Oremfest and Such

(June 5-9, 2023)

Another fun week has gone by. I'm really not sure how best to blogify all our activities. Perhaps I'll do it a week at a time, or an event might stand out that gets a post of its own. That's what's best about this really flexible summer. 

The beginning of the week brings another cleaning chore. Room changing is up next. Yep, that special time of year. Some of the girls look forward to it and others dread it. I guess it depends on which room you are moving to and how much mom is going to nag you about getting rid of stuff. (Spoiler: She nags everyone.)

Regardless, it is an important project and probably a way to mark that summer is here. I've learned from past experiences that it takes longer than I think it will, so I gave it two weeks of priority time. Even so, we started early because people get anxious to get moving. 

We aren't quite done this week, but I'll give you a teaser of stuff to come. Here is a collage we put up in Ivory's room. Last year we never got her stuff hung up. So we made sure to do it this time.

You'll really be amazed when you see the before and after pictures. And I'm hoping with the Zorro circles (our recent cleaning method) and Saturday chores, that rooms will stay cleaner this time around. (A mom can always dream.)

Our treat for the week was Blackberry Lavender Cheesecakes. Except that we looked ALL over for lavender extract and I couldn't find any. So scratch the lavender part. Instead, we got some lemon extract because blackberry and lemon is a great combo. (And I have such a soft spot for lemon stuff.) We added a little food coloring to make the cheesecake more of a purple color. I realize in these pictures, they look more grey, but zombie cheesecake is good too.

The final product with the blackberry puree on top was quite delicious. Cheesecake is such a yummy treat. And it didn't taste like flowers at all. ;p

Our hike for the week was to the Draper Suspension Bridge. The trail is actually called Orson Smith park. It was really busy. There were dogs and kids everywhere. I was sad we didn't bring Nova since she would have loved it, but none of the other dogs would have appreciated our savage canine, so it's just as well that we left her home. I took a picture of this lady because she was the perfect example of a hiker; with her dog and kids. 

It was a really nice day. It hasn't gotten too hot yet, so I'll take all the mild climate I can before summer really sets in.

It was not a waterfall hike, but we found one anyway.

The main trail is up to the suspension bridge. It is a really big bridge and you can see it from far away.

Gotta take some pictures on the bridge.

The funny one was Beau saying that everyone should do this strange pose. It was a little bizarre, but when I took the picture from a different angle, all the girls looked like weird child-sized dolls. They are like little action figures.

The view was awesome. You could see so much of the valley. No clouds from this view.

Here's my mighty crew. Looking good. That rock was actually huge.

There weren't a lot of wildflowers, but still some here and there. And Beau and Pearl saw a couple lizards, but they were camera shy.

We made it. Some things to note in these two pictures. First, Daisy slipped on the last set of stairs and scraped her ankle, so her smile is despite the pain. Second, even though that looks like Beau's hand on the wall, it's Pearl's. Hands don't go that way. And third, I totally caught Ivory yawning in the second one. 

Some Culver's on the way home? Yes, thank you. 

We wrapped up the week with Oremfest. It used to be called Summerfest, but they renamed it. Fine by me. All the fun stuff was still there. We got food, Ivory got an airbrush tatoo and we got some cute beaded necklaces. Daisy also got a cute ring, but it's not pictured here. Oremfest is always a party.

Second week of summer down. Doesn't it already feel like it's going too quickly?