24th of July

We had our annual Mansfield family camp over the weekend of July 24th. We went to Flaming Gorge to enjoy family, camping, boating, and fishing. We had a great time as usual. Most everyone headed up the mountain on Thursday evening, but our family didn't head up until Friday morning. Kamryn was a little disappointed about missing out on the early morning skiing, so we left early Friday morning and stopped at Steineker to ski on our way to Flaming Gorge. Wyatt and Kamryn were the only ones who wanted to get in the water that early. They did get some good skiing in. Kamryn is really doing well on the slalom ski.

We got up to our campsite before breakfast, set up our tent, and were ready for the day. It was kind of nice to put up our tent in the daylight. Friday and Saturday afternoon we went to the lake to play. The weather wasn't great (as usual at Flaming Gorge) but we still had a great time. I didn't get too many pictures because I didn't always have my camera with me. The surf was the favorite boating toy. Megan, Kevin, and even Grandpa had fun on the surf. Meggie and Mikey enjoyed the wakeboard, and Stephanie had fun with the kneeboard. I was able to surf without the rope for the first time, and Kamryn and Wyatt practiced there great skills on the surf board.

Saturday evening Grandpa and Wyatt took the kids fishing. All of the kids caught at least one fish. Kamryn even caught a fish with his homemade fishing pole. Wyatt had Brynli and Derek kiss there fish. Brynli didn't want to get to close, but she puckered up pretty good. All the kids came back to camp pretty excited about there fishing trip. They brought back about 4 fish that we cooked up. I think all the kids even tried some. Sadie realized that she really liked fish.
The kids also enjoyed just playing at camp. It is always fun to play with cousins, a little dirt doesn't hurt either. All in all it was a great weekend, even if we did all come home sick. We are already looking forward to next years family camp.

While Britnee was here...

My niece Britnee came to stay with us for 11 days. While she was here we did alot of fun things.

We went boating 3 times. She's getting pretty good at wakeboarding and she can wakeskate too.Britnee came with Kamryn and me on a hike with the other cub scouts in our ward to see the dinosaur tracks at red fleet.

We had a sleepover on the tramp, and one in our tent set up in the back yard.
One day we planned to go to the lake to play on the beach, but it rained. The kids still wanted to play in the water, so they thought grandma's hot tub would do. They had a great time playing in the hottub. And I thought hottubs were for relaxing.

The kids all had a great time just playing together. They all got along pretty good, except when my kids would fight over Britnee. They all built this big tent in the living room and played in it for two days.
We finally made it to the lake to play at the beach. It wasn't raining, but it was pretty windy. The kids didn't notice the wind. They just played in the sand and water and had a great time.
Britnee was also able to come with us on our ward campout to Massey Meadow. While there we hiked up to the cave. Everyone had a great time and got plenty dirty. While in the cave all of the kids except Sadie did the part of the cave called the "birth canal". Obviously it is a tight squeeze. They all did so well. Sadie did great too. She was a trooper hiking and exploring the cave.

You can't stay in Venal for a week and a half without visiting the dinosaur museum. We had my niece Chloe with us when we went to the museum. The kids loved seeing the dinosaur exhibits. I was a little worried about taking 6 kids by myself to the museum, but they did great.

It wasn't all fun and games while Britnee was here. Wyatt made her and Kamryn go to work. I know child labor. They had to help collate a book so that Wyatt could come with us to Kamryn's soccer tournament and to take Britnee home. Derek didn't want to miss out on anything, so he went to work also. They must have done pretty good, because we made it just on time to the first soccer game.

We all loved having Britnee stay at out house. I hope her family will let her come and stay again. I know they really missed her while she was away.

4 babies and a camera

In the Mansfield family, all the married kids had a baby within 6 months of each other. Now we have 4 babies that range in age from 16 months to 22 months. While we were camping we tried to get a picture of the 4 cousins. Not an easy feat.

We bribed them with keys to play, 

and treats to eat.

Finally they are all looking at the camera.

And, that's it!  They're finished.  No more picture taking today.

I guess that is the best that we should have ever expected.  Who tries to get a picture of 4 one year olds anyway?

Mansfield Family Camp

Over the 4th of July weekend this year we had our annual Mansfield family camp at Flaming Gorge. We had a great time as usual.  We spent our time boating,

Playing at the beach,

Playing bocci ball, and horseshoes at camp

and just hanging out together.

The kids thought it was great to camp for 3 days with all of their cousins.

There was plenty of dirt to go around.

And by the end of the camp I think we managed to wear everyone out.

I decided to ask everyone in my family what their favorite part of the camping trip was.  This is the results...

Wyatt's favorite part about this weekend was the early morning boating to waterski and wakeboard.  He got up at 6:00 a.m. both Friday and Saturday mornings to take the boat out.  It was pretty cold that early in the morning, but that is when the water is at it's best. Friday morning they did a guy thing. Wyatt, Kamryn, Kevin, and Mikey went out. Saturday morning I made Kamryn stay home to watch the kids and I went with Wyatt.  We couldn't wake anyone else up, so it was just the two of us.  I have to admit it was worth the cold water and the early morning.  The water was pretty good to ski on.  Flaming Gorge gets so choppy in the afternoon that skiing isn't even fun, so early morning is the way to go.

Kamryn said that his favorite part of the family camp at Flaming Gorge was learning how to slalom ski, and wakeboarding. Sorry Kamryn, but I didn't get a picture of either of them. Kamryn decided that he wanted to slalom ski like his mom and dad.  He was determined that he was going to drop a ski.  Well his determination paid off.  Saturday while water skiing, he dropped a ski and slalom skied for about 10-15 yards.  Way to go Kamryn.  He also was gettiing some pretty good air on the wakeboard.  I hate to say it, but he wakeboards better than his mom.

When I asked Derek what his favorite part of the camp was he said, "The whole thing, I liked everything". He just had a great time. He loved the water, the beach, the dirt, playing with cousins (especially Stephanie), everything.  I'm glad that he had such a great time.

Brynli's two favorite parts of the camp were playing at the beach and playing with her cousins Marshall and Allison. It is so fun to have cousins her age. Brynli and Marshall are about 6 weeks apart, and Brynli and Allison are 6 months apart. She has so much fun playing with them. They don't all get together very often, but when they do life is great in Brynli's world. They all loved playing in the dirt. They couldn't get enough of it. They didn't care how dirty they were, they just had fun. I was pretty amazed at how well they all got along. Not much fighting at all.  Good job guys.

Sadie can't tell me what her favorite part was, but she really liked boating. As we were driving there with the boat behind us, she kept saying "Daddy's boat, Daddy's boat, I want Daddy's boat". She kept trying to get out of her car seat so she could turn around and look at the boat. While we were boating, the water was choppy and we were going pretty fast so it was a bumpy ride.  Sadie would sit on her knees at the front of the boat, she would hold on and bounce up and down with the boat. I held on to her as much as she would let me so that she wouldn't bounce right out of the boat. She had a huge grin on her face the whole time. She just loved it.  

Sadie also loved Megan and Mike's dogs, Max and Lily.  They were so good to let her play with them.  She had so much fun with Max and Lily.

I think I would have to agree with Derek, it was all great.  I really enjoy boating and especially with all my family.  I am so glad it is something we all enjoy.  Even the little kids love to play in the boat and on the beach.  I also love to just sit back and watch my family enjoy themselves so much.  I really am grateful that we have such a great family and are able to do so many fun things together.