Slump

Our home computer crashed about 10 days ago. It was only a year and a half old, but the hard drive failed and so it is in the shop being fixed. We bought an external hard drive about two months ago so hopefully it did its job and we will not lose anything. We do have a laptop, but I miss my regular computer. The boys have been sick, the bathtub is broken and I am in a blogging slump. I have a few photos on the laptop so I thought I'd share some that we took on our summer trip to Cambria, CA.

How in the world is someone going to pick up this seal? I'm sure he weighs a ton!

The Grotto

A few weeks ago we hiked to the grotto in Payson Canyon. It is a short, easy hike and the boys love it. They get to play in the water at the end and this time Boy #1 even climbed to the top with dad. Thanks to Sarah for telling me about this hike and Trish for taking us there the first time. We have now shared this kid friendly hike with more friends and hope to make many more trips to the grotto.
The boys playing in the water

Boy #1 made it to the top despite my thinking it was too steep and slippery

Boy #2 wanted two walking sticks

I love this photo

The Dog Says "Bow Wow"

Boy #2 has been wearing last year's Halloween costume for the past 6 days. Every morning he gets dressed and then immediately puts on the doggy suit. He loves it and has worn it to get an oil change, go shoe shopping, go to choir practice at church, etc. I'm not sure how long this phase will last, but he looks pretty cute, so I guess it could be worse.

He has pretty good puppy eyes (notice the nose of the real dog in the background)
The dog likes to run
And chase the neighbor's cat
One happy dog

Soccer Season

It is soccer time again and this year my husband got roped into being the soccer coach. Boy #1 loves having his dad for a coach, so I guess it works out well. Last year Boy #1 was one of the oldest on his team and therefore he scored multiple goals each game. This year he is one of the youngest so he is not the star, but he is having tons of fun.

Boy #1 chasing down the ball
Coach McGuirk trying to keep the boys on track

8 Counties, 26 Hours, 100s of Goblins

My husband is always teasing me that as soon as I get home from a trip I start complaining that we haven't gone anywhere. Since it had been a few weeks since our last trip I decided on Saturday night that we should go camping the next day and then spend the holiday hiking around Goblin Valley. I got a thumbs up from everyone so off we went. Since the Goblin Valley campsite was full we found a great campsite on BLM land that was near a slot canyon we planned to visit. The boys had so much fun exploring, climbing, and sleeping in a tent. We wanted to see a little more of the state so we came home by way of Capitol Reef National Park. We drove through lots of little towns and had fun seeing the scenery. Boy #1 loved our trip so much he wants to go back tomorrow!

Setting up camp
View from campsite
Boys climbing the hill just behind the campsite
We hiked through part of Little Wild Horse Canyon
The boys loved climbing all the formations at Goblin Valley
More of Goblin Valley
Petroglyphs at Capitol Reef

Food, Friends, and Fun

This past weekend we had a party with our friends from the big city. We used to see these people every Monday night for dinner, but since we moved away, we see them less often. It is a shame because our kids are similar ages and we all have a great time together. We cooked up some brats and had my favorite sauerkraut recipe. Everyone brought yummy salads or desserts and we enjoyed a beautiful summer evening.

An impromptu game of duck, duck, goose
Taking a break from games to eat dessert
Playing red rover, red rover