End of Summer Fun

By the time all the kids' camps were done, summer was just about over.  The boys started marching band the very next week-- practicing from noon until 9pm for the first week, and then from 6pm-9pm the second!  (And yes, for those of you who are really paying close attention, Colton has joined the marching band even though he's still in middle school!  So that's pretty cool!)

The youth also had a temple trip, which Craig tagged along for, since they can always use our van!

Look at this great group of kids!  l-r: Ryder, Truman, Jason, Gideon, Colton, Topher, Lydia, Ember, Madeline, Marianne, Kendra, McKinley

And then the next day, Wendy and I did a special temple trip with just Kendra and McKinley (which was why I was happy to let Craig go the day before, even though it really should have been my turn)!

I should have taken a picture before we did baptisms and all had wet hair!

Afterwards, we got dinner at Wong's Tacos, a very fun Asian-Mexican fusion restaurant, followed by ice cream from Blue Cow.  It doesn't get much better than that!

And then the next day, I finally remembered to take a picture of my three kids all in braces

because right after that, Camille got her braces off!!!!

Look at those straight teeth!

I'd be more excited, but I'm afraid they're just going to want to put them back on in a few years.  Modern orthodontics just feels like a big scam to me...

Anyway, we had a lovely day spent at the beach at Lake Monticello with our friends the Huffs and the Knuths (that's two all-boy families in our ward!).  I didn't take any pictures, but Megan took this very fun video of the kids all racing into the water.  I cannot stop laughing at little Murphy trailing behind everyone-- it's so hard being the youngest!!!

They had a preview night for parents to see what the marching band had been working on.  I took a short video, and here are a couple (admittedly rather terrible) pictures from before they'd started:

Colton on the keyboard!

Ryder all ready with his trombone!

Craig had taken the girls camping that night.  Usually he just takes them on his own, but this time the ward had organized a father-daughter campout.  So that's cool!  Yay, feminism!

Who doesn't love a colorful fire?!

Camille enjoying a "wolf-em"-- this is where you cook pie crust wrapped around a wooden mold, and then fill it with pie filling?  I guess?

Looks like a delicious breakfast!

There's the whole group in the morning-- Smiths, Woolstenhulmes, Hardys, Hughes, Oviatts, and Stoners!  (The Sorensens were there at night-- I'd be willing to bet money that McKinley was responsible for the fire!-- but went home to sleep in their beds)

And then they spent the morning and most of the afternoon climbing around Devil's Marbleyard (a place I STILL haven't been to!)-- they seem to have had a great time!!!

And then Sydney and Beth's grandma (Yaya) took Colton and Camille to walk along Rivervew Park and get popsicles before school started, so that was lovely of her!

The river was too shallow to actually jump into, but they had fun with the rope swing anyway!