Summer: Camping, Scouts, Lagoon, and Cousins

This summer was one thing after the next all summer long, especially for Andrew.  Between, scout camps, EFY, youth conference, a family camping trip, cousins visiting and finally our trip to Brazil (more on that to come) there was never a dull moment.

Jason didn't have any vacation time to use this year since he was taking a full month off to go to Brazil in August so we had to try to fit in vacation when he was off.  We took advantage of the long 4th of July weekend and went camping at Flaming Gorge.  Three nights in a tent is about as long as I can stand with kids but we had a good time.  We did end up stranded out in the middle of no where one night.  We were fishing a small lake and the kids had left the lights on in the truck getting in and out so many times.  We went to start the truck to head back to camp and the battery was dead.  The small shop by the lake was closed and everyone else had left and we had no cell phone reception.  Our campground was a good walk from there but I was starting to think it was our only choice when someone came along.  They didn't have cables but were finally able to track down someone that did.  We kept having to jump the truck every time we had to go anywhere and someone at church finally gave us a set of cables until we could get home and replace the battery.  We had a lot of fun running and biking the overlook at Red Canyon.  Andrew enjoyed photographing the canyon and the boys had fun sleeping in their hamocks and didn't mind the deer walking right through the camp all night.  There was also a herd of big horn sheep running around we were lucky enough to spot. Before we went home we spent a day on the river below the dam.  Jason, Andrew, and Jared fished while I hiked with Kaitlyn and Skyler.  Well, until the thunder storms rolled in and we kept running to the truck to get out of the downpour! 

My niece, Danielle came to stay with us for a few days this summer.  We went to the rodeo and Lagoon.  Neither are my favorite but the kids had a lot of fun.  Melanie, with her kids, and Brittany met us at Lagoon and the big kids and little kids were all entertained so it was a win!  Kaitlyn wanted to go on all the wild rides with the big kids.  I think they rode just about everything there.  I think we left with a few motion sick kids by the end of the day!

In August we had my sister, Rebecca, visit with her family from Ohio and my brother with his girlfriend and Calvin here from California.  We went to the pool to escape the heat and to a Real Salt Lake game since Calvin loves soccer.  It was our first game at Rio Tinto and it was a lot of fun although I felt like I spent half the game in line at the concession stands.  It was a crazy week because I was helping with cross country camp, Jason left for Brazil, and I was trying to get everything arranged so the rest of us could join him.  We didn't get as much time as we would have liked to spend with everyone but it was fun to have all the Brown cousins together.

Andrew's high adventure with the scouts was in the Wind River mountain range in Wyoming.  They camped at the Green River Lakes and backpacked a long trip into Square Top.  It was a much longer hike than they anticipated.  The weather also turned off quite cold for the middle of July.  Many of the boys ran out of food but luckily Andrew caught some fish to keep them alive!

Jared went to Camp Newfork for scout camp the same week Andrew was backpacking.  The scout camp wasn't far from where Andrew was in the Wind Rivers so they also had to deal with the frigid temperatures with many mornings below freezing.  He braved the cold though and even swam in the lake for the swim check and canoeing merit badge.  One night they took canoes across the lake and spent the night.  He was able to finish up all the merit badges he needs for his Eagle except camping.  Jason was able to spend a couple days at camp but couldn't get any more time off work and spent so much time dealing with the administrative issues that he didn't get any pictures of the boys.

The Blackham backpacking trip had to be cut short this year due to the lack of vacation time Jason had.  He took advantage of the long 24th of July holiday weekend and took Andrew and Jared with Brian and Brian Jr. to Red Castle in the Uintas.  Jared was thrilled to finally be included on the big backpacking trip and Andrew didn't complain about another weekend in a tent.  They caught a lot of fish and had a lot of fun.

Jackson

My grandparents owned a timeshare in Jackson so when they passed away Jason and I decided to buy it.  This was our first summer going up there.  The week fell on the same week as Jared's scout camp so he was only able to spend the weekend with us and then we dropped him off at Camp Bartlett in Idaho and went back to Jackson for the rest of the week. Our kids were dying to go to Yellowstone so we did that the Saturday Jared was still with it.  They were still just as excited about the geysers, mudpots, and animals as they were when we went five years ago.  We could have spent days just in Yellowstone so we didn't get to see everything we wanted but we enjoyed the little bit we got to see.  The highlight for the kids was the bear that we saw in Hayden Valley just across the river just before dark.  It made for a long drive back to Jackson late at night but it was worth it!

The kids were excited about hiking all 328 steps down Uncle Tom's trail to see the view of the falls.

 

Jason's dad came to spend a day in Jackson with us.  We to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park.  We took a shuttle across the lake and hiked to a waterfall and overlook on the other side of the lake.  We didn't run into any bears but we did see some moose!  It ended up being a pretty tough hike since part of the trail was closed and we had to go the long way around.

 

 

We took our bikes with us to Jackson.  Kaitlyn got to try out her new bike on some real mountain biking trails for the first time.  We also enjoyed the paved path that runs all the way from Jackson to Jenny Lake that we could take Skyler along in the bike trailer.  The weather was perfect for getting out and enjoying the beautiful scenery!

We enjoyed exploring the town of Jackson for the week.  We are excited to go back every year and do some of the things we ran out of time for.  I think the kids favorite part was swimming in the pool even though we were right in the middle of some of the wonders of the world!

Jason wanted to go fishing with a guide on the Snake River but the runoff was still too high.  So instead the guide took Jason and Andrew about an hour away to the Green River.  They had a great time fishing and caught a lot of big fish.

On the way home from Jackson we had to stop for one more fishing trip on Granite Creek.  This time Skyler got to join in on the fun.  He is always so excited for Daddy to catch fish for him.  The canyon was gorgeous with wild flowers.  The fishing was slow but finally just before we left Jason caught one big fish for Skyler!

Father's Day, Visitors, Fishing Trip and Lagoon

I'm not sure why I thought summer would be more relaxing than the school year.  So far we have kept awfully busy.  Jason works so hard and never seems to take any time to relax.  I couldn't help snap a picture of this well deserved break napping in the hammock on the porch with Skyler on Father's Day.

My sister and her family visited us from Ohio.  My kids loved having their cousins around for a few days to play with.  We had lots of fun in the wading pool in the backyard and a fun hike up at Snowbasin.  The triplets are three now and it never ceases to amaze me how my sister and her husband can manage all three of them at the same age.  My house sure was different, but fun, with three almost three year olds running around!

Skyler and Aubrie in the pool.

Teresa enjoying the water fight.

Emily and Lucas

Meal time was about the only time we could get all nine kids sitting in the same place at the same time!

Aubrie, Teresa, and Emily

The whole crew hiking at Snowbasin

A couple weeks ago Jason took Andrew to the Uintas with his brother Brian and brother-in-law, Sam.  They decided to run into a lake to fish.  It made for an interesting trail run with all the fishing gear but they had fun.

While Andrew was at scout camp the rest of us spent a day at Lagoon for stake Lagoon Day.  Jared unfortunately gets motion sick like I do so we did a lot of waiting with Skyler while Jason and Kaitlyn rode the roller coasters.  We had a fun time in the water park though and it was a hot afternoon.  Jared convinced me to ride Rattlesnake Rapids first thing in the morning.  Since it had been 20 years since I'd been to Lagoon I had no idea we would get soaked until we were already in line and saw people getting off the ride.  Jason got a good picture of the soaking!

Ibantik Backpacking Trip

The kids were a little frustrated this summer that we weren't going on vacation with a new baby.  Jason had promised that he would take Jared on his first backpacking trip.  He was so excited!  He couldn't wait for it all summer.  The night before they left and the pack was all loaded I started to worry.  The pack looked so big on him!  All he was carrying was his sleeping bag, a change of clothes and his water but I really didn't know how he'd handle hiking with all of that on his back.  I also started to stress out when shortly after they left thunderstorms started rolling in.  I was sure my poor little boy was soaked and miserable and would never want to go backpacking again!  I was wrong though and he came back all smiles!  He couldn't stop talking about the trip for days and can't wait until next year!

Here are some pictures from their trip.  They hiked about two miles in from the Crystal Lake trail head to Lake Ibantik in the Uinta mountains.  It was a beautiful area and they caught lots of fun and just had fun exploring the mountains.  They were joined by two of their uncles, Vance and Sam.

Andrew and Jared couldn't stop talking about the mountain goats they saw.