Rite of Passage

So, Alexis and I watched Dirty Dancing together last night. I think that is a step towards Young Womanhood. I had a lot of explaining to do about certain plot points, but now she knows about stupid things girls say -

"I carried a watermelon."

And stupid things boys say -

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

An Apple or Five a Day

Last Thursday I took my preschool class on our first ever Field Trip (this may be my last year doing preschool, which is making me braver) to the Gilcrease Orchard in North Las Vegas. About 1/2 of the moms and a dad came, along with several siblings. The kids were given paper bags and told to pick 2 apples, by twisting and pulling (exactly like in the book we had read on Tuesday) I think the kids ending up with 3-5 apples. I guess I need to work on following directions, but they were having too much fun to just stop after 2.

Here's our group.

Then they took us inside to show us the machine they used to squeeze the apples into cider and gave us a sample. The kids liked the cider until it got a little chunky at the bottom of their cups.

Around back they had crates of pumpkins and most of the kids picked one. We were only there for about an hour, but it was fun and the kids were so excited about it.

The Jenkins Family Labor Day Curse

Labor Day weekend is usually spent in Southern Utah - that's when the Iron County Fair is held in Parawon. I've gone to the fair almost every year I can remember. Now, we stay at our family's cabin near Panguitch Lake. We drove up on Friday, stopping at Denny's for dinner. It was Alexis' choice to celebrate her Adoption Day (it's been 8 years - time flies!) and pancakes are her favorite. Then we headed up the mountain.

On Saturday, Grandpa Jenkins took the kids out in the canoe on the lake. Alexis did pretty good paddling, until she dropped an oar in the lake. It got windy, so we didn't stay out too long.


The cousins showed up that afternoon. Saturday night was spent eating tacos, making Smore's, trying to tell scary stories, and playing card games.

Sunday we were getting ready for church and Camryn and Zack were playing a game. I could hear them fighting about it, so I told them to stop the game and clean it up. Zack kept calling a Camryn a cheater and would not stop, no matter how many times I told him to. So..... I went crazy on him, yelling. Dave had to hold me back. He had done something similar the day before and I had had it. See, every year someone gets in wicked fight at the cabin over Labor Day weekend - it's the Jenkins Family Curse. I never thought it would be me. The good thing is, that afterwards we all make up pretty quickly.

After church and a big dinner, most of the grownups took naps and Grandma got out puzzles and crafts for the kids. Then we helped them play a remedial version of Bunko. Grandma even had prizes.

In the early evening Grandpa took the kids to the creek that feeds into the lake and showed the kids where the fish spawn - yep, the hike included a Fish Sex Ed. lesson. The kids got in the creek, although it was freezing. Later they found logs to climb around while the uncles and younger cousins tried to splash them by throwing rocks into the creek near them.

On Monday, we cleaned and packed and headed down to the fair. Seth went on rides that were similar to a merry-go-round, while the girls went on the kinds that make you dizzy and they ended up getting sick. We finally talked Seth into going on the Tilt-a-Whirl. These are the before and after pictures.

Then the girls started spewing. We let them rest, while I took the younger ones to the 4H petting zoo. They loved the animals.

After the fair, we checked out the mini-barn/super-shed my dad built on his property in Paragonah, then all went to eat at The Pizza Factory before heading back to Vegas. We made it to Apex and Alexis got sick again. So close! Good thing we keep barf bags in the car. It was literally a long weekend, but for the most part a good one.

1st Day of Preschool

Today was Seth's 1st day of preschool - well, I'm the teacher, so it was my 1st day too. There are 9 kids this year, which is a whole lot more than last year. I'm excited because I'm so attached to these kids - I better be, I teach most of them in Primary also. We did calendar time, played a game to learn everyone's names, PAINTED (that in caps because I'm crazy to paint on the 1st day) magnetic boards they can clip their work onto, made school bus treats out of Twinkies and Mini Oreos, colored Back-to-School hats, read a book, and had Show-N-Tell. It all went great, besides Seth being a stinker during calendar time. It should be a fun year.