Mount Rushmore

Happy 4th of July from Sylvan Lake - Custer State Park, SD! 

* * *

Our week of tent-camping in Yellowstone went so well last year, we decided to try another location for this summer.

Six people, 5 days. That's a lot of stuff! But my Tetris-super-hero got it all in or on top. 

TUESDAY
We drove 4 hours to the Mammoth Site at Hot Springs, SD.

Basically a long time ago, there was a sink hole here filled with water. The young, adolescent males used to go and drink at the edge, and many fell in and drowned. They've found the remains of 61 so far, and not a single female among them.

In the 1970s, a developer wanted to build a neighborhood here and as they started digging, bones were found. They stopped, and years later decided to build this structure on top of the dig site to protect the remains. And so they can offer expensive year-round tours to people coming to the area to see Mount Rushmore. ;-) 

Miss Kate, ready for office work like all her Morello aunts

We drove the rest of the way to our campsite in Custer State Park. After setting up on new 12-man tent (it's as huge as you are imagining and totally awesome!), we took our new-to-us paddle boards down to the lake and played in the sand and water.

Dinner was roasting hot dogs over the fire, but as the thunder rolled in and the lightning neared, we shoved all the dogs into the flames really quick and took cover in the tent. As we ate dinner, the rain, HAIL and lightning shook everything around us. Good thing our tent was big enough for us to eat inside!

WEDNESDAY - Fourth of July
After pancakes, sausage & bacon for breakfast, we headed to the Cathedral Spires trailhead. To get there, we drove down the Needles Highway, which was scary and beautiful all at once. The hike wast 3 miles among beautiful landscape.

All was fine and dandy, until...

...disaster struck (or a teeny, tiny scrap on the knee).

After the hike, we headed to Mount Rushmore. It was crowded, but not as bad as we expected. I find this particular landmark a bit disappointing, but we got ice cream and walked around awhile.

After resting back at the campground, we headed to Custer for dinner and fireworks. It is such a small town, but the kids had never seen a firework show before, so it was perfect for us. Kate curled up on my chest with noise-cancelling headphones on, but she didn't cry at all.

THURSDAY
After breakfast burritos warmed over the fire, and then we were off to Bear Country USA. So neat!

The Three Billy Goats Gruff with their Three Trolls
Collin started feeling sick in the car, so we pulled over to get him some fresh air, and there were all these mountain goats playing on the mountain-side.

Bear Country USA is a drive-thru zoo, so all our pictures are taken through the car windows, which were up and locked. ;-)  

After the driving portion, there's a portion where you can get out and walk-around. That's where all the babies were. 

While we were there, the weather turned cool and cloudy, so we decided to head straight to Jewel Cave instead of going swimming. All the tours were full though, so we got tickets for later and headed back to the campground for naps. Then we drove back to Jewel Cave for the world's most disappointing "tour." Mommy-planning fail.

Dinner was spaghetti & meatballs followed by banana boats.

FRIDAY
Breakfast today was granola and yogurt. We hiked 3-mile Horse thief Lake. So pretty! Lots of waterfalls and neat rock features.

After resting, we headed to the lake for paddle boarding, swimming and sand castle building. It was hot, so it was the perfect thing. Dinner was chicken quesadillas followed by smores.

SATURDAY
We were up about 6:30am tearing down camp. Six people worth of mats, cots, sleeping bags, etc is a lot of clean up! We had the tent down and were on the road about 9:30am. Breakfast was poptarts while in motion, lol. We were trying to hurry back for Collin to go to a good friend's birthday party at 3:30, and we made it with even enough time for him to shower the camping grit off. :-)

All in all, we had our horrible, awful, terrible melt-downs and fighting mingled with the beauty and awesomeness of family time in nature. I guess that's just real-life.

We are already choosing our camping destination for next year. We are thinking we should stay "home" and do Rocky Mountain National Park the right way, instead of always only doing random Saturdays there scattered throughout the year. Stay tuned!

Spring Break '18 - St George

We left Saturday morning at 4am - Ryan and I woke up at 3am! We wanted to beat the ski traffic at Vail, and we were successful. We also knew the forecast for snow starting in Vail at 5am, so it was coming down when we got there, but the roads weren't covered yet.

Because we had left so early (even though we were wasted tired!), we decided this was a good chance to swing by Bryce. We didn't hike or stay long, but we got to walk the Sunset Overlook to the Sunrise Overlook. What an amazing place. We'll have to camp and hike another time.

Sunday we attended my parents Over-55 Branch for Church. Kate and the boys all attended a mini-primary (they were the only kids and all in one group), but they did great and everyone loved them.

Monday we headed to Red Cliffs for some sand-hiking. The kids got to scramble around on some rocks and through some holes. They loved it!

Tuesday we hiked to some petroglyphs in Santa Clara. It was a mile walk through some ugly desert-scape, but the ancient drawing were fun to look at. We were glad it wasn't hotter.

Tuesday afternoon Ryan and I headed to Las Vegas to get some alone time. We had dinner (we always do Italian when we are being reminiscent) in the New York, New York and saw Ka at the MGM Grand. We love Cirque du Soliel shows. Afterwards, we grabbed some yummy mini-cakes. It was warm, and we sat in the hot tub for a while too. We watched the lights over the Strip while eating our treats in the Grand Chateau hotel.

Wednesday morning my parents took the kids to the best park (Thunder Junction). We had breakfast at the Bellagio, checked out the current garden exhibit and blown glass. We also grabbed Krispy Kremes to bring back and hopped in the car to return. It was a perfect 24-hours away.

We sprinkled in golf cart time, picnics at playgrounds, and walks around the neighborhood too. It was a great trip. The kids did awesome, and I don't even think Grandma & Grandpa wanted to kill them when we left! Win-win. 

And B is 7!

This will be my last birthday post for a while. We have a break in the celebrations until Fall.

Brennan is SEVEN!

Saturday was Brennan's seventh birthday. On the last day of school many months ago, he received a build-a-bear as a gift from a friend. He's been planning to go to the store and build his own ever since. I told him he could invite one friend, so Saturday morning we picked up a friend from his class, Carl, and headed to the store about 15 minutes away. Brenn got Squirtle from Pokemon, and Carl got another Pokemon character. I let them each pic some clothes too. It was surprisingly fun! For reason I didn't take any pictures (!), but here's one after we got back home.

After picking out their animal and getting it stuffed, we headed to Sonic where Brennan really wanted a corn dog. All told, the event lasted only two hours. They had a great time together and were well-behaved too.

In the evening, I made homemade pepperoni pizza, as he'd requested. Then he opened his presents: a coupon for shopping with Dad for a new bike and a Ninjago reusable sticker book. Ryan bought the new Ninjago movie from Google Play, so we watched that, and then we sang and had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, as requested.

 * * *

Brennan is still a confusing kid. He has a hard time controlling his emotions. He has lots of extra energy, but he doesn't like to do many active things. Unlike his siblings, he hates playing in the snow. I have to threaten him with consequences to get him to jump on the trampoline or ride bikes (we are hoping the new bike will change that though). He spends a lot of time in his room, where I usually let him read a book.

The funny thing about Brennan is that other times he is a perfect angel, helping around the house and with Katelyn. He can be a wonderfully kind gentleman at times. Other times, I think I'd rather die than survive another minute in the same house as him!

He loves Minecraft, arts and crafts, Legos, making Powerpoint presentations and watching tv. He and Collin share documents and slides via their google drive accounts constantly. They also share Minecraft worlds electronically.

He eats all the time and is the tallest boy in his class.  He's only one size behind Collin in pants and shirts, and they wear the same shoe size now. He tried basketball for the first time this fall. He was finally really getting it as the season ended, but he hasn't decided if he wants to play again next year. I have him registered for soccer in the spring and baseball in the summer.  He will do art club before school in the spring too. I figure that'll give him some good opportunities to then choose from.

He is a really good student. He gets along with the kids in his class and his teacher. All the subjects are so easy for him: math, reading, writing, spelling. He makes great connections, and sometimes I forget he is only a first-grader.

Unfortunately, he seems to have inherited some of his mom's anxiety, so sometimes he'll come home all stressed out because he needed to tell his teacher something or he felt unjustly accused of something else. He's really so much over-reaction and drama, and it's exhausting.

Next year is his baptism, which is totally blowing me away. I think we'll probably do it in Utah and combine with my sister's daughter who is only a few days older than him. It's easier to get extended family to attend that way anyway. We'll see though.

Well, here's to seven mildly successful years under Brennan's belt!

Happy birthday, B! 

My Christmas Baby is NINE

Collin is nine! How is my first baby already NINE?!

FLASHBACK

I will never forget that Christmas. Collin was due on the 18th, and I started dreading in March having a Christmas baby when my doctor calculated my due date. They refused to induce on first pregnancies at this office, so I finally went into labor about 2am on Sunday, December 21st. We had a horrible ice storm the day before, and Church had been canceled the night before. It was a slow, cautious drive to the hospital downtown.

His actual delivery was pretty textbook - epidural and 10 hours of labor. He ended up being my only textbook labor, but those are stories for another day. We were discharged Christmas Eve.

At this time, my youngest brother was on his mission in Italy. While we Skyped with him Christmas morning, our horrible doctor called (Collin was 4 days old) and told us we needed to return to the hospital so Collin could lay under the lights for four hours. When we arrived at the hospital, no one was expecting us, and we wandered around the huge downtown hospital for hours trying to figure out where we were supposed to me.

When we finally got our doctor back on the phone, she admitted forgetting to tell admin we were coming. It was late afternoon before Collin was placed in the incubator under the blue lights. I was a frantic wreck, expecting each breathe to be his last. I watched him and fed him bottles of formula (my worst nightmare) through the incubator holes because we weren't allowed to take him out. My parents and other brother came and sat with him through the night, since I was being so psycho.

By morning, when we thought we should be done, the doctors admitted he was only laying under half as much light as he needed, but no one knew where the light bulbs were. When they finally located the bulbs, no one knew (I kid you not) how to change the bulb. My engineer husband almost killed someone!

In the end, we were in the pediatric wing for 24 hours - through Christmas Day. It was the worst Christmas of my life. I remember the nurses bringing us the pity-the-kids-in-the-hospital-on-Christmas toys. We still have the squeaky yellow duck we were given. The doctors were all awful and mean. It was a horrible experience, and we never used that hospital again.

Anyway, Collin was my colic baby too, so it isn't like life was rosy the next six months. I remember sitting on the back patio sobbing because he'd be screaming for hours, and it was the only place I couldn't hear him. I remember never understanding how shaken baby death could ever happen, until my own colicky, maniac baby. It was not a good point in my life.

I didn't really understand nursing with Collin - learning curve! - so I would nurse him for 45 minutes per side. I now realize he was napping on me. I was literally nursing for 90 minutes straight, so I would only have a 30-minute break before the two-hour window expired and I started again. I "lived" like this for months. (Psst, it wasn't really living!)

I was also teaching early-morning seminary. After six weeks home with my little guy, I returned to teaching a Bible-study class 5-days every other week from 6-7am at our local church. Collin miraculously starting sleeping through the night then, but I'd wake at 3:30am every day to pump so Ryan could give him a bottle when he woke up and I was still gone. Collin was my only bottle-drinker, and my only baby to sleep through the night so young, and I attribute that as a blessing for my service to God.

Despite these first rough months, Collin was also our much dreamt for little man. We always wanted to have a boy first. We had been married for five years by the time he was born. Though some of that wait was planned so Ryan could get his schooling done and I would be able to stay home, we also struggled to conceive for about a year. Our dear Collin was much prayed for.

Anyway, somehow this was all nine years ago, though I can remember the anxiety like it was yesterday. My little orange baby sick in the blue incubator was NINE years ago. So much screaming was NINE years ago. Nursing all day and all night was NINE years ago. I had THREE more babies in those NINE years. I quit teaching Bible-study when we learned we were pregnant with Brennan, EIGHT years ago, but it is definitely still a part of my story.

...nine years ago...

TODAY

It snowed on his birthday! I let them play before school this morning.

Now, he's a big, bad 3rd grader, already more than halfway done with elementary school. He's in the gifted and talented program for math, and he's in the highest reading group. Just recently, on his own, he's read Harry Potter #1-3, four of Grisham's Theodore Boone series, and he started Eragon this week. I love that he loves to read. He has been doing Taekwondo for a year and a half now, and he really loves it. He goes to class three days per week. It has really built his confidence, so I suppose that makes the expense worth it. He has been playing piano for 3 years now, and he loves going to Cub Scouts on Wednesdays, where his dad is his Den Leader. He participated in Jingle Choir at school too, where they did several concerts including the town lighting. I love his teacher at school this year, and he's got a great group of boys in his class. Girls are still utterly disgusting though.

Bethke Jingle Choir at the Town of Timnath Lighting Festival

He loves ninjas, Legos, piano, Cubs, Pokemon and Minecraft (not necessarily in that order though).

Happy birthday, Collin!

To celebrate his bday, we let him pick one friend to do something with. He picked going swimming at the rec center with his long-time buddy Mason. So last Saturday, Ryan took him and Mason to lunch at Sonic, then indoor swimming and then they got donuts afterwards. Mason got him a good-sized pack of Pokemon cards. They had a good time.

Dad & Collin headed to the pool

Collin & Mason after swimming

His actual birthday was also the final day of school before Christmas Break. His class holiday party was in the morning, and in the afternoon, he picked extra laptop time as his birthday activity. For dinner, he requested beef stew and homemade rolls. He also really wanted a chocolate ice cream cake, which is hard to find (they are almost all vanilla!), but mom pulled it off.

A pocketknife! 

Sparring gear (soooo expensive!)

Cake that he didn't have time to eat bc he had to get to the belt ceremony

After opening his presents (new karate sparring gear, new Bear book & neckerchief, and a pocketknife), we headed to the karate studio where he received his camo belt. He has now moved up to the Level 2 classes.

Belt Ceremony (camo)

Look at that kick! 

Mr Overby, world's best teacher

Finally, cake after karate

 

The End

Collin has always been my little buddy. He has always been able to read my moods, and he is the best little pleaser there ever was. He definitely knows how to pester his siblings, and he really likes to get his own way, but all in all, he is the best helper in our home. I don't know where I'd be without him. We love our Collin! I just wish he'd stop growing up.

Happy 9th, Coll-a-roo!

Halloween '17

Our kids like to pick their own costumes now, so we don't get to do family themes anymore. :-( And if there's no theme, then we might as well not do all the work to make new costumes for us parents. So each year we just dig through our box of old costumes, and this year the winner was...

70s!

Ryan loves this red, stretchy suit he found at Goodwill in high school, so he tries not to miss out on each chance to wear it. 

Collin got into a certain British book series this year, so like every kid on the planet, he had to have his year of...

Harry Potter! 

Brennan loves Pokemon and his stuffed Pikachu - and being comfortable! - so I present you... 

Ash!

As mentioned in Ethan's birthday post, he's been obsessed with a certain super hero. This costume should come as no surprise then... 

Batman! 

And last but not least, she may have an opinion about everything else, but she didn't know she could pick her costume, so we pulled this one out of the costume box and repurposed it. Presenting  the cutest little...

Spider!

  

This is what she did when we asked for her to show us her bum. She's a natural! 

 Happy Halloween from Team Williams!

Happy 4th, Ethan!

Ethan is four now! It was our fall break, so we celebrated all weekend long. He really couldn't figure out which day was his real birthday.

Thursday night we went to Texas Roadhouse and used his free kids meal. They sat him in the saddle and sang to him, and he got a brownie.

Friday we went to Estes Park - Ryan had been gone all week and is gone all this week, so he took the day off so we could see him - and told the waitress at lunch it was his birthday, so she gave him ice cream.

Sunday was the main day we celebrated. I hung the birthday banner in the kitchen. They sang to him in primary, and he got a little treat from the primary presidency. He requested homemade macaroni and cheese with bacon (all my kids' favorite nowadays) and chocolate milk for lunch.

After his nap, we let him open his presents. Everything was Batman-themed this year. He's a little obsessed. When I asked him on the first day of school what he wants to be when he grows up, he said matter-of-factly, "Batman!" When I tried to explain he needed to pick a "real job," he got totally confused. I guess we'll figure that out when he's older. ;-)

So, for his birthday, we got him a Batman card and balloon. He also got a stack of Batman easy-readers from Costco and two junior Lego sets.

When everyone was up from their naps, we sang and had cake and went for a walk. He was one happy little man.

But, Monday was his actual birthday. Ryan was gone on his trip, but I let him have a playdate in the morning with Tessa, a friend from preschool. She even brought him a present: M&Ms, Ninjago legos and playdough. They are so good together. I made them popcorn, and they watched a movie. They also did playdough and Legos. He even shared his M&Ms with everyone! And they got leftover homemade mac & cheese, so everyone was happy.

Monday night I had to be in too many places at once (four kids, ya know!?), so I dropped Ethan & Kate at the neighbors' house, and they sang to him and made him waffles for dinner. Thank goodness for friends. 

Then Tuesday was preschool, so they celebrated him again: a special birthday hat and reading his favorite book to the class. He picked Waiting Is Not Easy by Mo Willems.

Whew, and that's why I say he doesn't really know which day was his actual birthday. It was a birthday long weekend around here!

*   *   * 

Ethan used to be the easiest, sweetest little man. Then Kate got an opinion, and he realized he could have one too. Ha. I think I'd describe it as being in the "terrible twos" with two kids at the same time... and they aren't twins! It's been a rough few months, to say the least.

I can only take one day at a time, and I'm letting many more things fall through the cracks than ever before. Four kids is no joke! He and Kate argue about EVERYTHING, and they hit, kick and pull each other's hair too. We are in for a rough year, I fear. I just hope it's only a year!

All in all, he has figured out how to talk back and say no, and his mom is so sad to have lost her sweet boy. Some days I get glimpes - today was one of those days! - but yesterday was not. ;-( 

He is still super outgoing, and he is willing to try anything. I'm going to put him in soccer in the spring because he's been begging for years. He is by far my best swimmer too. We has an infectious smile, and everyone - neighbors, teachers, other kids - totally love to be around him. He gave a talk in Primary last week that was perfectly darling. He LOVES preschool and begs to get to go every day. (He only goes Tues/Thurs morn this year.)

I am babysitting another little boy two days a week now from his Sunbeam class, and they are the best of pals. He also really likes to play with Tessa, who lives around the corner from us. 

Love you, buddy! Be sweet to your mommy. 

Happy Batman Birthday, Eefie!