Independence Weekend

We had such a great week - we did some work and play around the house early in the week.  

Then we headed up to Uncle Noley's cabin and spent 4 days there . . . loving every second of it!

We started our cabin time with the opening of our rock shops.  We made shop signs this year and got our new stock organized.  Here's Sam's shop - The Rocks of the World.  

And my shop is ready and open - The Broken Rod.

We goofed around - here's Sam hunting for big game horns.  This is what he came back with.

There was a lot of water fighting - everyone got wet - some of us got soaked to the bone, more than once! And it was soooo fun!

Mom found us these new squirts guns and they were awesome!  Double barreled and everything!

Here's Sam . . . . on the run.  

There was a lot of game playing and relaxing.

We watched fireworks from the main road up to the cabin - we can see all of the Park City area from this vantage point.  We saw two nights of fireworks from here - and they were fabulous!

We built a fire and roasted hot dogs.

We played and played and played.

Sam's rock shop had an early customer one morning, so he opened up shop in his pajamas.  The customer is always right, you know!

Here I am with some shoppers.  Both Sam and I did a brisk business this weekend.

There was plenty of time for reading.  Sam has made the jump (very quickly!) into chapter books and he is loving it!

Both Sam and I did a couple of sessions of math flashcards with dad.  

We used our squirt guns in helpful ways too - washing down the barbecue and the bug zapper.  Work might as well be fun, huh!

We helped out around the cabin too - dishes, cooking, and here is Sam ready to fill up the humming bird feeders.

We made another fire - Here's Sam lighting his match to get it started.

Here I am getting my match way in there.  I learned all about fire-starting from dad and Uncle Noley.  The steps are:  tinder, kindling, sticks, and wood - and they suggest always putting it in a tee pee shape. It worked every time!  This lesson should give me an advantage in fire making in scouts.

How many "men" does it take to start a fire?

Here I am snuggling with Uncle Noley and Aunt Christy while we wait for the fire to get hot.

Sam stole a snuggle from mom.

It's marshmallow roasting time - I turned out to be quite the pro at perfectly roasted marshmallows.

My first one came out a little burnt, but my last two were perfect!  Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More yum!!!

There was yet another water fight - everyone finally ganged up on me and Uncle Noley dumped a bucket of water over me.  Soaked to the bone . . . again.  

The marshmallow shooters came out too - can you see that marshmallow flying through the air at mom's leg?  Please ignore my bum - I had the "marshmallow clean up job".

We ended our stay with our traditional waffle toss - all the leftover waffles got tossed out for the wildlife.  I hope they love them!

Sam Alert:  Howdy ya'll.  Happy 4th of July!  Please enjoy yet another of the famous "Sam poses".  I've got a million of these for you.

And check out this face - that's chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers glued to my face.  Together they made the yummiest s'mores.  Oh - please remember to ask mom about the history of the s'more.  She can tell you all about John B. S'more and his untimely death in 1893 prior to taking his fabulous recipe to Asia.  Thanks Mr. S'more for your hard work and innovation in dessert making!

Sam out - see you next week.