Boondocks with the Page Siblings

We had a great time at “Boondocks” in Draper. It has Go-Karts, Laser Tag, Bumper Boats, Miniature Golf and many other fun activities. We went with Angela, Brett, Jessica and Stephen. Kole rode the rookie go-karts for the first time and we laughed hysterically. He was so intense and we were surprised at what a great driver he was…hopefully that will be the case when he turns 16 and gets his license! Of course they wouldn’t let me drive the go-karts because of my current physical state (being pregnant) so I was officially deemed the “picture-taker.” Kamden had a great time on the Bumper Boats with my sister Angela. Apparently he was so little that the water just skimmed the top of his hat so he barely even got wet but was having a blast squirting everyone else. He especially liked the Kiddie Cove which is a giant jungle gym with slides.

Because we had such a great time with my siblings, we went another day with Laura, Nate, and Adelaide. Addie was a little scared of the Kiddie Cove which made me laugh, but it didn’t seem to faze Kamden at all. He is definitely all-boy!

Visiting Gpa and Gma Page in Utah

We started out our vacation in Utah by visiting with Grandpa Page and Grandma Sandy at their new house in Hyrum, Utah. Jessica even came down from Salt Lake so she could spend some time with us. Hyrum is a rural area located just outside of Logan. They have such a beautiful home and love it there. They have a dog, three cats and some goats and the boys had a blast playing with all these fun animals. They especially enjoyed playing with “Mr. Muffin” the cat. It is a special breed called a Teacup Persian which means that it is very tiny even as a full-grown cat. Kamden just loved holding him every chance he could…poor cat! The boys also had a great time playing with their aunts Madison and Nicole. The girls even got into little fights over who got to do what with the boys. I found that very amusing. On our first night there we rode on my Dad’s new 4-wheeler. At first Kamden was scared, but then when he saw how much fun Kole was having he decided to go…then we couldn’t get him off! The next day we went down to the lake and canoed and swam. It was very muddy there but we had a great time anyway! That night we had a wonderful BBQ and visited some more. We left the next day to go down to Sandy to visit Bryan’s family. Kole and Kamden both had a hard time saying goodbye to “Mr. Muffin.”

Sand in the City

The last weekend in August here in Olympia features “Sand in the City” where local businesses sponsor sand sculptures for the benefit of the Hands-On Children’s Museum. Kole and Kamden received a free book from a book bus and were able to do various crafts as well as a touch ‘n feel sea creatures exhibit that featured a lobster, crab, starfish, and geoducks (these are native to the Sound). The boys had a great time playing with the bubbles, play-doh, and making boats to race in the rain gutters and getting acquainted with some alpacas. They especially enjoyed the snow cones.

Too much stimulation for Kamden.

New Recipe

So I guess the think to do is post recipes..anyway, the other night while Bryan was out-of-town I had to come up with something for dinner. I was going to make some spaghetti because its easy and the kids like it. I started on the noodles thinking that we had some spaghetti sauce but when I went to get it I couldn't find any! I started looking around in the pantry and there was this recipe on the back of a can of diced tomatoes. It is basically like baked spaghetti with a kick. I thought is was really good and the kids liked it too.

Chili Pasta Bake

10 oz. penne pasta (I actually used the bow-tie cause thats what I had)
1 lb. ground beef
1 c. chopped onion
2 Tbsp. chili powder (I only put in 1 Tbsp. and it was plenty spicy)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
1 can diced green chiles
1-2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

1. Cook pasta according to the directions.
2. Cook meat and onion in large skillet; drain. Add chili powder, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa and chiles. Cook 5 minutes.
3. Toss pasta and sauce. Spoon into 13x9 inch baking dish. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Camping with the Hodos

Kole has been bothering Bryan since the beginning of the summer to go camping since he goes once a month with the Scouts. We were finally able to find a night that was available on Thursday and were able to go with our friends, the Hodos. The weekend before, Bryan and the Scouts went to Anderson Island for their campout and he said it would be really nice for the family as well since it had showers for Michelle. So when Bryan got home from work on Thursday, we loaded up the car and headed for the island. Michelle and Kole were very excited because it was their first time on a ferry. Kole enjoyed looking over the railing for jellyfish in the Puget Sound while Kamden never got too close to the edge.

When we arrived at the campsite, we were the only ones there and had the pick of the entire campground as to where we would set up our tent. We settled on a grass field next to the childrens play area where we could watch the boys playing from the comfort of our camping chairs. Kole and Kamden had a great time playing on the equipment and Kamden and Ethan enjoyed throwing sand at each other. For supper, we had tin foil dinners. Yummmm! For dessert ... smores. Kamden was covered from head to toe with sand. Due to the proximity of the showers and that we had only been gone from our home for 5 hours, Michelle had to take a shower to clean off all of that grime that had accumulated from the grass.

On Saturday morning, we had danishes for breakfast and headed over to the lake for some swimming. Kole didn't like the "deep" water, so he enjoyed the kiddie area with a maximum depth of two feet. Kamden didn't know how he felt about the water at first, but warmed up and actually swam out to a floating dock on Bryan's back.

Overall, we had a great time with the Hodos and would call our first camping excursion as a family since Kole was Kamden's age a success. Check out the pics below.

What's next? The car does not do it for me.

It's A ....

BOY!!!-yes...another boy. Due December 21st.

Michelle, Sarah, and Brandi tubin'

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