Summer Breakfast

During the school year I don't let my kids eat cereal for breakfast. I feel like they are starving just an hour later. So I try to make them healthier breakfasts. They think it is a treat to have cereal. I wasn't looking forward to them wanting cereal every morning, so I decided to let them take turns making breakfast in the mornings. I will let them look at pictures on Pinterest and decide what they want to make and we will make it together. They do the sides, set the table get everyone's water bottles and bless the food. THEY LOVE IT!!!! I don't think I have seen them so excited to help. Every one of them loves taking their turn. We usually don't eat until 9 or 9:30, so its a good think we have long lazy summer days:)

Here are some of our breakfasts.

Amazing Orange muffins with oranges and bacon

Chocolate pancakes with strawberries

Everyone enjoying Alissa's chocolate pancakes(Remi doesn't like chocolate, so Alissa made her a white one)

Chocolate muffin with pineapple and bacon

Raspberry buttermilk cake. We were babysitting 3 extra kiddos this morning, so we did paper plates.

Broden introduced our guests to crepes. They were good sports to try new foods:)

I love making things with my kiddos! I love it even more when they get so excited to do it. It really is the highlight of their morning. While I am helping with breakfast Remi and Broden do their piano, reading and write in their journals. Blake challenged them to write every day in their journals for the whole summer. So far they are doing great! They don't necessarily write every day, but they write about every day. Remi is getting to be a good writer. She writes in joined up writing, or cursive. She will usually write at least 2 pages per day and she is learning to make it descriptive and interesting. Broden is getting faster at writing. He is getting good at spelling the words he uses a lot too like breakfast, chores and dressed. We are working on finding new words besides and then, and then and then. He is starting to get the hang of it. I can't believe that if we were in the states he would have just finished kindergarden. There is no way Remi would have been writing full sentences in a journal describing her day. We love the schools here and are so proud of Remi and Broden and so excited for Alissa to start soon!

leftover muffins with parfaits.

Lemon poppyseed muffins, blueberries and eggs. The muffins were amazing!

Strawberry toaster stroodles, sausage and applesauce

Home made pastries with Strawberry, nutella and cinnamon and sugar filling. excuse the face paint from the birthday party the day before.

Donut muffin and eggs

Peak District National Park

The weekend after the 4th of July we headed up to the Peak District National Park. We went there at Christmas time and loved it, so we decided to go back when we could enjoy it with warm weather. We found the perfect place to camp. It was in a farmers field and we could walk and hike where we wanted. It is so pretty there. We camped right next to a little creek that had a rope swing. It was perfect weather and a fun trip!

Something interesting that happened. At one point on the hike, Blake took Remi, Broden and Alissa up a little trail to find a cave. Parker, Kelsi and I stayed by the water so Parker could just play. A group walked by and stopped near by to rest. One of the girls had on an EFY backpack. I asked her where she got it and we started talking. There were from a different stake and were there on a youth trip hiking. We said by and they went on their way. A little while later Broden had to go to the bathroom(#2) really bad, so I went ahead with Remi, Broden and Alissa. Blake was a little slower with Parker and his hurt knee. I saw this girl sitting on a log and remember thinking she looks kinda lost. I didn't think too much about it though and kept going to get Broden to the bathroom.

Eventually, Blake caught up with us and that girl was with him. He had seen her sitting there, about to cry and asked if she was ok. She said she wasn't. She didn't know which way her group went and didn't know where to find them. She was lost. Blake told her he would help her find her group. They walked fast to catch up with us, so it wouldn't be so awkward and scary for her. I started talking to her and found out she was with the same church group we had been talking to before. The girl with the EFY bag was her sister. I'm guessing Blake was an answer to her prayers that day. She was relieved to know we were LDS and even more relieved when we found her group!

The Stepping stones

Ropes course

Remi got to do a ropes course for Activity Days, so we told Broden he could do it another time with Dad. They had a blast! Broden wasn't scared at all and wizzed through it. Blake had a little bit of a harder time. I think it was kid size because Blake kept hitting his helmet on the rope above him, so he couldn't stand up straight. Makes it a little harder to balance. It was fun watching Broden he so brave. He was proud of himself.

 The rest of the kiddos played at the park while they waited. They have fun toys at this park.

Parker, Alissa and Makenzee(Remi's friend) who joined us.