Fishing Strawberry with Grandpa

This was Q's first day out on Grandpa's boat at Strawberry.  She and Wilbur made friendly wagers before we launched on who would catch the biggest, and most fish.  BS told Wilbur he had two facts going against him.  The first, Q is a girl, and girls always have the best luck fishing.  Second, it was her first real fishing trip, and she would have beginner's luck on her side.  After 15 minutes, Q would catch the King of the Pond, winning bet one.  BS spent the entire day netting and releasing Q's and Wilbur's fish.  Grandpa was just happy to have a boat full of company to share stories about the "Strawberry Monster, and the famous Strawberry "Clark Camp".  Although Q ended up catching the most and biggest fish, the highlight for her was feeding cheese puffs to the swarm of seagulls flying a few feet above our heads.  Wilbur's highlight was taking a $5 bill from grandpa for catching the most rainbows.  BS's highlight was sharing his favorite things with 3 generations of Clarks.

 Awesome kids ready to launch

Guessed who picked this fishing outfit? 

 Loving it, and of course grandpa has his eyes closed

 Q reeling in the King of the Pond

 Dracula teeth made with Bugles. Quincy learned a new trick from Grandpa

 Wilbur landing his big dog AKA "Second Place"

Fishing Deer Creek with Grandpa Jim

These boys do love to go fishing with Grandpa!

They were extra stoked this time because they caught a Walleye!

A Nice Day

We try to spend as many free summer days as we can at ECR, but it's never enough.

I took my bike and rode solo up to Snowbasin.  It is quite a climb, but it was so nice because it was cloudy and not so hot. It started to rain just as I reached the lodge.  I took some time to enjoy the rain and some rare time to myself.  But then it rained all the way back down to Mountain Green.

I made it!

 When I got back the kids were fishing in the pond.  I helped Will's friend Maddux catch his first fish.

 My boys think it's so funny that I know how to set up fishing lines, bait the hook, catch a fish, let it go, or gut it :)

 

And of course, the usual 4 wheeling and motorcycling.

It's so great that we can bring friends up here and they can just be kids in the outdoors. Explore and do whatever they want and just be kids.

What a nice day!

Tom boy and Memorial Day weekend

We spent Memorial day weekend at the cabin.  These days whenever we have a free day or two, it's a no brainer: we go to the cabin!

We did the usual, including lots of fishing, motorcycling, and 4-wheeling.

The boys brought their buddy Trevin along and he got completely hooked on fishing! 

On Sunday we visited my Grandpa's and Grandma's graves.  And of course that involved trimming the grass around the headstones, leaving some flowers, and talking about our memories of them.  I really miss them and feel really lucky to have been close to them.  Especially my Grandma Violet.

And then it was back to the cabin.

We should have named Quincy after her Grandpa Tom.  As in Tom boy.

She is not into girly things, and the more rough and tough she can be...the better.  

She loves going fishing and here she is hanging out with the boys while they gut the fish:

And here she is riding with the boys.  And believe me, she can keep up with them!

{I made the helmets come off for picture purposes}

And we just went to Lagoon, and while the other little girls were together on the kiddie rides...here is Quincy riding Wicked and The Colossus!  What a brave girl!

And here she is at her friend's birthday party.  They went to a salon to get their hair and nails done. While the other girls wanted curls and Princess hair-dos,

all Quincy wanted was her hair pulled back into 2 braids.  

But look how cute she is!  And she even wore a fancy skirt for the occasion {because Mom insisted}.  And she does love having her nails painted :)

How I adore this little girl - the perfect mix of sugar and spice...and snails and puppy dog tails!

Fishing Strawberry

Summer and Strawberry are a few of the things we love most!  It also never hurts to have grandpa Jim piloting the Sea Nymph either.  As you can see from the scale, Wilbur landed the big fish of the day.  The boys are the lucky charms, as every time we go Grandpa, and both boys seem to get fish on at the same time.  As always, BS spent his afternoon setting lines, and netting fish.
{BS}

Spring Break at East Canyon Retreat

Sambo on his new bike.  The boys were getting some "big air" on the jump :)  Of course, loading 10 kids on the 4-wheeler is always a favorite!  And Millie spent hours on the motorcycle and 4-wheeler.  So fun.

 Last month we got to take 5 whole days off from school for Spring break!

It started the day after Easter, so we were already up at the cabin.  The plan was to spend a couple of days up there while BS worked, then we were going to go down St. George or maybe even Lake Powell (and stay on the slip). 

Well, after 2 days the kids didn't want to go anywhere - they wanted to stay put right there at the cabin!  Two days later I asked them what they wanted to do and they STILL wanted to stay at the cabin.  We offered to take the kids to town to do some fun activities but they took a pass.

Among other things, we rode motorcycles and 4-wheelers, caught lots of fish, flew kites, played games, jumped on the tramp, went exploring, went panning for gold, watched movies, played the Wii, practiced baseball in the field, and had fun with cousins!  For me, it was fabulous because I could spend all week with my Mom and Sister while the kids played all day.  Even Millie was as content as could be - not worrying about what her friends were doing.  BS came up Wednesday night and spent the rest of the week as well. 

One day, the boys went skiing with their friends the Oakley boys while the girls went shopping at City Creek.  Seriously, the week couldn't have been better.  It was easy and it was fun and it was relaxing.  Just what we needed.  We usually go out of town for Spring break but this year, going to the cabin was the right move for us.  Heck, the cabin is a vacation!  I am convinced this place has been the best thing for our family, both growing up and now.

The weather cooperated for the most part.  A couple of rainy days.  But finally, a perfect sunny and breezy day.
 Flying kites was a blast!

Catching lots of fish!  Mostly Rainbows, but we did catch 1 Brown trout.  Cousin Cole caught the biggest...it was GIANT!  Chops just sat for hours on the banks and watched the fish swimming around.

I managed to get a bike ride in.  This is in the morning at East Canyon.  I have missed this.

 Will was determined, once again, to find some gold.  He brought his pan and pick.  BS took the kids up the creek a bit and they searched...but no gold.  Better luck next time!

EASTER 2012

Easter was fantastic!  I've been busy getting ready for our trip to Hawaii (among a bagillion other things) so I took the easy way out and posted pictures on a Smilebox.  We spent the weekend at the cabin and the weather was gorgeous.  The previous weekend was General Conference so we spent Saturday night at Grandpa Judy's and celebrated Easter on Sunday with all of the Clarks.  Saturday night the guys went to Priesthood session at the Marriott Center while the women and children went to Chuck E Cheese, one of Grandma's traditions with the grandkids.
On Sunday Grandpa Judy held a fabulous Easter egg hunt with tons of eggs and luckily the weather cooperated enough that we could have it outside.  It was April Fool's day and she played a little trick on the kids by putting the little poo things from grass aeration in some of the eggs.  Of course Wilbur was the one to find the most of those!  That kids always seems to have unfortunate things happen to him :)  I really wish I had my camera at Grandpa Judy's but I for got it.  I took some with her camera that I  need to get.
Anyway, here are pictures from Easter at the cabin:

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PS: Happy 16th Anniversary to us! Aloha!