Buffalo River

 We had a couple moderately cool days in August so we decided to go camping for just one night during Jon's vacation. The kids were in heaven. They just loved the place so much. Our camp spot was right next to the trail to the swimming hole. We also took them on a hike that was about two miles. We brought the pack to carry Benson but forgot one to carry Annabelle. So I carried her in my arms or she walked, which she preferred to walk. The kids were definitely tired by the end but I was really impressed with how well they did. They had so much fun that they talked us into staying an extra night. We weren't exactly prepared and may have had to re-use clothes and underwear but we did have enough food. Although we were minus a diaper heading home! Camping is definitely something that we would like to spend more time doing. It's so nice to be in nature and just check out from technology and really be present with the family.

Summer Activities

The kids finished their t-ball and softball games. Brig didn't really seem to enjoy at the time but has since been asking to play catch and practice batting more often. They are all really proud of the medals they received.

 Benson was really excited to be invited to a birthday party of a friend from preschool. Another friend was invited to the party that Benson knew also from preschool. I think he really enjoyed the party.

 We introduced our young chicks to the older chicks too soon and they all got a case of coccidosis. It is a nasty disease. We didn't notice it until one of them died. I guess this is actually really quite common. But once one of them has it, it is pretty much guaranteed that they all have it. We started watching closely for the symptoms and noticed this Cochin was also showing symptoms. We isolated her but it was too late. She died a few minutes after this picture. Another one was also showing symptoms and we isolated her as well. She was able to pull through. We gave the rest a two week dose of corid, which is an antibiotic for the coccidosis. We didn't lose any more to this disease luckily.

 We spent some time this summer going to some of the reading activities put on by the library. They had different motivational speakers for kids come. This guy did lots of juggling and other circus type tricks. Another guy came and had a Rube Goldberg machine set up and talked about simple machines. There were also some story times, etc.

 We ended up getting a pool pass to the community center pool. We went quite often. I was afraid to go by myself but Annabelle ended up doing really great with her floaties. I would basically call her a champ. Benson is also doing great floating and not demanding quite as much help. He likes to challenge himself holding onto the sides of the pool and using his muscles in other ways. Brigham used floaties the entire summer. We were at the pool in St Louis one day swimming in the hot tub. He just started swimming without the floaties and was doing amazingly well. Neither of us wanted to say anything to him about it because we thought he would insist on getting his floaties again. But we did finally and he just kind of shrugged it off, like ya, I can.

We also had a knack for going to the pool just minutes before a storm would blow in. One time it was such a clear day and about 20 minutes after we got there, they pulled everyone out of the pool. There was lightning headed our way. Everyone was so confused because it didn't seem like there was a storm coming at all. But when the storm finally rolled it, it brought crazy winds and rain. We were all running for the car like crazy. We could barely see and the rain hurt when it hit your bare skin. The kids were all crying and it was total chaos. For weeks, Brigham would get nervous anytime a storm started coming if we weren't home.

We made at least three trips to Moonshine Beach, a couple times with the ward and a couple times with Jon. The kids love going to this beach. The warm water is really nice when it is cool but when it's hot, it almost isn't refreshing. Not that I am complaining about that. I would take warm water over cold water anyday.

We got a lot of house projects done, especially during one of Jon's vacation weeks. We painted the "dining room" (it was the toy room and now has a couch-I don't know if it will ever be a real dining room), painted the kitchen, and also took apart some of the cabinets in the kitchen.

 Picking a color is always so incredibly hard for me. I think we bought about six paint samples between the two rooms.

 We also put together the shelves I have been working on for weeks in the boys room. We thought it would go together fairly easily but it was pretty complicated. We started from the ceiling and working our way down. It is bolted in the top and bottom. Those shelves are not going anywhere.

Benson finished up the first phase of the clinical trial in August. And then he rolled over in the second phase, which they are calling SHINE. This part of the trial is not double blind so in order to un-blind everything, we had to go back to a loading phase. So we had three trips to St Louis in three months. On our first trip, Jon had the time off but there was some confusion and he ended up getting called back in. So he had to rent a car and drive back home and we were left in St Louis by ourselves. It was not my best days of parenting but we did survive and we are just glad the loading phase is over. 

 We also went to a Cardinals Game. Children's Miracle Network was giving out free tickets to families and so we took them up on the offer. We also got some free hats in the deal. It was a lot of fun. We ended up leaving early because Brigham and Annabelle were pretty much done but I think Vanessa and Benson could have been happy watching the whole game. They were really enjoying themselves.