Aaron and I took the kids to Bagby Hot Springs, which are just a couple of hours away from us. It's a little over a mile to hike in to them, but it wasn't too strenuous and was very pretty.

We got there early enough to get the big tub. The kids had a blast!

We spent so much time there the kids got pretty wrinkly!

It turns out the Arwen is our little fish. She learned to swim this summer with all the playing we did in pools and rivers.

Larkin was pretty afraid of the water at the beginning of summer. (I think it was because Aaron dunked her when she had a cold because from that time forward she would just CLING to me when we got anywhere near water.)

Wrinkly old man hands!

We see you Joshua!

Here's the source of the hot water. I thought for sure one of the kids was going to trip and end up with a melted hand...but luckily we made it away unscathed!

We stopped by the river on the way back to the van to let the boys throw rocks and let Aaron balance rocks. It was here...and not at the hot springs that some crazy hippie lady...dreads and all, mom, got naked and took a dip in the FREEZING river. Sometimes I just want to say, "REALLY?? REALLY?? Do you not see the four small children? Can you not wait 5 minutes till we are gone?" Oh well!

There were lots of big trees all around.

Joshua's cute little fingers.

I think he's licking it...gross! We sure had a fun time!

We found some more really great hot springs this summer on all of our adventures. The best ones were called Umpqua Hot Springs. It took about half an hour to hike in to them. It was pretty steep climbing in the mud...because it started raining right when we got there. The kids were troopers and we made it though!

Larkin was a crack up. Anytime we came to a bridge she would freak out if she could see in between the cracks of the wood. It took her FOREVER to get across them. She just kept saying, "Scary."

I guess this would be a little scary when you are the size of tiny!

There were probably 6 or 7 of these baths at the hot springs. We liked this top bath because we could look down on a bunch of other ones. And this is the only shot you'll get of the other baths because two FULL volvos of hippies showed up here right after we did. Let's just say we saw LOTS of body parts. The boys spent the majority of the time giggling, Arwen was horrified that people would have the audacity to be so immodest, and I kept reminding Aaron to just keep looking down at the kids!

Lu got to join the ranks of the hippies because I forgot her swimsuit in the car. She didn't mind one bit!

Here's my favorite shot!

Arwen decided to take a term off of ballet and try soccer. She started her practices the week she started school. Her team is named the Cheetahs and has 6 cute little first grade girls on it. I wasn't quite sure how Arwen would do at soccer...those of you who know my kids well, know how clumsy they are! Well, Arwen spends more time in the dirt than on her feet, but she's pretty much amazing!! I'm told she scored at her first game (which we had to miss) but she didn't score today. (She had a lot of near misses, though!) But she had so much spirit out there! She put her whole entire self into the game and it was so much fun to watch! She does these super cool slide moves and is really good at being right in the middle of the where the ball is. Here are some of my favorite pictures Aaron took of her today.
On the ground??

Check out that passion! (That girl in green better watch her back!)
On the ground again??
Nice block!


Oops, too far!
On the ground again, Arwen??
Pretty much, she has sweet moves!
Is that the ground??

Number 3...just like Joshua!
She made silly faces the whole time! She was so deep in concentration!
Head butt!
And look...a smile! She had so much fun! Arwen was covered in mud by the time the game was done. They had to stop playing twice to tie her shoes and I had to pull her socks up every time she subbed out. She was so totally into it!

During the summer, the kids would all have sleepovers and end up on Arwen's bed. (Larkin was of course in her crib, though...in the same room.) It was a wonder that they ever went to bed. Aaron and I heard so much giggling and rough housing for a LONG time! Right before we would go to bed, we would come in to check on them. This is what we found one night.

Yup. Not only that, but I caught him sleeping like this one other time this summer. Noah is CRAZY!! I guess superheroes need to get their super powerness somehow!!

Look at these cute pictures I found of Lu when I came to do some more updates about our super fun summer. I fix Larkin's hair every Sunday. She runs in my room and demands that I put her "Up" so she can sit in my sink and suck on my toothbrush while I curl and style her hair. It looks darling when I finish, but by the time we get to church it's flat and looks crazy! She is such a good girl and always lets me fix her hair...too bad it is taking FOREVER to grow!!

Aaron will probably edit this post and fix the scratch on Larkin's head, but I kind of like it...she always has something like this on her face. It's on her nose right now...she fell off the swing on Sunday and smashed her cute little face.
Larkin is...CRAZY!! I don't even know what to do with her! She is the scrappiest little girl I have ever seen. She can totally hold her own around here...in fact she is the QUEEN! She bites, pinches, hits, kicks and lots more. Poor Joshua is usually the recipient of her terror. He is such a sweet little guy and rarely fights back. She has a big girl bed now that she WON'T sleep in. The little monster sleeps in the pack and play in her room!
She is so passionate about things. I love it. She knows what she wants and won't quit until she gets it. Noah is her favorite sibling. It's really cute. He even still loves her after she bit his hand in the car the other day. She keeps us laughing with all her naughty antics! She rolls around on the ground doing silly dances and singing silly songs during scriptures to distract us. I can't help it...I always giggle at her which just encourages her! She is the naughtiest, silliest, prettiest little 20 month old I have :)

We went down to beach a couple of times over our vacation for day trips. After searching for agates and not really finding any, the kids gave up and started to play in a little tiny pond by the ocean. It went up to Arwen's knees...so not too deep. I turned my back to start getting our picnic lunch ready and I heard Arwen screaming that Larkin was drowning. Sure enough when I turned around she was under. Only the little thing was mostly swimming. I don't know how long she would have lasted, but she was doing a pretty good job of dog paddling to keep her head afloat. I yelled to Arwen to grab her while I ran over. Some man in his swim trunks was just standing there watching. I was waiting for him to help...but I guess he was just there to watch. Anyways, I got her and was soaked...my only pair of jeans and sweatshirt that I had. Yuck! Crazy adventure! Then we went to a light house.

After that we went on a little hike. Here's a cute family picture.
Hold on Arwen!!!


Then we stopped and picked yummy blueberries! Fun, crazy day!!

After spending the day at Temple Square, we met up with one of my best friends Jen to have dinner and visit with her family. Only that didn't happen because of my darn bladder infection. Jen took my 3 of my kids and her 4 kids to a splash park and got them pizza while Aaron took me to an urgent care to get some antibiotics. Lame! Thanks again Jen! You're the best! Then we went to the Oquirrih Mountain Temple and got to walk through it. It was really neat. I hadn't done that since I was a little girl and I went through the Denver Temple. The kids really liked it! Then we drove up to Kaysville and stayed with Aaron's granparents. We got in late, so we didn't get to visit with them until the next morning. Grandma made pancakes and a yummy breakfast. Grandpa entertained us with his silly jokes! Of course Grandma sent us on our way with snickerdoodles and treats! It was great to visit with them.

Here's Grandpa Green and Noah.
Larkin and her great grandparents.
Arwen loving her Grandma Green.
Best buddies!

I am so major lame!! I'm like a million post behind on my blog. I love my blog, but totally wish I had a blog fairy that could get me updated!! Okay...so here's where we left off on Aaron's sabbatical fun. We stopped in Salt Lake on our drive home from Denver. It was 108 degrees and I woke up that morning (we drove all night so we could make the most of our trip in Salt Lake) with a bladder infection. I've never even had one of those before...I was pretty sure I was going to die! Obviously I didn't...so here are some fun pictures from Temple Square.
Larkin just followed the big kids around and wanted to pose in all their pictures. She really isn't a baby anymore, I guess! Noah, refused to come and stand with the kids...


Here's where we found him...pouting . He was mad because the camera got taken away from him...I'm not sure why, I can't remember. But he refused to have fun. Silly boy!Joshua was so happy when Aaron finally let him touch the water.
We have a picture of Arwen in front of this door when she was a few months old. She's still as pretty and sweet as ever.I think this was Larkin's first time here. Here she is hamming it up! She has on her fake "cheese" smile. Here's Noah hiding. It sure was a fun, HOT trip!! The kids loved seeing the Temple and singing about it. They are all excited to go there someday!! Noah informed me that he is getting married in the Temple...to me. That way I'll have two wedding rings!

Lakeside park.  After taking the kids on rides Grandma was brave enough to watch them so Sarah and I could run off and go on some rides.  While we were standing in line for the Wild Chipmunk it started to rain and they closed it.  We waited for some time hoping it'd re-open then stood in line for some throw-up ride (as Noah puts it) and then just as we were about to get on the Wild Chipmunk opened.  So we ran over there and got on...and got rained on by the time we got on the ride.  It was fun riding during a thunder storm.  We ended up riding that twice and the throw-up ride once then it was raining too hard to stay.  We found the kids and Grandma taking refuge in a covered  picnic area.

Noah and Joshua were good buddies on the rides.

Noah was good at keeping Larkin safe as well.  She seemed a little small for the rides they'd let her on, but she liked most of them.

Arwen spent most of her time on the roller-coaster, she loved it.  Joshua not so much.  This is the third time around and he'd just given up with the I'm going to die face.  I wish I'd caught a good picture of that one.

Happy to be still alive.

This is Larkin's pretty-lady face.

Again, what a pretty-lady.  She also has a pouty-lady face that's fun.

We all lost count of how many times Arwen went on the roller-coaster.  We just left her there running from Exit to Entrance over and over. 

Thanks for the fund day Grandma.