We took the boys on their first camping trip and our first family camping trip since Summer 2020. Ya, it's been a minute. Camping with two little ones is really daunting, but I'm pleased to share the boys did really well! They slept great, which is kind of what matters most. No one was hurt by the evening fire. They liked the water. And obviously our older kids were super pleased to be outside camping - they love it! Priest Lake is so gorgeous and it's such a gem. I got lucky and snagged a campsite cancellation. Just wondering, what are our thoughts on saving beach space with 10x10 tents? Is that rude, entitled or totally okay? I'm mixed. The beach was basically a wall of reserved space. We just set up a little bit in front of a couple beach spots. Here's the kicker for me, only about half the beach set-ups were occupied on Saturday. So is that fair? Does it matter? I dunno! Just some thoughts and questions.

Our second day swimming was interesting. The boys were hanging off of me (see last pic) and Enoch surprisingly fell asleep on my lap for a good hour. In just a few days we discovered those yucky feelings were the beginnings of Hand Foot Mouth Disease. SO... that makes sense. Still, I'm calling this camping trip a win!

My eldest child is 14 years old! !!!! From my perspective, this past year was an amazing one for Holly. She really found her stride in school and sports. She loved her cross country skiing season and then jump with both feet into Mountain Biking and that's become the thing she's most passionate about. It's been so fun to watch her bloom and choose some paths. Holly is a great kid and we're lucky to have her.

For Holly's birthday, she hung with friends and went mountain biking. Her dessert request was "Worms and Dirt," which is so incredibly a Holly dessert in my mind. That and Texas Sheet Cake.

Maeve loves Sonny so much. This was a funny little cuddle session to witness.

And to wrap up our Calgary trip, Holly went to a Stampede Church Dance with her cousins. It unfortunately wasn't nearly as fun for her as the middle school dance she went to in June, however, I got this cute pic of the cousins so...

The greeting, "Happy Stampede!" had Conor and I cracking up. It was said in a way akin to, "Merry Christmas." We did have a happy Stampede. We hit it hard. Conor and I went one evening to see the Vance Joy concert and watch the fireworks. We went one morning with the whole family. And we went another day without the little kids. It was fun and busy! My favorite stampede day was the night we went to the concert. I feel like we got our Stampede fill for at least 5 years.