Spencer Clan!: 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!