Rockport Reservoir or "The place teenagers go to drink beer"

"

So, the river in the mountains was super fun.  We felt like keeping the "outdoor time on the weekends" ball rolling and check out the reservoir that is about 15 minutes away from our house.  My thought was it would possibly be easier to swim in because it was rushing down a mountain, perhaps just a smidge safer.

Well it turns out my kids won't swim in water that "smells like dead fish."   Nice.  Okay admittedly, it totally smelled like dead fish.  I didn't see any dead fish but I certainly could smell them.  Then, there were the deer flies.  These things are nasty and persistent and totally ruin a fine picnic by smelly dead fish water.

I know what you are saying.  "I thought you hive folk would love all winged insects."  Uh, no.  About an hour into our grand outdoor time at the local reservoir, I was beginning to hear the grumblings.  The "I'm bored and ready to go" grumblings.  Remember how we didn't yell at anybody when we were by the river in the mountains?  There was yelling at the reservoir.  We had to yell at Q when he dropped an enormous log onto Elvis while trying to throw it into the reservoir.  We had to yell at Elvis for purposely knocking over a stone tower Ladycakes had built.  There was yelling.

On a good note, we did our part and picked up 2 dozen beer cans that were scattered all around that dead fish smelling beach.  It became a scavenger hunt of sorts.  We did find some pretty cool drift wood that made awesome "weapons."  We did see a cool drunk teenager-type structure.

We stayed about 2 hours.  That's not too bad.  We were pretty glad to get out of there actually.  Next weekend we are going back to the river in the mountains. Or maybe we'll just go to the mall and buy skinny jeans and video games.



Add this to my Life Soundtrack.  Kid Rock isn't afraid of a little dead fish.  He'll even make love in dead fish.  So there.

The Great Outdoors, where you can pee wherever you want.

It's been our goal to spend more time outdoors.  Away from the computer, the Wii, the T.V., the kitchen, the laundry.  You know where I am coming from, we spend a lot of time indoors.  We are not adverse to the outdoors.  I love Mother Nature.  But, I don't want our "outdoor" time to be mowing the lawn.  Lame.

So we have ventured out lately.  Here's what we have done.

Found an amazing spot, here in the Uintas.  The Provo River.  Perfect spot to play, imagine, read, bring your blood pressure down to a reasonable  150/92.  For me, that's a good day!

The landscape is truly awe-inspiring.  We played here for hours.  We explored, had lunch.  Explored, read some of our books.  Explored, jumped in.....

First Elvis.  Really?  It's like 45 degrees.  He's fearless or stupid.  We're not sure.

Next Q.  There were teenage girls within earshot. Need I say more?

Finally, Ladycakes.  She lets the fools test the water.  I am so proud of this girl!

Once they started, they couldn't stop.  The rush was too much.  They loved how cold the water felt, the fear factor was too much.  They just kept jumping.

By the time we packed up, they were exhausted.  Guess how many times we disciplined them (the boys)?  None.  How much bickering did we hear?  None.  Who said they were bored because "there's nothing to do!"?  Nobody.

Being outside is good for everybody.  We left exhausted, windblown, sun-kissed, muddy and very happy.  We are pleased to live so close to this.  We are very lucky.  

Next came the reservoir.    Well, let's just say they wanted their Nintendos.  I'll fill you later. oy.

Elvis has left the building.

K.
Where did August go?
September.
Approaching middle.
Me.
Clueless.
Just trying to keep up.  This morning I made 3 meals (not 3 portions, 3 MEALS) in less than 45 minutes.
Rockstar? no.  It's the Bear Necessities of Life.

Elvis is in Kindergarten.  It's like throwing your child into a war-zone.  Thank God for Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  At least we are distracted by the colors we are to be wearing each day.

I'm working on painting glass.  Designing scarecrows.  Avoiding serious employment.  I've missed you all. Visited you daily.  Apologize for my absence.

I'd love to show off August, you know in September.  It's my reminder of what was and what is not to be any longer.  Perhaps I'll post August in September and then just ignore September and catch up in October.

Totally makes sense financially.  Since I totally don't understand finances, I'm clearly on track.

It's what's for dinner.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin.
Marinade includes allspice, coriander, cloves, brown sugar, salt, garlic, ginger, lime and Meyers Rum.  (It's gonna be good.)

Pineapple and Mint Chutney (oh yea.)
fresh pineapple
allspice
coriander
cloves
salt
jalapeno
garlic
ginger
brown sugar
lime

Wild Rice (instead of Quinoa, interesting?!)

Salad

Mojito.
Cuz, if you are making 2 parts of a meal that involve sugar, mint, water, rum and lime by golly you should be drinking a mojito.

A perfectly good way to waste a minute and a half.

 
Okay my lovely blogging friend, Carol, over at Songberries gave me a couple of awards.  If I could print these out and tatoo them to my forehead I would, it's the gold star I needed this week.  Thank you Carol!  You're a keeper.  The rules on this are that for The Versatile Blogger award you must tell 7 things about yourself and for The Beautiful Blogger award you must tell 10 things about yourself.  So how about I just list 17 random things and you can un-follow immediately.  Just kidding.  You're gonna like what I share.




Ready?




Really, ready?





Here goes.



1.  My nickname as a child was "Hotdog."  I was a bit of a hotdog and totally shaped like one, plump.
2.  My favorite household chore is organizing a drawer.  It gives me a sense of control.
3.  I have beautiful feet.  Like foot model feet.  Gorgeous.
4.  Baking soda really does eliminate odors, it's my new favorite household cleaner.
5.  I wish I had a huge white board wall.  Like 18 feet by 20 feet.  I would draw on it all day.
6.  I once pierced my ears using nothing but a needle and an ice cube.  It was before a Howard Jones concert.
7.  I love The Tower of Terror at California Adventure.  It's terrifying and thrilling all at the same time.
8.  I own a sewing machine, an embroidery machine and a heat press.  I strive to use them daily.
9.  I want to be my mom when I grow up.
10.  I am currently loving "Airplanes"  by B.OB. featuring Haley Williams as music of choice.  The Eminem version is great too.
11.  Body and Soul told me that according to Ayurveda, I am a Kapha which just means I am a chubby "Earth Mother."  And I like it.  I'm only slightly chubby.
12.   I remember my very first phone number like it's etched in my brain.  Scary but fun to say, to myself.
13.  I recently had dinner with Scott Wolf (hello, Party of Five) and his lovely wife.  I have a picture to prove it!
14.  I fear growing old.
15.  I would like to have a "signature" perfume.  Something my children will remember.
16.  I have never been to Europe but I'd like to go.
17.  I don't make my bed every day.

It feels good to get that off my chest.  Thanks for listening.

Oh say can you see....my house burning down?

We had a groovy 4th of July.

It involved Marching Bands,

Bagpipes,

Mariachi Musicians,

and some thumpin' techno-dance bootie-shakin' stuff.

We totally horsed around.

We rubbed elbows with a bunch of crazy characters.

Headed home for dinner with great friends. Decorations ala kids!  Thanks Paper and Cake for the free download!

 Kid-made flag cake!  Delicious.

Apple pie ala me and mode!  Careful there, careful. This is a family-friendly blog and holiday.

Then we attempted to burn the house down.

God bless America!

BTW, a special thank you to all those men and women in the Armed Forces who keep us safe and allow us to continue to have our freedoms.  Even if the freedoms are the above list.  Here at the Hive, we respect and appreciate you.

Hope your day was fun.

Let Boredom Reign!

Let's see.  It's been how many days since school got out?  Approximately 12.  The weather here is still not super-summer-like.  That means we have been doing quite a bit of indoor play.  I do shove the bees outside but inevitably the wind kicks up and they are "cold" or it starts to rain and they complain that they are "wet."  Wussies!

With boredom beginning to take it's toll on us, let's just say my resistance is low.  I've let my guard down.  I am not the tower of strength and creativity I normal proclaim to be.  This is the conversation and sequence of events that may have snapped me back to reality.

Ladycakes:  "Hey mom, we are kinda of bored."

Me:  "mhmm."

Ladycakes: "You know how your said the boys need their hair cut?"

Me:  "mhmm."

Ladycakes:  "Can I do it?"

Me:  "mhmm."

A few minutes later, coming from Ladycakes's bathroom.   "BZZZZZZZZZZZZ."

As I wander in I find she has opened her own salon and 2 of my 3 children (thank God she isn't into cutting her own hair)  had already become customers.

I didn't know how to react.  This is my own damn fault.  But wait, she didn't do too badly.  

 

Turns out Mr. Handsome was kind of involved.  He started on Q's hair.  The problem with that is Mr. Handsome shakes when he cuts hair.  We have laughed about opening a kid's hair salon, where "Shakes the Clown" could cut their hair.  It would ruin children for life.  Ladycakes took over once she saw Mr. Handsome's handiwork.

Elvis is loving his mohawk.    I am tolerating it.  If anything, every time I look at him it reminds me I need to plan an activity for the day before any more damage is done.

So this morning when this conversation happened,

Q:  "Hey Mom, I'm kinda bored.  Can I take the car for a spin?"

Me:  "mhmmm."

Q:  "Thanks, see ya."

Me: "Wait, what?  Get back her Mister, go scoop some dog poop!  And get me another cup of coffee!"

Ahhh, summer.  I promise we will survive!