Camping gag reel

When I was preparing the pictures for the last post, the kids and I discovered a feature called "bulging". Oh man, I was weeping I was laughing so hard! The kids loved it and it was just one of those fun mommy moments where we were all having fun and laughing together. I decided to share the love. Mostly just so we can look at them and laugh again! (I hope this is ok with you Joy! You look almost as cute as me!)

Hyleson Camping 2010: Part 1

Here we go! First Hyleson (Hynes/Wilson) camping trip of the year! Usually we all go to Idaho City or Deadwood Lake, but thanks to Mikey, we got creative and decided to try something new--STANLEY! It was a bit scary because we didn't know what to expect, and we went to Redfish Lake--full; we went to Stanely Lake--full. But, we adventured up the mountain and found a BEAUTIFUL spot away from the crowds and amenities, and it was perfect. Here is a picture story of our adventures together.

I like to take pictures of the kids on the way up because they are actually clean! It was a 3 hour drive, but they were troupers. We read Little Town on the Prairie to keep us busy.

Being the awesome mom that I am, I forgot the kids' coats! Luckily, it wasn't that cold, and the oversized Mom and Dad coats made for some cute pics.

Here is Lucy in Daddy's jacket. I always loved wearing my Dad's shirts when I was little because it reminded me how small I was and how big and strong he was. Fun. Thanks for the butterfly nets gramma and pappa....we actaully caught some!

Elliott looking like Opie with his paper airplane paper for Dad to fold.

The view of the Sawtooth mountains and Lake Stanley. Lovely.

One morning we woke up to a dear in our camp and Mikey grabbed this shot. It is just eating up something, completely oblivious to the 8 humans within 15 feet of it!

We went on a hike---another first for a Hyleson camping trip. We wanted to make it to a waterfall, and we didn't really know how far, or how difficult so we set off! It ended up being over 3 miles I think. See how it went:

Of course we had to geo cache on the way!

Meadow shot of the Wilsons.
Meadow shot of the Hynes.
Kimo stopped on the way to teach us about edible flowers. We ate the roots of this wild flower and it was FUN! Thanks winter survival class and Kimo!

Elliott is not one who likes to push his limits. After about a mile and a half, Mikey gave in and carried him for a bit. It just happens that this last little leg of the hike was the only part uphill. YOUCH!

Again, not knowing how long the hike was, and how warm it would get, we only packed two water bottles for all of us! We were dying...it was like Survivor Man or something! The second we told the kids to go easy on the water, they were DYING of thirst. Too funny. So, instead of the waterfall, our new goal was a stream near the middle of the mountain. Kimo was busy purifying water while the girls cooled their aching feet, and Heather and I splashed our hair to cool us off!

Kimo and the kids loved the walking sticks--official hikers ( and Eddie the dog!).

The hike was a bit of a drama-fest with the tired kids, but it turned out to be such a fun adventure! Even Joy said she was happy! There were wild strawberries we ate on the trail (again, total Survivor Man! They were our only source of water for a while!) Very fun...it will have to become another camping tradition for sure.

I wanted to post too many pics from this trip, so there will be a part 2 coming tomorrow...stay tuned for some hot springs action!

Hyleson Camping 2010: Part 2

Here is the second phase of photos from camping. It was a 4 day camping excursion, so by day 4 we were pretty gross. Luckily, there was a hot spring near by that flowed into a river! SWEET! The kids were under-rested, over-sugared, and hot and dirty by this time, so there was plenty of drama by this point in the trip too....you'll get to see a bit!

Dirty Elliott ready for some playing in the river. Safety first, he is always prepared for the event of a water landing on the drive to the river.

Yeah, Lucy crashed on the short drive. She is not a happy girl when she is awoken from a nap early. This next picture is her not too happy that it is just a river and not a place she can "swim". Luckily, she works it out pretty quick so she still had a great time.

This is her crying saying, "mom!"

Some kings of the rocks! Cute, clean kids!

Elliott was excited to play with his new goggles and snorkel. I was happy that he could do it in 6 inch water.

In this picture above, Lucy has her serene, singing face. It's the face she gets when she is singing a song she makes up. She uses this teeny sweet voice and can go at it for a while. I'm glad I accidentally captured this moment.

He's going under!
Nice. He is a focused little guy. He just did this the whole time.

Lastly, we got to play with some glow bracelets Mikey found in a night geo cache. Always fun while camping.

At least I tried!

Ok, starting my morning run with the kids, it felt like any other day. What happened?!? Bummer #1 One house from ours, I noticed elliott's back tire was flat. We go home and end up pumping up both of his and both of lucy's too. Bummer #2 Less than a block from our house, Lucy hits a bump, her water bottle flies off, elliott runs over it with his bike, and it breaks. No problem, we'll all share elliott's water.


Bummer #3 Lucy picks a flower, drops said flower, falls off get bike bending to pick up the flower.
Bummer #4 Elliott drops his bike to grab a drink and breaks his week old horn clean off.


Bummer #5. Lucy picks another flower and mean, thorny bush knocks it out of her hand and scrapes it.
Bummer #6 Elliott scrapes his stomach on broken horn bit still clinging to his handle bars.


Really?!? It was as if the fates REALLY didn't want me to get a good run in this morning! This all happened within 40 minutes. Needless to say we had to cut the run a bit short for bandages. You can't say I didn't try!
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Work BBQ Time

Mikey had a bbq for his coworkers, and it was a lot of fun. We filled up about 250 water balloons, and they were gone in a second, of course!

Mikey got into it with the kids. Here, he just threw a balloon that popped on the window above the kids.

This is their retribution. They're pretty good huh?

He got smart and got them with the slip 'n slide water! Go Dad!

Here is another shot of Elliott and his little friend Bo. They each have a superman costume...too cute!

I tried to get a picture of Lucy's hair before she got it cut. This is what happens when you try to do something like this! Even though Elliott was being his pestering self, it was pretty cute to see them giggling together.
My next post will be all about our latest camping adventures with the Wilsons!! YAY!!

Summer Tid bits

I just downloaded the pictures from my iphone, and I found some super-cute ones that I had to sneak into my journal/scrapbook/blog. So, these are in no particular order, and they have no rhyme or reason, other than I love them, think they're cute, or like the story they tell! So, here ya go!

There is a new burger place in town that we decided to try. It has a monster truck in the parking lot to advertise for it, and Elliott couldn't resist another monster truck photo op! He just got his haircut so he is looking extra handsome. And extra old, I must say! Kinda creepy that he looks about 8 in this picture! Not cool!

Thanks Shake n' Burgers!

This is at a community park near our house. Elliott and Rowan were playing, and Elliott decided to take a break to warm up on the sun-heated sidewalk. Flashback 25 years to me super-drying on the hot Arizona sidewalks after a dip in Taylor Pool, or Carrie White's pool!

My parents came to visit last weekend, and this is all I have to show for it.....What's wrong with me? What kind of a photo taking daughter am I? Thanks Dad, for creating the perfect moment at Cheesecake Factory, inspiring me to get my only photo of you guys visiting!

P.S. You can see Kimo and Little Guilio in the mirror....BONUS!

Elliott wanted "superman hair" for one of Lucy's tae kwon do classes. That entails me wetting down his hair, moussing it to death, combing it with a fine tooth comb, and then applying hairspray liberally. Still it becomes this when dry. Still cute, but what happened to superman hair?!?!?

A cute moment cherry-picking. Who's been eating all the cherries? Any guesses?

Thanks for letting me catch up...back on track tomorrow, I promise!

Yellow Belt Action

Lucy had the testing for her High Yellow Belt on July 16th. It is so hard for me to watch her up there with all those older kids! Mikey says it is good practice for us too because we have to watch her try and try and we can't help her! AAAAAAH! She is the youngest in her class by a ways...I think there may be a 7 year old, but maybe even not. She had a hard time breaking the board with her side kick, something they hadn't practiced in class. But, when Master Lee got a better board, and held it himself, she did it on the first try. Master Lee was sure to tell her how proud he was of her, and what a good 6 year old she is. She has the loudest "kihap" in the whole class, and they are always impressed by that. ( Kihap is the shout they do when they kick or hit--shows confidence and increases their power). She did it though! She is so proud of herself, and we are so proud of her! Here she is in all of her glory!

Here she is at the end of her form (it's like a tae kwon do routine they do). You can see her intensity with her kihap...she is so funny.

Here she is practicing her one-step sparing with Master Hun. She had three to learn, and they are little self-defense moves. I love this picture of her taking on the big guy!

YAY!! She broke the board!

This is a picture of all this kids (and adults) that tested with her. So proud.

And here she is; an official high-yellow belt! The belts are given out the next time they go to class, that's why her hair is cut in this picture!

Lots of Lucy Love

Lucy donated her hair to Locks of Love today. She has wanted to since she heard about her cousins doing it for their mom, Aunt Christa, who had breast cancer. It was a cute kids salon that painted her nails, curled her hair, put glitter in it, and let her sit on a carousel horse for the cut. She was super nervous, but it turned out very cute.






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Summertime is my favorite time!

Here is some more summer fun we have been having. On a really hot day last week, when Aunt Juliet was visiting, we all decided to take a dip in the canal that runs by the Wilson's house (we all doesn't include me of course, someone had to take the pictures!) All you Arizonians just gasped in horror when I said I let my children play in a canal...I know you did! This isn't your typical Arizona canal...deep, cement, rushing rapids. It is a gentle, albeit freezing, creek like body of water that flows blissfully through the city, rustling only the occasional duck drifting in its gentle current, or the lush greenery soaking on its banks. Ahhh, see, it sound nice right? It took me about 4 years to come around to letting my kids get in, but I did. The Wilsons have quite the set up there. They have neighbors with little steps leading down, a raft floating, Kimo's canoe, and a rope swing! Fun! The water was freezing, but the company was just fine!

This is the little tied down raft. Isn't she brave?!
Thanks Aunt Juliet for always being willing to help Elliott out. He is the timid one after all.
Kimo scored big points with the kids for this little adventure.
There she goes!!
I think that takes some pretty strong arms. It's a lot of work, but to kids, it's just fun.

Here is a random montage of summer.

Awesome Gymboree bubbles that stick around LONG after blowing...Lucy calls it a "bubble wonderland"!!!
YAY!! I love summer clothesline drying...the quickest dryer ever.
My garden up close and personal. Disregard the weedy grass growing amongst the onions, carrots, beets, tomatoes, and berries!
Heather and I combined our first round of beet harvest and did some pickling! It was way more than it looks like! We had some classic reds, some orange, and one lonely pink and white target beet....YUMMY! We kept snitching...we couldn't resist nature's dirt-flavored candy.
What a gal!