Go Swishers Go! Go Swishers Go!

If it wasn't enough to be a single parent for four days last week and then have a sucky not too profitable garage sale Saturday morning, we went camping Saturday afternoon until Monday morning.

Tent camping, people.

Remember this little diddy?

Yeah, sold the broken camper in 11 hours flat. So, that would make us tent campers until further notice.

Luckily, we borrowed a tent because we quickly decided that we are shopping for a new pop up camper.

We're too lazy old to be climbing in and out of a tent.

We went with our good friends the Fischers who have a daughter english bulldog named Vidalia.

Little tip for light sleepers such as myself: Don't go camping with a bulldog. Poor girl has a deviated septum, and she snores like a 65 year old man with a beer gut.

What I can't believe is that Todd and Kate sleep with her every night!!!

On our first night around the campfire, we worked on a name for our little team - decided to call our group the Swishers.

Here are some highlights from our days in the wild wilderness of the Uinta mountains.

The whole gang:

This is how Squirt and I spent much of our time:

Hunter found a giant log on the shore of the little lake we stayed near... typical Hunter makes a boat out of it.

Typical Daddy, finds another use for it.

Jack and Vidy

Check out all the scenery:

boys and broken bones

What happens when you take a deck with broken railings and add a three year old riding his bike?

Oh you silly reader, don't ask silly questions like, "Why was he riding his bike on the deck?"

You get the boy riding off the end of a deck into a window well and a broken elbow!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, for the third summer in a row, a Sweeney boy has broken an arm. We have no preference for which arm, for we have broken both right and left. We have no preference for where the break is, for we have broken elbows and wrists. Also, we're not picky about the method in which we break arms, bikes are the preferred method, however, the monkey bars have aided us as well.

snow cones at day camp

My friend Erin and I took all our kids to the local farmers' market today. She has four, I have four. We treated them to their "once per summer overpriced snowcone" and took a gander around.

The kids wandered ahead to look at a booth selling seafood. The man in charge asked, "Are you guys at camp today?"

Yeah, Camp Holycowthatsalotofkids!

packing for many

I've learned a few things this summer as I have packed for five of our six family members for several trips so far.

In addition to packing extra underwear for the three year old and extra bibs for the one year old, oh and did I mention not to forget all the kids toothbrushes when you are camping out in the wilderness away from any civilization.... I have a favorite little tip.

I like to have my kids share suitcases, but after about one day on any trip, the clothes get all mixed up and we all get frustrated finding what we need (hence why I won't share a suitcase with my husband). So, I use the Ziploc BIG storage bags. Not the gallon bags, but the ones that show a mom storing soccer balls and basketballs and the kitchen sink rollerblades inside (there are three sizes, I use the XL).

I pack each child's things in a big Ziploc and then put all of the Ziplocs into one suitcase. That way, we can always find what we need and there's no yelling fussing.

With the airlines now charging $$$ for checking extra bags, it now pays to pack fewer suitcases!

I also bring along one or two extra big Ziplocs for laundry or wet bathing suits, dirty hiking shoes, etc. They're totally reusable, so it is a worthy investment.

And that's what works for me! Now head on over to Rocks In My Dryer and find some more great solutions!

hoodoos and hikes

hoo-doo - noun
Geology. a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion
verb - Sweeney boys passing gas, i.e. "who hoodooed?"

Yes, we're still alive. I'm coming out of the fog of travel, holidays topped off with a sweet bladder infection and lovely pink eye.

We went on another road trip a week and a half ago (already?) to Bryce Canyon National Park and on to Las Vegas to tag along on another work trip for Kenyon.

Bryce Canyon was pretty cool - we highly recommend it. Different from Zion National Park, you start out on the upper rim of the canyon and hike down to the bottom and then up again. In Zion N.P., you start in the bottom and hike to the top and back down again.

Bryce is the top of the "grand staircase" of the Colorado Plateau. The bottom of Bryce Canyon is the top elevation of Zion N.P. and the bottom of Zion is the top of the Grand Canyon.

Our first hike was two miles and 1400 feet down into the canyon to a place called the "Hat Shop" where rocks remain balanced on top of the eroding hoodoos. Kenyon had the boys put rocks on their own heads for our own little "Sweeney Hat Shop." Well, the way down was a breeze, but the heat and exhaustion got to Rufus toward the end on the way back up.

Again, we were our own little scenic stop for many visitors. I don't think four children is particularly unusual, so it must be the gaggle of boys that draws such attention. Particularly, a group of elderly tourists straight from Italy stopped us several times to blabber in their native tongue. What we understood is "Ciao!!!" and "quattro???" Then they took pictures of us.

Here are our memories. Enjoy.

Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse"

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

let him eat cake!!! - the photos

I promised pictures from Squirt's big day and here you go! I choose a "summer" themed cake because he is the first child with a summer birthday for our family. He was exhausted after a long day of being dragged around for his brothers' activities - completely nap deprived - but a good sport for cake nonetheless.

He chowed down, told us "all done" we cleaned him up and he went to bed!

the family staple

I have been reading "Rocks in My Dryer" for a while now and every Wednesday Shannon does a blog carnival called "works-for-me wednesday" where her readers leave a link with tips or solutions to everyday life. This week's theme is recipes with five ingredients or less.

The fewer ingredients the better is my theory! In fact, the more cans the better and if it has celery salt, it's out! (Erin and Ashley, that's for you).

Well, if you've been to my house for dinner, you've likely had this dish. I serve it as a one dish meal with yummy french bread on the side. I found it on the Kraft website years ago and we eat it a couple times per month.

Mostaccioli with Spinach and Feta

1 lb. mostaccioli pasta (or whatever pasta you like)
1 bag fresh spinach, torn
1 pkg. feta cheese with basil and tomato (I buy the block and crumble it myself)
4-5 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Cook pasta as directed on package, drain and return to same pan. Stir in a splash of olive oil (ok, the sixth ingredient - but does it really count if it is just a splash?)

Add spinach and crumbled feta cheese. Mix well and cover over the LOWEST heat for a couple of minutes until the cheese is slightly melted. Spinach will be slightly wilted.

Add tomatoes and onions, stir well and serve.

Now go over and see all the recipes at Rocks in My Dryer!