Life Lessons

Yesterday Ally came home from a friend's house yelling and crying. I was in the living room and heard her in the front yard before she made it inside. She had fallen off her bike. The first true casualty of riding a two-wheeler. Here's the evidence:

The picture doesn't really do the injury justice. Her nose is a lot pinker. And her chin is a lot more purple.

I felt really bad for her until she told us today that she fell off the bike because she rode into the big garbage cans in front of the house (it was garbage day). I asked her if she learned a lesson about riding directly into a garbage can. She said, "I sure did. Never ride your bike without a face mask."

Pick Your Battles

Today's high temperature: 91 degrees

My son's choice in pajamas:

Please ignore the mess on the floor. (Another battle I have chosen not to fight today.) When a two-year-old is involved, you snap the picture and take what you can get.

August's Twelfth Dozen

Wow. Try saying that ten times fast. And I'm doing it two months in a row! Woohoo! But it's the thirteenth, you say? Well, read on and you'll find out why I'm still counting it as a success.

We started our day with Ally in the naughty corner. I don't remember why. She asked Crit to come sit with her and for reasons still unknown, he did.

We went to Wendy's for lunch where both kids downed their ENTIRE kids' meals. Crit had chicken nuggets and Ally had a cheeseburger. They got these trains as prizes (which came in handy the rest of the night).

And then we went CAMPING! We went to a campsite in American Fork Canyon near the Alpine Loop. It was fantastic!

We set up the tents. No, he wasn't as helpful as he looks.

Each campsite had a horse cage (aka jungle gym). Ally took the picture herself, so I had to include it.

Crit got comfy. He and I slept on this cot. He was out like a light in just a few minutes and didn't wake up until morning! That alone made it a successful trip.

The kids "helped" Mike build a fire. Thanks for the wood, Grammy and Pa!

Our tent was up a semi-steep trail from the van and fire, so Crit would walk up carefully, but always got too scared to walk down. So he'd go down like this. Every. Single. Time.

And then his shorts would look like this. Every. Single. Time.

It was BEAUTIFUL! I think the kids even appreciated the scenery for a minute.

We ate tacos and tiger teeth (quesadillas) for dinner. Because camping is really all about the food, right?

And how did we make such fantastic food? With Mike's new BFF, the old green camping stove. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

And just for your viewing pleasure, I'll add picture number 13:
What camp-out would be complete without a pine cone hunt? Ally and Crit especially enjoyed finding the pine cones in the dark with their flashlights and then throwing them in the fire.

So that's the trip. We got up this morning and had French toast, bacon (mmm... bacon), and hiked around Cascade Springs before coming home. The camera was unfortunately forgotten in the van today. But today isn't the 12th anyway, so I don't feel quite as bad about it.