Oscar Stew

So, we got dirty. We’ve established that. But was that all? Of course not! There was A LOT of planning and effort that went into making our mountain adventure a week to remember. Everyone contributed in different ways and we all had a great time. Here’s to us! ha! Just a warning…if you ain’t blood, this post might not be for you.

Did an occasional rain shower dampen our spirits? Naw, we had Ro-witchie to scare the clouds away. You can literally see the lightning bolts coming out of her fingertips! Mommeeeee!

The fam would like to thank this guy for making the trip a screaming success. He brought everything we could possibly need, even the kitchen sink! literally!!

Dancing With The Stars ain’t got nothin’ on Dancing With Babies. Now that’s a hot show! Especially when your trainer is a former Prom Queen!

Ok, I couldn’t resist. One more pic of the mud bath couldn’t hurt, right? what a bunch of crazies…

Run Rowan run! Queenie is gonna get ‘cha!!

Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it…

Blondes really do have more fun…

Brinley spent some quality time climbing trees. One tree turned out to be Uncle Aric. Watch out Brinley, he bites!

Two E’s keeping each other warm & toasty.

This is Brinley’s quarter-staff. Actually, it’s a buck and a quarter quarter-staff, but she’s not admitting to anything. What?

 

We slaved for hours to create this perfect cake to celebrate Aric’s quarter-centennial. Do you think his wish will come true?

Here’s the mess hall at Camp David. This is where it all went down…the hatch, that is.

Drew demonstrated his vast knowledge of geothermal physics and re-created the “Old Faithful” geyser right in our campsite. Kapow!

There maybe some geothermal physics going on in Ella’s pants too, but she’s not telling. Did you really think we’d miss out on a poop joke?

What?! No recycle bin? What kind of heathens are you people?!

Apparently heathen enough eat the forbidden fruit! Now she knows the difference between sugar and A LOT of sugar.

Livestrong? You wanna live strong? Try a diet consisting of Twinkies and bananas. And try wearing half of it…

True to our hippie-color-loving selves we tie-dyed our way into the highest echelons of high (mountain) fashion.

While Brinley strolled through the forest she came across the enchanted Fountain of Caffeine…

Then she took a swig and discovered the secret to limitless power! Wowowowowowww…

 

Glub glub…

What the? This potion doesn’t have any special powers! It’s just another Mentos ‘n’ Coke! Glub glub urrrrrp…

Of course there were dirt cups! You don’t vacation with D&B without dirt cups, it’s tradition.

Hey guys, are you gonna finish those worms?

Mission keep Rowan’s-hair-from-gluing-itself-to-her-sticky-face complete. Where’s the parade?

Welcome to the World Series of Go Fish, Utah Hold’Em! Entry fee is 25 skittles and a punch mustache. Looks like Aunt Hwenna will be sittin’ out this game.

 

This itch is brought to you by the word “disposable”. But cloth diapering for a week in the mountains? I don’t think so!

5 Aces?! Check her sleeves!

Here’s Drew, caught in the act of swiping a sucker from the “secret” stash. What did he have to say for himself? “Yummy!”

Ella-wooo!! Getting her insides rearranged by her “doting” big sister. Now she’s ready for a nap, thanks Rowan!

Have you ever tasted the rain? My suggestion is to do it without the filter!

No nap for this tent monkey, which is kinda devastating when you’ve been playing as hard as we were.

Stubborn doesn’t even begin to cover it… Thanks Kelz for snapping this pic!

Ella-weee!!! This could quite possibly be my favorite picture of the year. love that little girl…

Not quite the same as a Mentos ‘n’ Coke, but we might be able to get an official nap out of you this way!

Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’…into the future…

Is that the iCorn 3000? Yeah, I’d like a double-double on wheat with fries & a coke…and don’t forget the fry sauce!

It’s a .44 Magmallow, the world’s most powerful mallow gun…

So I’ve got to ask you one question: Do ya feel lucky?

Well, do ya? What a bunch of punks. I had a mallow stuck to my lens after this shot, not cool guys! (although I did ask for it…)

Luck had a little hiccup as Drew rode the wheels off this 4-wheeler, but Grandpa had it fixed before Ryan could find someone to pass Eleanor to so he could give it a shot…

As soon the glitch was fixed, Drew hit the trail again and made up for lost time. The boy and the machine have become one!

 

When it was time to retire the beast Drew had no qualms about putting it away himself. Grandpa was just there to supervise!

Sunset, the best time of the day. The kids are winding down & getting ready for bed. The fire is roaring…ahhh, yes.

 

This mountain adventure is winding down, and it couldn’t come any sooner. All of our kids are wandering around with a punch drunk look on their face!

We saved the homemade vanilla-bean mallows for our last night on the mountain.

The homemade variety is trickier to roast, but the taste is unparalleled. Amazing barely covers it…

This rugged gentleman wasn’t cooking for himself; he shared his kill with us lowly scrubs. Thanks dude!

Here’s one lowly scrub displaying his finesse and professionalism like no one else can…or would.

 

In the event that Rowan wasn’t exhausted enough to sleep most of the drive home, she got to stay up with the big kids for the late night premiere.

Is this movie in 3D? Why is there a campfire in the theater? And where are my Raisinettes?

We ended the trip with a bang, that’s for sure!

Oh the pain! This is (almost) the last post of the summer 2010. Wait, didn’t summer end 5 days ago? Well yes, but this is a summer-vacation-recap post.  And if, in some small way, these stories prevent snow on Halloween, you’ll know who to thank.

In July we headed to Vernal so we could spend a week camping in Ashley National Forest. Are we there yet?

Yup! Looks like we have arrived! Pine tree aroma, beautiful mountain meadows…

…and plenty of wildlife! Let’s get this party started!

911 what’s your emergency?

Ro-chuck thought that she’d lend a hand in the gathering of firewood. That’s a nice stem of grass she’s got there!

It looks like the stem is what did the trick. Nice blaze!

Drew & Brinley, snug as bugs in rugs. More like snug with bugs…

Welcome to the Uinta Arena Octagon for UFC 2¼! In the polka dot corner is Rowan “Rampage…” ok nevermind. You’re cute Rowan but it’s time to go to sleep. Nigh-Night!

So E, how was your first night in the outdoor woods? Lookin’ bright-eyed, not so sure about bushy-tailed. Quit yer loungin’, we got a big day planned!

Time to get the blood flowing. Nothing warms you up like pumping some plastic buoys, eh Emily?

Looks like the Scoob is on the receiving end of this vigorous workout. Don’t get scared Drew, it’s just a game!

Your aim is all off man! Try opening your eyes!

Drew can do it, he’s our man, if he can’t do it, make him try again! Gooooo Drew!

He’s still closing his eyes, but looks like he’s got it down now. Is a helmet really required to play this game?

Bin-bob wasn’t interested in games, she was too busy exercising the mind.

Just kiddin’. By the afternoon this princess had messed up her hair and gotten all dirty…on purpose!

Naptime wasn’t happenin’ in the hot tent. But there were way too many distractions outside too…

So when Uncle Aric rolled into camp Rowan got to enjoy chillin’ with Daddy while he and Aric had an Ipod battle in the car. Rock on! 

No trick photography here; nature knows teeter-totters.

Nature also knows bruises and broken bones. Hold on tight! That’s a rodeo totter!

Ok Rowan’s not looking let’s jump on the 4-wheelers and hit the trail!

The girls are back and as dirty as they can get. The boys in the middle don’t look so convinced…

After a hard day’s fun it’s time to bundle up for the night. Hey Aric this would be a lot easier if you would stop distracting Eleanor! I mean Ryan. Who we talkin’ about?

Let’s see, are we on step 3 or step 5? Men…

So you might assume that Drew wanted a chance to drive a 4-wheeler. You’d be right, but how much training do you think he needed?

This boy is a natural born offroader! He was the princess’ personal chauffeur that same afternoon!

Mallow en fuego! It’s the only way to dine…

Look ma no hands! Drew & Brinley rode around the campsite area for over an hour on the biggest power-wheels ever!

Hey Drew, I dare you to eat him!

C’mon dude, you can do it. Just hork it down like Roastie eats pretzels.

Get your game face on! You may also want to wear a faceshield, as Ole Cheesemaker is throwin’ it down today!

So remember that part where I said we got really dirty? Yeah…no. It rained once or twice while we were up there. Ok it rained everyday. But on one of our adventures we managed to find a lot of puddles…

And then Kristy, Emily, Aric, and Kelsey went to the spa.

They got the “helmet to toe” treatment…

Rowan wanted to go for a mud bath too. Eleanor doesn’t look excited about this…

Sorry Rowan, no amount of kisses will change her mind…

But those sure look like some happy campers to me! What this really looks like is an Orbit gum commercial…Fabulous!

Hurry quick, Rowan isn’t looking! Let’s go do that again!

It’s been a busy and productive summer. In two days we officially welcome autumn. Sad, is an understatement. But we are looking forward to a change of pace; hoping things will slow down a little so we can enjoy being home a little more. The last few weeks have been spent in the kitchen. Painting, cooking, jamming, pureeing, preserving, pickling…sweating. And more…

We’ve been trying to cut down on our electricity bill…84 isn’t even the record. It was 87 in the house one day…that’s enough to make anyone go postal!

On hot days like that we leave the house and do something productive….hoping that somehow the house might be cooler when we return.

We knew our home garden wasn’t big enough to produce enough for our growing family, so we joined a community garden to satisfy our overwhelming desire for fresh food… 

No matter the location Brinley is all smiles while raking in the bounty from a hot summer’s work.

And when the food looks this good, who can resist smiling?

We also hit up farmer’s markets and prowled around for anything that could be mashed or pureed into a masterpiece for Eleanor.

Are carrots and green beans not what makes your heart pound?

Maybe we should get a scantily-clad supermodel to spice things up…still not working for ya?

Ole Moose Tooth found his own unique way to enjoy the fresh corn from the farmer’s market… Darn those missing teeth!

Mmmmm…those green beans are mighty tasty!! If her mouth was open any bigger daddy might fall in!

This whole solid foods thing is pretty sweet eh Ella-toot? That is in no way a reference to the happenings in her digestive tract…

We dropped the bigs off at school one morning and took the littles to the patch for some worry-free picking.

Ro-dog caught on quickly and only picked the juiciest berries.

By the time we hit the raspberry bushes it was an old hat for this little picker.

You can’t. You just can’t walk through the Berry Patch without giving in to the temptation to taste at least one. Or 12. Or…

Nothing beats Berry Patch berries. We made plenty of ice cream, jam, and even enjoyed them in our salad…

 

Grandma & Grandpa J visited a few weeks ago. We paused our painting projects and enjoyed having them with us for a few days.

I begged my mom to come out and teach me the (lost) art of bottling fresh produce.  Thanks Ellie for sanitizing those jar lids for us! Who needs a dishwasher! Num num!

 

Welcome to the Canning Show. The younger audience members made sure to fill their popcorn bowls before taking their seats.

The ingredients are coming together now. These pickles are going to be gooooood!…in 6-8 weeks.

I can still smell the fresh dill on my hands. I’m dying to crack open a bottle…

Canning was a bit of a challenge with 7 kids underfoot. And that’s not counting pesky husbands. Hey Rowan you got a little dill stuck in your teeth…uh, hold up!!  Are you really using the cleaning toothbrush?!

Well, I guess we wouldn’t want to discourage her from learning how to brush her own teeth, but her friend Kyrie doesn’t seem too impressed… At least we only use that toothbrush for cleaning grout.

Behold: Yummy! But don’t touch that remote! We haven’t even gotten to the fruit yet!

 

Ok, short commercial break. This 3 hour period of undisturbed canning has been brought to you by Moen faucets and Great Value ice cream sandwiches…

Seems everybody is working up an appetite. We had to delegate some tasks to other capable members of the cast. Notice also that the crazy blue wall is gone. Now it’s the crazy green wall which is Nuclear Granny Smith in the late afternoon/evening. At any other time of the day it’s a tame-ish creamy apple green.

Remember when you got this excited about applesauce?

Or oatmeal?

Canning 2010 has been a colorful and tasty success! Thanks to Grandma J and Staci for all of your help & support.

Time to get cleaned up and get moving on the next project. Hey Rowan, you still look like a table surfer!

Because of the busy-ness in the kitchen, meal time has gotten a little…uh…interesting. We’ve been picnicking on the floor or in the yard a few times a week. At least the kids think it’s great.

Eleanor and I have been working on this quilt for months. We make a pretty good team. I sew, she makes sure the fabric tastes just right.

Imagine that any hobby you choose to pursue, that your children would pursue it also. Drew’s working on his “quilt sandwich” so he can quilt and bind.

 

Brinley got tired of taking alien and rocket ship napkins in her school lunch and decided to take matters into her own hands. And if there were to be a dispute over the ownership of these napkins (yeah right!), Binnie made sure that she would win.

Now it’s quiet, the kids are in bed, and I can whip out the sharp tools and get down to business.

The most important project is still in the works. Eleanor is ready to size up to mediums, so that means game on! Developing my own pattern is the mission…

 

The learning curve is steep here. Way to master the pincer grasp Ella-munch!

Ok, now you’re just showing off. We already know how well you can blow that horn.

Speaking of showing off, Brinley The Scholar’s first homework assignment was creating a scrapbook page that explained all about her. Nice writing Binnie!

What better way to cap off Household Engineering Month than taking a ride in Dinosaur Grandpa & Grandma’s RV? (dinosaur because they found dinosaur tracks, not because they are prehistoric in age) Brinley certainly didn’t think it was very exciting…

Maybe it was the RV that was exciting. Maybe it was that they were taking us out to Chick-Fil-A. Maybe it was being close to family we hadn’t seen in a while. Maybe it was all of the above…

Maybe it was the candy! Well, Eleanor is the only one not smiling! Thanks Dino-Grandpa & Grandma! You guys are tops!