Paxman Camping (Part 1)!!

This year my parents decided to rent a cabin. They tried a lot of places but decided to do one close to home so most people could come. So they rented a cabin out in Mt. View. We called it our staycation!! ha ha! Anyways, we went in on Sunday, July 27th till Thursday.

So after church we packed things up and got ready to go. Richard came up with us for the afternoon and evening. Then he got a ride back with David and Jill. We got there at about 3:30pm. Got things set up and figured out where we were sitting. We just hung out for the afternoon and had our Sunday dinner, and had fun visiting and playing games. It was super hot out. The kids had a blast exploring the property and found some kitties to play with. That entertained them for a long time!

After Richard and the others took off, I got my kids ready for bed. The girls really wanted to sleep in the tent with their cousins, Anna, Cassie and Bella. So I said they could try it. Well hours later and many trips out to tell them to be quiet, Brianna, Anna, Bella and Cadence all ended up inside the cabin. Cassie and Abbi went to sleep. But then around midnight Bella decided to go out (don't ask me....I wasn't very happy about what happened), and she jumped right on top of them and woke both up. By that time I was done, so I got Abbi and brought her inside. She wasn't very happy, but I told her it wasn't her fault, I just really wanted her to have a good sleep and it wasn't happening out in the tent. Then we all fell asleep. I was so tired. My mom was sleeping in the bed beside me (we were up in the loft). I was just dozing off when I had a feeling somebody was moving, so I opened my eyes. Well Cadence's face was right in front of mine, I screamed and about had a heart attack. Seriously scared me to death. I, in turn, scared my mom to death! We had a good laugh about it the next morning.

We woke up Monday morning and Cam and Kim made us a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. It was yummy! The kids just ran around and played outside. Us adults played a few games. It was just fun to relax and enjoy ourselves. Then we made some lunch and all ate a simple lunch of sandwiches!

We all got ready to go, we were going to Stewart's to go down the river. My kids were all a little nervous and excited. They've never been rafting before. It was so HOT out, so it was the perfect day to do it. We got to the farm and everyone got lifejackets. The kids were so excited. We were ready to go!

My cute kids with their cousins, Anna, Cassie and Bella! They are all ready to go!

We had to drive to the drop off point. We all squished into two trucks. The kids thought it was exciting to ride in the back of the truck! Ha ha! We got to the river and figured out who was going in what raft. We were all helping to get the rafts and kayaks to the water.

My four cute kids ready to try out rafting.

Away we went! The river was a bit high and moving fast. It made my kids very nervous, but then they realized that we were safe. Then they started having so much fun. There was lots of splashing and laughing. DJ was making it into a race and always wanted us to pass the other two rafts! I even jumped out at one point to cool down and float beside the raft. Cadence was brave enough to jump in with me!

Keira wasn't too sure about this whole rafting idea!! ha ha!

Here's our raft! Steve was our awesome guide!

My kids were then asked by others if they wanted to try a duckie or kayak. So Cadence was the first brave one to get into a duckie with her Grandma Paxman. Then my other kids decided that it would be ok to go too. Brianna stayed in the raft with me!

Cadence and Grandma Paxman in a duckie!

There's Abbi and Aunt Stacey in a Kayak and DJ is with Lynda Stewart (Steve's mom) in a kayak!

There's the other raft that Chase was guiding down the river!

We then all stopped at the half way point. This is where people could go body surfing if they wanted too. You swim out and then lay on your back and go shooting through the rapids!! ha ha! It's actually a lot of fun. Surprisingly all my kids gave it a try and actually really enjoyed it! Good thing for cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Uncle Steve grabbed DJ's hand and said, "Let's go DJ!", and away they went. DJ loved it!! He always has a hard time with new things, so I was a little bit surprised. All my girls went with their older cousins. I helped catch them at the end! So fun!

Walking over to the spot to go body surfing.

Here comes Chase with two of my girls. I believe it's Brianna and Abbi!

Here comes DJ with his Uncle Steve.

DJ even made it through with his hat on!

Mikah, Uncle Steve and DJ! DJ was all smiles!

Everyone standing in the sun trying to get warm and watching others body surf!

DJ was having so much fun in the water!

Abbi caught a frog and had to show everyone!

After all the body surfing we were ready to go again. None of my kids wanted to come in the raft with me. They all went with others on the kayaks. This time Uncle Brent took DJ! DJ kept saying it was a race and was having a blast! My girls went with their cousins!

DJ and Uncle Brent ready to go in their kayak!

Chase with Grandma and his mom, Stacey!!

There goes everyone!

We went down a little ways and decided to stop again. There was a little swimming hole and mud hole that the kids had so much fun in! All the kids were covered in the slimy mud, then they would jump into the water!! So much fun!

Cute picture of Brent holding hands with DJ and his daughter, Keira! So cute!

Walking over to the big mud hole!

Everyone playing in the mud!

Look at all those cute, dirty kids!! ha ha!

It was a super fun day to go rafting. Thanks to the Stewart's for making it possible. My kids still talk about it. We will have to do it again next year. So fun! All my kids were pretty tired after rafting. We hurried into Cardston so I could get them a slurpee. But DJ had already fallen asleep. Crazy kid, I woke him up and he was not happy! But then he was fine, once I got him his slurpee!!

We had a birthday dinner for Brent and Jill. It was Brent's birthday and Jill's was the day before. We had humburgers and hot dogs. Richard surprised us and pulled up on his motorbike. We were all excited to see him. It was a fun and tiring day!

The kids playing badminton!

 

Cool evening picture of the Old Chief. This was our view. So pretty!

Richard, Brent and Kim sitting around the campfire!

Pitcher Get Together!

On the weekend of Magrath Days Richard was busy working on the house.....as he does every weekend. I had heard about the kid rodeo that started on Friday at 12pm. So after lunch we went over to the Magrath Ag Society. We got there just in time to watch some kids ride the sheep. My kids thought that was so funny.

Then they called all the kids from 3-5 years old to come into the arena to chase a chicken. DJ was so excited and he went down with his friend, Wake. It was so funny to watch. At one point DJ was right behind the chicken. Then Dallin Cutler caught it. So fun to watch.

DJ is the tall red head kid!! ha ha! They are waiting for the chicken to be released.

Here's the end of the race, with Dallin showing us the chicken!

Then it was the girls turn to go down and chase it. Again, hilarious to watch. There were so many kids. They chased it everywhere and then someone caught it. We were all laughing, so funny!!

Then they had more kids ride the sheep. They were calling for more riders. I turned to DJ and asked if he wanted to go ride. I told him he was big enough that he could wrap his legs around the sheep and hold on tight. He thought about it and said no. Then we watched a boy come flying out of the chute on the sheep. He had his legs wrapped around and was hanging on. Well he was slowly going sideways and was almost right underneath the sheep. He then let go and the sheep stepped right on him. The poor kid, felt so bad for him. He tried standing, but couldn't. His dad ran out to carry him out. DJ then turned to me and said, "That's why I not ride mom. I don't want to get stepped on." How can I argue with that!! So funny!!

Then they told kids to get into groups of 5 for the chuck wagon races. So my 4 kids and Wake decided to be a team. They had Wake sit on the sled and my 4 kids pulled him around. They had a blast. It was fun to watch. It was a fun afternoon!

My four cute kids being the horses and pulling Wake in the sled!

Here are all five of them showing off their ribbons they got!

Then on Saturday morning we got a few things done and then went to the Parade. I didn't get any pictures, but the kids sure had fun watching. Again they got so much candy. It was a little crazy at how much candy they got.

We came back and had some lunch. Then I made something for Richard and Justin and we took it out to them. It was a hot day. The kids really wanted to go to the Fair. So after going to the farm we went into Magrath to the Fair.

Of course, the first thing we had to go to was the petting zoo. Even though my kids are getting older, they still love petting all the animals. This year they wouldn't let kids hold the bunnies. But they could reach in and pet them. That was a smart move. The kids were always fighting over whose turn it was to hold the bunnies next.

Brianna and Cadence with the sheep, and DJ and Abbi are behind them petting the black sheep.

Petting the black sheep.

DJ loved the bunnies!

Then we walked over to the lawn mower races. We always love watching the races. It's always very entertaining. DJ loves to pick out his favorite! We were able to watch most of the races and then they started doing their crazy stunts on their mowers! So fun!

Watching the crazy lawn mower races!

This was DJ's favorite racer!

Then the kids wanted to go stand in line for the bouncy house obstacle course. Abbi really wanted to do the ball bubble thing. It's where they are inside it and can run around and hit people. So I stayed with Abbi to help her with that. She lasted all of 60 seconds! It kind of freaked her out. She did hit one person and she rolled around and was done! Ha ha! Then we went and found the others, who were just going through the obstacle course. They wanted to do it again, so Abbi could have a turn, so we went to stand in line again. That's when DJ went a little crazy and was having an absolute fit. Drive me crazy. They finally went through and I was done. So we got in the vehicle and drove into Lethbridge. The day before I took the kids and Cadence and DJ were able to pick out some new bikes. They were super excited. We went and picked them up Saturday afternoon.

Oh I should mention that on Friday after we bought the bikes, we drove over to visit my Grandpa Pitcher in his new place. He lives on the west side now in one of those fancy old folks place. He has his own apartment, but they also provide meals down in the dining room. I know he was excited about that. So we went to say hi. He decided to take us on a tour. So we came out of his room and he locked his door and turned his chair and said, "On your marks get set go, I'll race you." All my kids stared at him and he zoomed off! So funny, the looks on my kids faces was priceless!! So they raced him down the hall. He took us down to the parking garage and they raced all over the place! So funny! Love my Grandpa!


Racing Great Grandpa down in the parking garage.

Just before Grandpa said, "GO" and took off down the hallway!

Love my Grandpa Pitcher! He's the best!

After we picked up the bikes we drove out to my parents house. They were having a impromptu Pitcher get together. Uncle Dave had come up with his family. They were helping Grandpa fix up some things in his house so it will be ready to sell. Steve and Stacey were there too. So fun to see them. Anyways, we had supper and it was so fun to visit with everyone. We were missing Aunt Linda and all of her family and a few others. But a lot made it. So we got a big family picture taken! Richard wasn't there either. He was busy working on the house! Love him!

Here's most of the Pitcher Clan!!

Kids having fun playing on the playground.

Hanging out and playing and visiting. So fun!

Swimming In The Creek!

Lisa and Brian came down in the middle of July. Brian went out and spent all day Saturday helping Richard and Justin work on the house. I need to do a post on our house too. That will be coming! Anyways, Lisa came to the trailer and hung out with the kids and me!

The guys putting the floor trusses on.

When we went to pick them up. The kids were having a blast running around on the bales. They were running around and started to play hide and seek on them! It's fun to watch them play in the hay! I remember doing that way back when!! ha ha!!

Everyone running around on the bales!

My attempt at getting everyone in the picture!!

Then we came back to the trailer and the kids played everywhere. Then we made a fire and roasted wieners and had smores for dessert. Easy lunch and everyone eats good! Then I went and got some subs for the guys working on the house and we all went out to the farm.

Oh, I should mention, that the night before I took DJ and Abbi for a ride on the quad around the farm. We had fun exploring and checking out the creek. We were trying to decided where we would go play in the creek. We found a good spot!

Abbi and DJ checking out the spot on the creek we thought would be perfect for swimming.

DJ in the tall grass!

Cool picture of DJ and Abbi with the creek behind them!

So after we took lunch to the guys, we just went down to the creek with all the kids. We took a bunch of tubes and boards for the kids to float on. We set up our chairs and had fun watching the kids play in the water. They would float down a little and then walk back up the creek. Then float down again. We didn't want them to go where we couldn't see them. My kids had a blast playing in the creek. Lisa's kids weren't quite as sure about it! Ha ha! They kept insisting that we go to the swimming pool. So we played in the creek for about an hour then went to the swimming pool and played there for a bit. It worked out perfect, because I was able to shower my kids and do their hair. Perfect!! Ha ha!

Jasmine and Cadence trying to both float on the dolphin!

They did it!

Brianna and Spencer trying to decide if they are going in!

Abbi and DJ floating with Seth trying to behind them.

Seth floating down the creek!

Jasmine went under!!

Cadence floating down the creek!

Everyone having fun in the water.

Brianna floating on the dolphin!

Cadence trying to go on her tummy! We were all laughing!



Relaxing on the chairs and having snacks! Spencer was sitting on the quad in the back!

It was a fun day with cousins and the guys were able to get the floor tresses all done. Yeah! So happy! So thankful for such a hard working husband and all that he has been doing to build this house. Plus we've had lots of help from his brother, Justin and a lot of other family members!