July 4th

So I'm a little behind, I know. Better late than never, right? The annual Gregson family July 4th gathering was held at Rock Ford. I think we had a pretty good turn-out, not as big as it used to be, but still a good one.

The icy cold creek. Matt (perched on the rocks) looks like he's trying to decide whether or not he wants to get in.

The grown-ups who are too scaredy-cat to get in the freezing water. Ok, fine. I didn't get in either.

Miss Lauren and her watermelon.

Wading in the 'little water'.

I think she's ready to float down the river.

It's hard to believe this used to be us a few short years ago.

My four wet, tired, possibly hungry, and mad at me because it's time to go, chickens.

Lauren update

I figured I better take the time to write this down somewhere before I forget. Lauren has hit the 2's wide open, but aside from all the trouble she gets into, she's also saying lots of new things all the time.

A couple of days ago I was making scrambled eggs for breakfast. She pushed a chair up to the cabinet to watch what I was doing. She saw the uncooked eggs in the pan and said, "Ewwww, gross!". It didn't keep her from eating them though.

The same day, I heated up some leftover chicken pot pie that my mother-in-law sent home with us. Same thing, "Ewww, gross!", over and over again. Sorry, dear. I didn't mean to gross you out.

Later that evening, some peppy music came on on the show we were watching and she said, "Wow, awesome!".

And the one I think is the cutest: Yesterday she followed me into the bathroom like she always does. She's in the very early stages of being interested in potty-training and thinks she needs to flush the potty for whoever is using the potty. She jibber-jabbered something I didn't understand, but I did catch the word 'flush' in there. I asked her if she wanted to flush the potty and she said, "Yes, sir." LOL! I guess she picked that up from mom and dad having to correct the brothers all the time. At least someone around here is learning some manners!

And poor Jack . . . . she thinks he belongs to her, but I'm almost positive he has other ideas. He tolerates her pretty well, thankfully.

Cub Scout Day Camp

This past week we had the opportunity to go to day camp with our pack. This is the first time any of us---scouts and adults---had ever been to day camp. The theme this year was CSI: Cub Scout Investigations.

Here is the whole group minus those of us who were behind the cameras. We had a few Boy Scouts helping out. They did a great job teaching the cubs scouts songs and games.

Huddling up after playing tag football.

Learning to shoot BB guns.

Leather working.

Webelos learning CPR for their Readyman badge.

More tag football. (Same day. I'm just being lazy and didn't put the pictures in order.)

Todd and Zack learning a new song. I think this one was Baby Shark.

Zack planting his tomato seeds. He's not a cub scout yet, but he was able to go with us and do activities with the Wolves. They went to a local nursery on this day.

Here is Todd getting ready to drive the obstacle course wearing special goggles that impair your vision to simulate what things might look like if you're drunk.

Here's my pack on the last day of camp.

I didn't post all of the pictures because there are just too many. They had so many great activities---the drug dogs did a demonstration one day, a 911 operator came and talked to the boys, finger-printing and dusting for prints another day, and the Sheriff came one day. Ian and Todd camped out with the Webelos one night. I didn't get to go every day so I missed some of it, like archery, and I wish I had taken pictures of the drug dogs, but my camera was dying. I know they all had a great time and can't wait til next year.

Crazy week!

What a week it has been! If you're on Facebook with me then you know what we've been up to. Aside from all the usual craziness that goes on in our house, we've had 2 injuries, 2 trips to the ER, and countless moments of frustration because my lovely daughter gets into anything and everything she can possibly find to get into. I think everyone around here thinks I'm their personal maid.

First injury---Lauren's black eye. It's healing nicely. It's still pretty bruised but it's starting to change colors. I still don't know exactly what happened.

Second injury & ER trips---Matt's head. A wooden plaque fell off the wall and hit him on the head. He has a small gash that is trying to heal, but the child doesn't sit perfectly still all the time so he's had a couple of bumps that has caused it to bleed a little. One of those bumps was enough for a return trip to the ER.

I can't even list everything 'the girl' manages to get into in a day's time. I really don't remember the boys getting into the trouble that she gets into, or rather, making the nonstop messes that she makes. They've definitely had their moments, but this child gets into everything from squirting the handsoap in the bathroom all over the counter to emptying the Brita all over fridge and the floor. Every time I turn around she has managed to make another mess. It's insane! I'm insane. You may wonder where am I when she's making these messes? Why, cleaning up her previous mess, of course. I'm telling you, it's never ending.

Calgon . . . . . .

Giveaway!

Hi everyone! LDS author, Anne Bradshaw has a new giveaway going on over on her blog. Kersten Campbell, also an LDS author, is giving away a copy of her new book, Confessions of a Completely (In)Sane Mother. Go check it out!

Lauren's 2nd Birthday

I can't believe my girl is 2. Where did my little, tiny baby go? She finally has hair and almost all of her baby teeth. She just barely had her 1st tooth by her 1st birthday and hardly any hair. They change so fast, don't they?

Here's my nearly toothless baby tasting her 1st birthday cake last year.

And here she is at her birthday party this year. Where did the curls come from?

Chocolate cake! The girl loves chocolate. She gets that from me. :o) Don't tell her dad, though.

Ah, the presents. The boys were more excited about present opening time than she was.

But when she saw what was inside . . . . . well, have you ever seen a boy excited about clothes and shoes? She had to put them on, of course. Zack----her brother in waiting, or knight in shining armor, or something like that.

What more could a girl ask for? Clothes, shoes, and wheels. And she doesn't even have to pedal!

Camping with the Grandparents

The kids have gone camping with my parents every year since we moved back. Once the date is set, this is all they talk about for weeks leading up to the trip. Matt was so excited about the camping trip this year that he packed his backpack about a month early. This is also the first year they were able to camp in a camper instead of a tent. That was probably a good thing since it rained almost every day they were there.

Here are a few shots of the kids my dad sent me.

Todd---what can I say?

Matt climbing the rock wall at the playground.

Here's little miss Lauren already soaked from rain on the very first day of the camping trip. She didn't mind though. From what I hear, they spent a lot of time playing in water puddles.

I'm not sure who's having more fun here. Looks like Matt had a little wreck in the background.

My little fishermen. They wanted so badly to catch something but didn't have any luck because of all the rain.