The end of summer

School has started, there is an occasional crisp feel to the air and it is getting darker earlier. All signs that point to the end of summer. So we decided we had better head out at least one more time to enjoy the outdoors while we still could.

The colors in the canyons were beautiful.

We did a little fishing and a lot of complaining. Porter and Zach were proud of the fish they caught.

And I don't know why it is that I can't get my kids excited to pose in front of the camera- maybe if I did it a little more often they wouldn't be so camera shy. But they eventually cooperated for a couple of shots. I think there was bribery involved.

Then we finished the day off with a chili cookout at the top of the mountain. You remember me mentioning the end of summer? Well it was about 50 degrees up there and we didn't have any jackets with us. The view was beautiful and the chili warmed us right up. It was a great day to spend together.

Shooting

I feel so bad that I didn't get pictures for this but we took the kids shooting for the first time last night. We had a family night out with our good friends the Dolans. Porter has been literally begging for months for us to get him a BB gun. It is on his birthday list, Christmas list and tooth fairy list. Needless to say after he shot the .22 last night a BB gun is just not going to cut it.

Darwin went all prepared with a tarp and blanket to lay down on and showed each kid how to hold the gun and how to site it. They did such a good job. Maegan and Zach both hit the target on the first try, but Porter hit it the most.

We made a good night of it by getting fried chicken and salads and cookies- but we left too late in the day and the dark made us quit before we were ready. It sure made shooting the .357 funner in the almost dark though- the flame shot out a good foot. :)

So if Santa is listening- please bring guns this Christmas.

Maegan's New Look

We have been wanting (meaning mostly me) to cut Maegan's hair and have bangs for a long time. She finally consented, it turned out so adorable that I have come out of blog hibernation to post some pictures. What do you think?