Finally, Aspen Grove!

Now for the long awaited, much anticipated, and long procrastinated Aspen Grove post! (A picture travel log.)

First, I have to say it was a bit strange to be back in Utah. To say the least, Tyler and I have been bitten by the Texas Pride Bug. But it was so neat to be back at Aspen Grove, where we spent four months of our lives living and working; four months of some of the worst morning sickness ever. I admit I still associated being there with being sick. (Do those annoying morning-sickness associations ever go away?)

Thank goodness we went swimming on Monday because I never got another chance. And thank goodness we spent lots of time with the Larsons because they left the next morning because my sister had her baby that evening! Talk about good timing! Women just know when it's time.

Of course I can never get my camera out in time. All three boys were straight lounging--it was hilarious!
A favorite activity for Cameron: throwing rocks in the fish pond. He and the other little guys could do it for an hour without getting bored! The little girls finished much earlier, as did the grown up girls while the grown up boys had a jolly time seeing how far they could skip rocks...
...and Sarah had a jolly time sitting her bum in ice cold water.
Awesome Activity #2 my pregnancy obliged me to sit out on: High Ropes Course. (Awesome Activity #1 being Paintball). I just had to get a shot of this hot butt. Good thing it was my husband's.
Nice, Chris.
That night we all went toFrontier Night. So fun! Here's Cameron at his favorite activity of the night, the slide. (And here's also an obnoxious little girl trying to put her feet under his bum or something. Back off!) He probably slid down about 20-30 which is no small matter because it was quite a hike back up to the top. A hike, not a walk. He has footing like a mountain goat. I wonder where he gets it from? ;)
Here is the steer roping. Natalie was ferocious and hilarious! At one point she kicked over the steer so she could rope its legs. I was hoping no workers were watching.
She's my favorite in this picture too. SO funny!
Wednesday. Hooray! An activity I didn't sit out on: archery! James was very good, he actually won the best score for the entire camp! Heidi kept telling him she was going to hang out with him if something ever happened and people needed to hunt down their own food. Look at these tough looking men!
Wednesday was also my birthday!! I celebrated by giving myself brutal lashes to the elbow with my bow string. They left a pretty gruesome collection of bruises. I have always had the boniest elbows! Our old home! Cute! We were the last ones to live in Cabin 50. It has since been gutted and turned into a pavilion sitting area.
Birthday Party! Tyler and I really had fun on our birthday celebration day. Cameron spent all day with his group and so we got to do lots of fun stuff like play games and go on a short hike. That night we had some delicious treats! Here are Paige and Sarah making sure no one, except for maybe themselves, has a taste before it's time!
As customary, there was a one-song dance party to the Beatles "You say it's your birthday!..."
"...It's my birthday too, yeah!" Thanks everyone for a great birthday and birthday party!
Our last full day! Grandma was in high demand with her "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" puppet. Sarah cleverly figured out where all the things she "swallowed" actually went.
Mmmm! Ice cream at the store!
And after the rain had all dried up, (we had a series of huge rainstorms) a quick game of badminton.

That night a few of us took the kids to the Family Dance. Cameron didn't need to be told what to do. He jumped right in and started rocking out! It was so funny and cute! Dance, dance, dance! Then he unfortunately decided it was more fun to escape, escape, escape out the open doors. It was fun while it lasted though!
What a great trip! Thanks Mom and Dad! I love our family!