within the first hour of camp. The other kids thought they knew each other. They had alot in common, even the same middle name...Lynn.
Victoria loved to hang out with the big girls. She helped Sam and Danny set their cabin's table. She was very proud of herself. The girls would always make room for her and squeeze together, serving her food and all.
Sarah...the polka dotted camp counselor. This was phase one. The next day she was painting it on her arms and legs. I think they just liked her better than everyone else.
Here are both my boys climbing 40 feet off the ground to ride a zip line down the other side. Well, maybe Jared. Kaleb froze in that exact spot and wouldn't move. We were convincing him to just touch the green rock just above his head...the half way mark. Kaleb does want to make sure that he gets credit for that 20 feet. His counselor told him that if he went the whole way that his Mom would do it too. I was quite happy that he only went half way. Whew! This was a major accomplishment for Kaleb...last time he did a rock wall he only made it 6 feet up and wanted down :) Jared on the other hand was like a monkey...spider...he enjoyed hanging by his hands at times pulling himself up. It made me a little nervous but they were well secure with the harness. I missed getting a good picture of Jared going down the zip line. I was called away.
This one particular horse all day was reaching over the fence to get to the greener grass...so he thought. Nothing like hanging out with the horses in your pj's. The horses in the pasture were always intrigued by Victoria. I think because she was small. They would first watch real cautiously as if she were a possible threat and then wanted to smell her and get pet by her. It was neat to watch. It was interesting to observe a large prey animal. An enormous cottonwood tree. One of many.
Daphne riding Old Spice. Victoria has absolutely no fear of horses. I had to really watch her because a few times I thought she might get stepped on. It was a great week. We were all exhausted by the end of the week. Kaleb was homesick and took a well needed nap in our room a couple times. One of the perks to having your Mom around.

Happy Fourth! A little late...

We still enjoyed the Fourth of July even though we had fake poppers and frantically packing for Summer camp the next morning.

Camping in the White Mountains

On a complete spur of the moment we decided to drive out of town and go camping. We literally threw this trip together in a days time. We had recently found out about this really cool place to camp from our friend Gina at church. So we were literally entering unknown territory. It ended up being a beautiful place to be. I think all of us needed to get away. We camped right along the White river. There was this little island that the kids hung out on. The kids were in the water except to eat and sleep. It is hard to see in this picture but the river forks around that spot right in front of our trailer. It was awesome hearing the rush of the water during the night. It was so peaceful early in the morning. I sat beside the waters edge early in the morning contemplating life. It was awesome. Daphne would park herself somewhere with blank paper and a pencil to draw whatever came to mind.
Victoria was cracking us up. She found this "walking stick" and was singing and dancing with it. She was putting on one of her many shows. She is cute. And yeah, she knows her Mama loves to watch. All of the other kids were always so quiet. This one loves the attention. So yea, I give it to her. Why not. It builds self esteem.
This is Victoria's..."I need a nap" look. She claimed to be thinking about what she wanted to do next.
Here are the boys fishing.
This was an Osprey nest literally right across from where we camped. Everytime the parents left the nest the baby would be chirping away. One of the parents is stitting out on the end of that very top branch. On Sunday morning I heard a loud "plunk" like someone had thrown a boulder into the river. One of the Osprey had caught a fish. It was so amazeing. And then a couple minutes later a humongous Great Blue Heron flew by. It looked like a mile long from it's beak to the end of its tail. It was really neat.
The boys were good scouts and cleaned up any trash they found in the river. They know all about the Leave No Trace policy. On the Indian Reservation, I guess they have a little different policy...not sure. It goes to show you that you need to pack out what you pack in. But they did an awesome job of cleaning up whatever has traveled down the river. A little surprising. The two most interesting pieces was a shredded piece of tire and a flip flop that a tree branch had grown through. Sheera...Warrior Queen of the Wilderness. By the way, we now have this very stick in our backyard. It had to come home with us. Kaleb and Victoria played in this sand bar for hours. I caught Jared fishing with Victoria's Pretty Princess fishing pole. He claims to have seen a fish near it and thought he could catch it. Of course he is trying to deny fishing with a pink Princess pole while Kirk is saying..."Yeah, and the fish was this big! Daddy and daughter. This is proof that Daphne was really there. It is hard getting pictures of everybody sometimes. Of course you always get the little one because they are always in your space. I sometimes wear myself out trying to get to everyone. I love each of my kids and want to spend time with them. Sometimes I just have to let them know I am there watching and that is enough for them. They are a funny crowd. Never a dull moment. I am just so thankful to have a husband that says "Okay" when I say, "Hey, lets go camping". "When? " "I don't know, tomorrow?"