Scenic Picnic

 

 

After our motorcycle ride through the mountains everyone was tired and hungry.  So we plopped in the mountain meadow that was across from our campspot and enjoyed our meal with beautiful scenery!  Everyone was super excited about the chips and oreos!  Then for our after meal entertainment we shot at our pop cans (Clayboy decided to use Aparri's head to steady the gun...lovely!)  Preston ate until he had a full belly then closed his eyes for an afternoon siesta!

 

 

motorcycling in the mountains

 

We took the motorcycles camping with us!  This WAS the place to ride too!  It seemed everyone was there riding their outdoor play thing...gators, razors, 4 wheelers, dirt bikes...you name it and it was up there cruisin' around the mountains.  It was a gorgeous area to do it too!  Now where to ride? We tried one trail first - but Laura and a few of the kids didn't like the rough terrain - it was a little beyond our abilities (some of us are still beginners here!)  so we coasted (literally) down the trail and tried a more conservative - easy ride on a mountain road.  MUCH BETTER!  Laura was happy!  It was a gorgeous ride and the perfect amount of slope up and down!  Preston even found a "friend" on the side of the road!  The kids all thought it was amazing!  Plus we all have on our motorcycle gear (thanks to Clayboy) now we look legit!  We are a Motorcycle Family!

 

 

If you look really closely.....you can find the orange tent on the mountainside.  Our camp was right next that on the left!  It was fun to see the camp area from up high!

Red River Camping

On our last camping trip, we went South - this time we headed North.  We ended up in an area called Red River by Taos.  It was GORGEOUS!  We were a little nervous when we arrived - it started to rain the second the car stopped!  But, it was a short lived sprinkle and we were able to set up camp and set settled on dry land.  We chose a camp spot that had lots of trees - just in case it decided to rain again (and it did)  we would have some natural shelter.  This camping experience was a little different from our last secluded area where we saw maybe one/two people the whole 3 days we were up there.  Red River area was a popular area for off road toys!  There were motorcycles, four wheelers, razor things, pretty much any kind of off road man toy you can imagine was up there!  It was the perfect area for it too.  We became good friends with the campers right beside us, did some bead crafts, rode motorcycles, cooked smores, explored Red River, went fishing, and all within a 2 night 3 day time frame!  We also learned from our last camping trip that we have graduated from a 1 tent family to a 2 tent family!!!    It sure is a lot of work to get ready and go camping- but it is soooo worth it!

 

King of the Hill

We had a fun time celebrating Clayboy this year.  He had breakfast in bed, donuts at church, swiss steak with corn and potatoes for dinner, homemade gifts from the kids (lots and lots of cards and creations from the heart!), and a flight from Laura.  Yep, it is has been several years and Clay has been dying to get back into the cockpit and lift off the ground - so next month he is going to kiss the friendly skies and fly!  You can tell these kiddos love their daddy...when Laura tried to take a cute picture...it was hard.  Whenever Dad gets down on the ground it is wrestle time...dogpile on Dad!  So, when Clay knelt, laid, and tried to pose for a picture...the kids were all over him like their normal selves!  Happy Father's Day to the best, fun-est, hardworking, loving, most wonderful Dad a kid could ask for!  We are so lucky to have Clay in our family.

 

MotorX

 

At the beginning of the summer, we sat down as a family and decided what were some things we wanted to do as a family this summer.  We made a list of activities that included fishing, camping, going to Disneyland, going to Grandparents, seeing cousins, going to the "x" games, swimming, playing with friends, etc.  We have been able to fulfill or do a comparable activity for all requests - now that is pretty good!  We have gone camping several times, gone fishing, we aren't going to make it to Disneyland this year - but we have Lagoon scheduled later this summer, we are also going to see Grandparents, cousins, and other family too at the end of the month!  We go swimming several times a week, and see friends nearly daily!  Now for the "x" games request....we looked it up, and the closest "x" games was in Texas - about 8 hours away....Clay and Laura didn't know how we were going to fulfill that Preston wish....and Preston was pretty excited and talked about it constantly.  Well, wouldn't you know it...a day after we made the list, Laura and the kids were driving through town and on the side of the road was a small yellow sign that said Motorcross was coming to Clovis!!! No way!!! Shabam...that was perfect.  Laura had CJ lean out the window and take a picture of the sign and as a family we made a commitment to go!!!  Well, the day for the motorcross show came - the Ward Crew all dressed in their motorcycle shirts and off to the fairgrounds we went!  It was sooo much fun watching the races and stunts!  They had 4 year old racers and professional racers...male and female racers...motorcycle and four wheeler races.  The show was VERY entertaining!  It started at 7:30pm and we stayed until 10:00pm and then we finally had to bail...the younger kids were falling asleep!  Fun times at the races!  Thanks for the request Preston!