Tent City and the Zoo!

    We had a pretty FUN week, I mean Tent City and the Zoo, I don't think you could have much more fun than that.  I didn't take enough Tent City photos or video but I'll share what I have.  I took several photos at the zoo and I'll share those too.  Let's just say the majority of the kids had fun at the zoo but McClane was a bit of a beast but we didn't lose him or leave him there even though he definitely needed containment.  The only draw back to this week was Mark wasn't around to enjoy it with us but I'm quite sure he's having fun with his scout troop at Bolder Mountain.  Now on to some photos.


Let Tent City 2012 begin!

They look happy to be here!

The beginning of a great night and memorable Tent City.

A little fun at the splash pad on the 24th of July.

McClane really doesn't love the water but he loves his sister.

Are you kidding me, now how cute is baby Ava!?

Our first stop at the zoo.



All seven kids.

Most of my kids in the Eagle's nest.

One time I really wished I had a better camera.  This polar bear was about the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Grizzly bears just separated from us with a little glass.  (I really can't wait until we get to play with these cute things, you know, in Heaven:-).)

All seven kids nearly ready for their train ride.
Isaac, Carter, Sammy, Ava, Kayli, McClane and Brock.

Yeah for a train ride.  It may have been short but it was probably one of the highlights for the boys.

   So that's our week of fun.  Thanks to papa Ralph and Grandma Kmetzsch for the visit to the zoo and for all the help keeping track of all the kids, they loved it and I couldn't have and wouldn't have gone on my own.

Floats and Fun!

    We had some fun this week.  First we went to the South Town Expo and got to see all the floats for the "Days of 47' Parade".  There were some really cool ones and we all got to vote on our favorite.  I voted for the one that looked like a banana split, yum!

This train had two faces and went back and forth on tracks, it was pretty fancy.

Real sheep for the kids to see and pet.

There were hidden pictures in these clouds and we got pixie dust if we could find all 6.

Mark the engineer.

Isaac the engineer.

Carter the Engineer.

Brock the engineer.

Kayli the engineer.

And the cutest engineer of all, McClane.

Anyone for a "Brown Eyed" banana split!?

Or maybe you'd prefer a "Blue Eyed" banana split!?

   So then it was "Picnic in the Park" just last night and aside from all adults being rejected for face painting it was a fun night.  (I'm only a little bitter.)

Kayli and Kelzie Devitt helping at one of the games.

Allison Smith and Toni Hoover also volunteering.

Trying to paint a spider on McClane's face, he wasn't having it.

Brock getting a spiderman look.

Isaac, Brock, Jacob Nuffer (Our neighbor) and Carter as evil and good spidermen.

Anyone for a ride on the "cow train"?

McClane and Isaac

Carter

Brock loved all the inflatable slides.

Brock eating a donut with no hands.

Mark volunteering.

And Mark's best buddy, Marcus Smith volunteering.  I wondered if the people from American Fork would have been upset to know that some of these volunteers were actually from Alpine.

    So that's the extent of our week.  This morning we're headed to the American Fork parade and then tonight we'll go to the concert at the high school where "She Daisy" will perform and then we'll get to see some fireworks.  And hopefully we won't lose any children this year.

Greg went HIKING!

Greg went hiking this week with the Teacher's quorum and it was intense.  He left Tuesday morning.  They had 14 boys and a total of four leaders and only one of those leaders knew exactly where they were hiking each day.  They had water pumps to replenish their water supply throughout the week but unfortunately water wasn't always readily available and on the third day Greg was getting pretty dehydrated trying to conserve his water in case they didn't find more which made for a pretty emotional and draining day.  Luckily they came across a snow glacier with water running from it and then Greg was able to drink what water he had left and refill all his water bottles.  This was a small miracle among many they had throughout the week and Greg had a lot of neat experiences.  He took nearly two hundred photos but I'll only subject you to a handful of those.  He did come home a day early due to the fire which eliminated a couple of the peaks they were planning to hike to but I don't think too many of the boys were sad they had to come home a day early.  Hiking every day and sleeping out under the stars, eating very simple meals can be quite a challenge for even the most capable people.

All 14 boys on the first official day.

How does this happen at the top of the moutain?  Where does it fall from?

I'm not sure where they were headed but those ponchos did come in handy a time or two.

One of the peaks.  This is the view on the other side, sheer drop offs.

Some pretty "Indian Paintbrush" flowers.

Oh yeah!

Greg at Lake Hardy, definitely one of the prettiest stops on their journey.

When the guys got to the top of the peaks they'd take their boots off and lay like this and let the breeze blow up their feet and legs.

Another pretty shot of Lake Hardy.

Our Bishop came up the last night on horses with two others and they had a flashlight fire and testimony meeting.

 And the scariest part of the trip was on the first night.  Greg was just getting to sleep out under the stars when he heard some rustling and rummaging going on and he looks around and sees this tall hairy figure above him and thought for sure he was having his own personal witness of sasquatch/big foot.  But it was only River Jarman now better known as sasquatch. 

River Jarman a.k.a. sasquatch.  Now that's a head of hair!

   So that's Greg's week in a nutshell.  Here at home we all survived.  Kayli's been to girl's camp and due home later today.  I took all five boys to the dentist on Wednesday morning so a couple boys could have sealant put on their teeth and a couple more could have their cavities filled.  We also did some shopping and the boys got to go to the splash pad one day and the skate park another day.  I'm just glad I survived the majority of the week without Greg's help and that he's home safe.