Sometimes the weather cooperates, and sometimes it doesn't

Our last hurrah of the summer was a quick camping trip up to Payson Lakes.  We like it because it is close, there's a plenty of places to play during the day, and you can generally get in without a reservation (although this time we got there barely before dark and there were only 3 spots left - phew.) 

The night we got there, the weather was perfect.  We got everything set up before dark and had an awesome time around the campfire.

 

The next morning was chilly, but perfect mountain morning weather.  It felt great to be outdoors.

 

 

The sun rose higher and we headed over to the lake.  It was quite warm for a few hours.  While Russ & Corbin went horseback riding with Grandma & Grandpa . . .

. . . my friend brought her kids up to play with us at the lake (you just have to believe that I have friends, because I have no pictures to prove it, but trust me they were there with their cool boat and we all had lots of fun.)

 

And of course, as soon as I decided it was too hot and I should put on my swimming suit, the clouds rolled in and the cold swept through (along with some rain).  But that didn't deter us.  The horseback riders came back, we ate lunch, and played some more. . .

 

 

 

When we'd finally had enough of the weather's erratic behavior, we packed up and changed into warm clothes.   We gave our allergic-to-horses-kids a heavy dose of drugs and headed out for a family horseback ride.  Even though I don't love big animals (or any animals for that matter), this was our first time riding all together, and I have to say it was quite fun.  Plus, we were up in the mountains, not in the pasture, and it was beautiful!

(But of course, I don't have a picture of us all together, that would have been too perfect.)

And about Cody's sad face . . . the allergy medicine was not cutting it for him and he was having a horrible time breathing.  Poor guy.  So Russ tried to grab him off Corbin's horse and throw him on behind him, but Russ' horse didn't like that and they both got tossed off.  Luckily, Russ mostly kept Cody from falling to the ground and getting stomped on.  But since he was already crying and upset, we didn't notice until later that the horse had actually knicked him in the ear with his hoof.  I think it's a good thing he had his hoodie on.

(This was the next day, but you can kind of see how purple & black his ear is)

So we had dinner back at camp and made s'more s'mores.  But since Cody was still wheezing and Colton was starting in too, I decided to take the little two home at about 10pm.  (Yes, we had two cars, so Russ could stay and hunt on the last day.) Turns out it was a good thing I did.  One, Colton needed a breathing treatment in the middle of the night, and two, Russ and Corbin got POURED on.  They were soaked!  But that's ok.  They're big and there was only two of them.  They can handle it.

All in all, it was a good trip.  We LOVE being outdoors, and I love spending time with my boys.

The baby of the family

That's right, the last of the Maxwell clan graduated from HS!  Way to go, Mason!

And his family loves him enough that we braved the cold mountain rain to celebrate the big occasion.

Luckily he treated us with a little guitar action to make it worth it.  You are an awesome musician, Mason! (more on that in a later post...)

And good thing for us his graduation party was mostly indoors, and hence, much better weather.  It was a fun afternoon with lots of food, family and friends.

especially the tasty graduation caps, made by yours truly (and my husband).

Congratulations, Mason!  We can't wait to see all the great things you will accomplish!  Love you!

cold and rainy Labor Day

So besides Russ working, Labor Day was also a bummer because it was TOTALLY COLD! It was stormy and rainy most of the day Monday, which I guess is good because now we don't have to water our lawn for a couple days. The boys were happy also, because they finally got to wear their rain jackets. . .which didn't last very long when they realized how cold it was. But they had fun playing firefighter for a little while.

Yes, they are playing with the hose in the rain. Oh well. You can't be a firefighter without a water hose, right?

After naptime, I decided we needed to get out of the house, so we went to this place called Jumpin Jacks. Its an indoor bounce house sort of place with lots of slides and inflatable fun. So the boys and I had a fun day afterall.