Aspen Grove Family Camp

Have you heard of Aspen Grove Family Camp?  My family is kind of obsessed with it.  BYU runs a sleep away camp in the mountains next to Sundance.  How it works is your family signs up by going to this website:  Aspen Grove Family Camp and then you all show up on Saturday for your week of glorious glorious fun.  I was a huge skeptic, bigger than you are right now, I promise.  The first year they went my response was “Why would anyone willingly go to Utah on vacation when you could go to a beach or somewhere exotic?” and I boycotted saying it was the stupidest idea I’d ever heard.

Cougar Convert

But then they came back regalling me with reports of meals you don’t cook nor clean and kids happily spending the entire day not touching you at all!  The second year I went and I was sold.  This year I looked forward to Aspen Grove Family Camp (you have to say the whole thing, it’s the cool thing to do) for months.

Here’s what happens at Aspen Grove Family Camp.  Each family gets a suite: a living room (with a foldout), a kid’s bunkbed room and a queen size bed and a bathroom.  Sleeps about 6, or more if you’re crafty.  The rooms are all joined to a main living area where we all hung out.  There’s a cafeteria that serves good food three times a day at scheduled times.  You just herd in there and gorge on Americana food and then leave. After breakfast the kids meet with their groups and counselors.  They run there happily because it’s so much fun, EVEN THE TEENAGERS.  The high schoolers are not too cool for school at Aspen Grove Family Camp. The youngest kids they take are 4 or 6 months.  Each group has their own schedule and the kids stay in them until they break for about an hour for lunch.  In their groups they go on hikes, do nature things, do the ropes course and climbing wall, do arts and crafts, play games, go swimming, learn songs, etc.  The babies have a nap room.  The kids stay in their groups all afternoon, then we meet them for dinner.  After dinner there are family activities: outdoor game nights run by the counselors, family contests, dances.  It’s all day fun.

I wish I had taken a picture of all of us dropping off our kids at their fun groups as we dance away clicking our heels.  It was delightful!

Aspen Follies Family Activity.  They plug the holes in the trash can with their fingers while trying to fill it up with water.

What do the adults do while their kids are in the slammer having the time of their lives?  Having the time of OUR lives.  We chat with each other.  We play paintball to the death.  We NAP a lot.  We read books.  We throw pottery.  We stare into the middle distance.  We go on hikes.  We even take one day to leave camp without any children and go shopping. We actually get to talk to each other.  And shoot each other with guns.

BIL Carl, BIL Mark, My mother (she did not wimp out!), sister Ellie, Me, dad (who got shot in the head) sister Val, SIL Aubrey

There are a few religious things that happen at camp, but they’re not heavy handed about religion which I appreciated.  John Bytheway came and spoke on Sunday night, which was pretty cool.  You don’t have to be LDS to attend, you just need someone in your family to be an alumni of BYU.  You can also have guests come and hang out for the day and participate in the fun.  Hush and Niya came, we played some epic Reverse Charades.

 

Celia’s wonky pot

Aspen Grove Family Camp is fabulous.  You should go with your family, make them do a family reunion there.  Aspen Grove Family Camp should pay me for my glowing review.  If you go and you don’t like it I shall eat my hat.

 

Cousins swinging at camp

Me and the minions (Mimi 6, Jude nearly 5, Silas 3 1/2)

 

Group performances on the stage

 

Jim’s Proof of Heaven with an Ellie photobomb

 

Me and SIL Aub doing the Camille pose, in honor of my little sister who could not attend

 

All the cousins practicing for the family talent show

 

Craftin

 

Braggy story: I was voted MVP of Paintballing AND recruited to be on a team with my BILs (one of whom is an Army vet) to play against three big stranger dudes from another family.  I was the bravest and went for the flag every time.  We mopped the floor with them because I would run for it amid a shower of paintballs while they covered me.

 

Battle wound.  It expanded even more after this and lasted two weeks.

 

Kids doing family talent show.  They sang “Modern Major General”.  This was Silas’ and Jude’s first time on stage and they were champs!  Better than I did at age 3 and 4.

 

Facepainting with my “best friend” Ellie.

 

Aubrey charmingly presenting her offering

 

Jude catching his first fish with Grandpa!  I helped him with the bait and taught him how to use the pole, but Grandpa had to interact with the fish once caught.  I’m so grateful I have the opportunity to teach my kids things, this was a very special activity for me to see Jude jump with surprise and joy.

 

Aspen Grove Family Camp has a strict you-catch-it-you-eat-it rule.  You bring it to the kitchen and they fry it up for breakfast the following morning.  It is a learning experience, for sure.

Sylvie and Jude are exactly two months apart and they are serious buddies.  They would sit at the table and chat with each other giggling for an hour.

And then they would beat the crap out of each other. 

Silas loved shooting guns.  “Again! Again!”

 

On our day off my sisters came up to SLC to check out my new house.  This is our cheesy woman portrait, gazing off into the distance.  Except Paige.  Val (6) Aubrey (SIL) Paige (2) Celia (1) Ellie (4) Mom, Me (5) not pictured: Camille (8) and brothers Phil (7) and Nate (3)

 

Sunset Jesus because my turquoise Jesus broke.

At the pool.

Happy family. 

Patrick Park – Something Pretty

This is America. ‘Course I’m Free.

We spent the fourth in Dville at the annual cutthroat family baseball game.  It was stinking hot. 

Silas (age 3) had his first real by himself ups. 

 

We also celebrated Jude’s 5th birthday on the 4th.  His real birthday is in August but we won’t have our friends and family around so we celebrated early as a double header.  He thought the parade, party and baseball game were all in honor of him.  I pre-bought all of his presents, wrapped them, then handed them out to everybody at the party to give to him.  He marched around the backyard collecting his gifts excitedly.  It was a party success!

 

The party and game were fun, but my highlight came at 10:30 at night.

After baseball my friend J was kind enough to take Mimi to see the fireworks.  Upon arrival home at about 10:30 she crawled into snuggle me and bed and I started singing to her:

“She’s a good girl, loves her mama

Loves Jesus and America, too.

She’s a good girl, crazy about Elvis

Loves horses and her [sic] brothers too.”

 

Mimi stops me and says, “Mama, that’s not a real song.  You just made that up about me and the things I like.”

She wasn’t convinced it was actually a song until I played it for her.  After she heard it she said, “All right, it’s a song.  But Brown Eyed Girl is about me.”

Summer at the Commune

I have a file of scattered unrelated pictures on my photostream that I want memorialized as part of our blog history.  Here we go.

Hanging out on the couch at the Commune.  Niya’s been staying with us for a few weeks as she transitions between apartments.  We call my house the Commune because people are coming and going and hanging out and playing music and swinging in the hammock most of the time.  There’s food and good company and I love my house.  Come on by!  You’re welcome!

Having your BFF around all the time is awesome because she supports my weird fashion choices and demands that I document them.  I love having people to dress up for who encourage rather than simply tolerate my outfit choices.  Fashion is fun.

Spreading the love of Shave Ice with my bud Anne.  We grew up in the same town, now she let’s me come to her fabulous community pool and makes the most delicious cookies. 

Makin’ projects.  I’ve been making punked-out vests for whomever wants them.  She’s crafty (she gets around!) she’s crafty! (she’s always down).  There’s your Beasties, NC. 

Another outfit shot.  Let me be clear here – this is not an attempt at vanity and I am not nor would ever would be a model because I am supremely uncomfortable in front of the camera.  I document my outfits because getting dressed every morning is like putting a piece of performance art together and it’s fun to remember how I paired things up because I never wear the same combination twice.  And I post them because I think you’ll be amused. 

   

‘Tis the season of Barbecues!  Since I’ve been in SLC we’ve had three or four barbecues.  I love having people around and feeding them.  I like being invited to things so I also like inviting people to my house to hang out.  I’ve gotten to know some amazing people already!  And sometimes there’s impromptu hippie dancing and it makes me so happy! Thanks to Hush, he mans the BBQ in the scorching heat.  He’s the party supporter and gets little acknowledgement for all the work he does, I appreciate it.

Mimi, Jude and Silas LOVE having barbecues with all of my adult friends.  Sometimes there are kids, but we always need more around.  Nonetheless I am always SO PROUD of how my kids interact with adults and what they’re learning from being included.  They are getting to know happy, interesting, not-too-cool-for-school people who play music, many of whom go to church, and all of whom are very kind to them.  They feel special.

The guys got the three kids going like spokes for a minute.

My parents entertained a lot when I was a child and it played a big part in my social development.  My mother is the hostess of all hostesses and I love carrying on that tradition.  We’re party people. 

 

Hiding in Hush’s hammock.  They look like Killroy to me in this.

Summer with garments (LDS/Mormon special underwear that covers shoulders all the way to knees) is always a fashion challenge.  It’s so damn hot.  How to be modest and reasonably cool?  I layer dresses with cut off t-shirts sometimes.  I’m still hot.

 

My kids love sushi and I love taking them.  Jude and Mimi in particular like Ikura – salmon roe. Jude orders it by the spoonful and he eats while I gag.

Tada!  I painted this.  It was a commission for a family of nurses.  So happy with the way it turned out and that they like it and understand it.

We’re an animal family.  Jude and Si have tiger pants, Mimi has zebra and I have cheetah.  Should I be embarrassed that we coordinate?  Because I’m not.  I like it.

 

I love that these kids are capable and interested in cleaning the floor.  They fight over the mop.

Some of the only welcome children at Savory Sunday.  Our friend Jory throws these events once a month and I’m special so my kids can come.  Also Niya’s sister Poeina was performing so it was a dance party.

Fireworks and more kids at another fun barbecue.

And finally, the day of the kitten.  I bribed the children to move to SLC by offering them a dog when we get there.  We went to the pound ostensibly to pick one out but the kids were (happily) too scared of all the barking.  Then they spotted the sweetest little kitten and asked to adopt it.  I struck while the iron was hot and now we are the proud owners of a sweet little kitten.

Remember Books?

I used to read books.  I used to be able to read books.  I quite enjoyed reading books.

I am a book failure these days, but I refuse to blame myself.  It’s the world’s fault that I am becoming less of a bibliophile.  I hate it, but it simply is not my fault.  Look at you – you’re as guilty as I am.  Sitting there reading online.  For shame!

My degree is in English Literature and when I’m working I teach College Level Reading and Writing (cue panic by me: have I made any grammatical errors thus far?  No? Good, the state of American Education is okay).  This means I try to get my students to grab a book and read it cover to cover, left side of the page to right, top to bottom, page by page. For me this has become a nearly impossible task.  I have entered into a terrifying phase of illiteracy.

Same book for about a month?!  Good thing it’s a reread and my absolute favorite book of all time.

IT ISN’T MY FAULT!

The internet has changed the way our brains approach text.  We have become accustomed to approaching text differently simply because of layout, layout that is obviously not consistent through the cyber world.  We look directly at a page and float our eyes around to decipher what is the most important information on the page and WHERE to begin.  So now when I pick up a book my brain gets a little bit tired.  So many words!  Nothing highlighted! All one color!  No pictures (wow, that’s really embarrassing)! My eyes go directly to the paragraph breaks and I get distracted and overwhelmed without even being aware of it happening.  My brain has become a lazy reader without my permission.

My lifestyle has changed so that I cannot acclimate to books quickly enough to make reading them worth it.  When I’m sedentary (which is RARE) I’m only allowed personal thought/brain time for seconds at a time.  Supervising my children swimming seems like the perfect opportunity to push my way through a good book, even a fast read.  My kids are water safe enough that I should be able to commit to getting through a page at least before reengaging with them.  NOPE.  I can’t even get through a paragraph because the acclimation causes me reading lag time, even if it is milliseconds.  I lose my place, I read the same paragraph three times retaining nothing.  After ten minutes of attempting to read while observing my children I give up and toss my book aside.

Where does a book fit into this picture of me and Circe? People would drown!

Enter my beloved iPhone.  All hail the glorious smart phones!  Abandoning my gigantic book I can text, scan my boring facebook newsfeed, pin fabulous things to pinterest all while watching my minions with one eye.  Sorry book, you’ve been trumped.  It’s just too easy.

Alright, so that leaves reading time for right before bed.  I can probably do about 30 mins to an hour of reading before bed.  But my book and I are already in a fight!  Forget it, book!  Quit oppressing me!  I’m going to listen to the scriptures be read to me on LDS Channel while looking at pinterest and Instagram.  So there!  Take that, literacy!

Oy, the guilt.  The shame.  The stack of half read books on my bedside table.  The thrashing of books I drag around hopefully for weeks thinking I might be able to sink my teeth into them for more than 30 seconds.  They lay as sad monuments to my tragic decline of reading.

 

This actually happened and it’s so rare I took a picture.  Also, it was at Aspen Grove Family Camp so all of my kids were happy in their little camp classes and I read to my heart’s content.  Also, the internet didn’t work.

Ugh.  I need to go off the grid.  I’ll put that on my To-Do List.  Which is on my iPhone.

 Hush “reading” one of my required reading if you’re going to be my friend books.

 

It’s not all bad though.  Audible is my secret weapon.  I am in love with listening to books on my headphones; currently I’m “reading” Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. 

Benefits: can listen while my hands are busy, get all my jobs done while fully entertained, never have to remember where I left off. 

Drawbacks: people keep talking to me, I can’t actually hold nor smell the book, I have to take notes of amazing quotes by remembering and writing them quickly on my phone, the books cost one million dollars, I can’t put the book in my bookcase to show off how smarty-smart I am.

This is the best piece of fiction I’ve read in years and the audible guy narrating it is the best reader I’ve ever heard.  I am in love with Eugenides prose (though admittedly the story can be a little intense some times).  He is a Eugenius.  Middlesex is the name of the street the family lives on, it’s a multigenerational American story about an amazing Greek family I wish I belonged to.

 

 

(Note: I just ended this whole post about literacy with a sentence that ended in a preposition.  I disgust myself.)