A couple of stories with pictures

First, a story about Brielle.

I've mentioned before that the blond of our family is a mischievous little monster. I love her anyway. One day, a few weeks ago, I was cleaning the kitchen when Ava let me know she was awake from a nap and ready for some lunch. I set the cleaner I was using on the table. My laptop was also on the table. You see where this is going? Mason and Brielle were on the floor playing with cars or something. They seemed engrossed in their activity so I went and fed Ava in the peaceful quiet of another room.

Less than ten minutes later I returned and noticed my laptop was open, turned on, and a little streaky on the screen. But it was working! So I just dried off the screen, shut it down, shut it, and went on with the day. A couple of hours later I went to use it and...dead. That's what the repair guy said. Actually, "Fried. It would cost more to repair than replace." Ugh. Brielle is still alive, though. Lucky girl.

So on to story number two, which is old because...no computer.

Early in the summer we took our now-annual Bear Hunt in the Box Elder camp ground. We go through the grass, "swishy swashy," and through the river, "splash splosh," and all that. We never seem to find a bear, though! Mason was just in heaven and gosh are they cute reciting that book and getting so excited at the thought of finding a bear, or even just a slightly overgrown trail.

And story number three, to wrap things up.

Last summer we took both kids on a fun, but also kind of miserable camp trip with Tim's parents at Mirror Lake. This year when they started planning to go again I quickly said heck no, have fun without me. The thought of sleeping with my two toddlers and a new baby just sounded sort of terrible. But Tim and Mason were going to go and drive three hours to sleep in the wilderness and great for them. Fast forward to the day they were leaving. Camp got moved to Blacksmith Fork Canyon (only about 40 min) and I got suckered into packing for myself and two girls in 15 minutes and heading up there with them.

I'm glad we all went. One night was plenty and we ended up coming home a day early but the kids loved it and Tim's dad did all the excellent cooking! Lots of four-wheeler and side x side rides. The campground was beautiful. I got to sit and whittle a stick while cousins entertained my kids. Camping has earned back a little of my admiration.