HP Restaurant and Mosquito Bites

The summer is over half-way done and we are trying to enjoy every minute of it before we head back to the heat and humidity. Only about 1 month left :( / :) The girls are loving it but every once in awhile ask about someone back home and it makes us want to be there too. We just feel so blessed to have the opportunity to "live" in 2 places at once. I'm sure once Andy graduates (December 2012 we think) we won't be able to have such flexibility! Again, we are enjoying this season in our lives. Now on to the pictures.....my parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles all went on an Alaskan cruise in June (wish we could have gone) and my wonderful aunt got this stuff for the girls. They still sleep with their "Alaskas."

The big camp we had here for 2 weeks left this weekend and let us have a bunch of sand they were using in a sandbox. We put it in the girls' water table and it has been a hit. Hadley is sipping some "coffee."

So we have learned a number of things since being here.....Joni likes to get dirtier than Hadley ever did, when Hadley says she wants to go on a walk it really means she wants to be pushed in our new green $5 garage-sale stroller, Joni is one tough chickadee (and has the scratches, bumps, bruises, and her first bloody nose to prove it), and Hadley is REALLY allergic to mosquito bites. Two on her forearm resulted what you see below (this day it was actually better).

Andy told her to make an "owie" face for the picture. Poor girl.

Then on one of our walks Andy killed a mosquito biting her right under her eye. The next day, we woke up to Hadley looking like this (it was morning....hence the hair). She looked pretty rough for awhile but now we have purchased stock in bug spray so we should be good to go.

Sweet girl back to normal.

Joni spends hours playing outside in the playhouse. In and out and in out and around. Hadley only shows interest when Joni is playing in it which I'm realizing is true for many things.

Sweet girl.

This was taken before (and the reason for) the purchase of the kiddie pool.

And this is what happens when Nana and Papa leave and I get side-tracked in the kitchen.

Going for a Sunday drive :)

Andy took Hadley fishing for her first time in the river. They didn't catch anything or get any bites but Hadley really wants to go again.....a true fisher-girl.

One thing we have really been focusing on while we are here is making a permanent Frisbee Golf course for the camp. Andy has made new trails, we cut down some dead trees in the way, and we made these signs (wood-burning) for all the holes. The top has the number and the bottom has a map of where the next hole is.

Last but not least.....the Huber Pushcar Restaurant (HP---for Huber and Pushcar (that is my sister and her husband for those of you who were wondering what Pushcar meant) not Harry Potter for those HP fans out there--although if it stood for Harry Potter, Courtney and I would be happy with that too). So the HP Restaurant happens once a week when the 6 of us get together and make something that is challenging or takes awhile that you wouldn't normally make on just any old day. We had 6 weeks left when we thought of the idea and this past Saturday was the first "meeting" and we made steak and pierogies (a Lutz family favorite). Pierogies are mashed potatoes stuffed into dough and then boiled and fried in onions.....mmmmmmmmm so good!

Making the mashed potatoes.....

eating the mashed potatoes and rolling out the dough.....

putting the mashed potatoes into the dough.....

boiling and frying the pierogies.....

and eating the wonderfulness that are pierogies.....and steak.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

We have the menus planned out for the next 5 weeks too so stay-tuned!!! Hope you all are having a wonderful summer! Love to you all.

The 4th and more

Well we had a wonderful 4th weekend in Gillette (post to come when I get all the pictures together) and now we are back at camp and enjoying the weather and the time not having to be in kitchen (although after being in there every day for a month, I miss it!) Here are more random fun times in the mountains....no she isn't sun bathing....I think she may be watching a bug.

Watermelon is a favorite around here. This is actually watermelon and ketchup (also a favorite around here).

The Fish Hatchery up the hill has been closed for a number of years and just this month it OPENED! We used to take our campers up to feed the fish when Andy and I were counselors and so we were so bummed last year when we found out the girls wouldn't get to see the fish. Well, this year we did and they loved it.

Hadley likes to watch them and more than once asked if she could go swimming with them. Andy said yes and I said no :)

So these next pictures may take some explaining. The last night of the last camp we had a backwards meal. The kids ate dessert first and then had dinner. Well, dessert was "cupcakes" and a "cherry-topped tart."

For dinner we had "grilled cheese sandwiches" and "peas."

Well to their surprise the cupcakes were actually meatloaf topped with colored mashed potatoes (which Joni is enjoying despite the look on her face). The grilled cheese is pound cake and frosting and the peas were cut up green apple sour straws. The kids LOVED it (after they figured out what was going on).

I could NOT have pulled off the night without the help of Janet and Kemper. Thank you both so much for coming and helping and loving on our girls and we look forward to you spending a month with us next summer too :)

So as many of you know, CARS is Hadley's favorite movie and since we heard that CARS 2 was coming out, we knew that it would be Hadley's first big screen movie experience. She was so excited about going (even though she really wasn't sure what she was excited about---pretty sure our excitement was just rubbing off on her). It happened to be in 3D which wasn't ideal because she wouldn't leave her glasses on, but she had a good time and watched it anyways and when asked what movie she wants to watch at home now, she requests CARS 2.

The girls playing in a little toy box my mom found at a garage sale.

The last picture with Nana and Papa. *sniff* We miss and love you!

Hadley helped Andy cut his hair....he is a very trusting person :)

After we got back from Gillette on the 4th, we went to a lookout point not far from Story to see if we could see any fireworks being shot off out in the valley. What we didn't know is that the whole town of Story uses that look-out parking lot to shoot off their own fireworks and so we were front and center to a great (and free) show.

The girls and I helped Andy build a new ramp to the Game Room. I'm glad to say that even though we have girls, they sure aren't afraid of playing in dirt or wearing dirt...

or eating it.

Come visit us if you can. We have lots of beds and lots of chairs and Andy can grill a mean hamburger! Love to you all!

More June Fun

Happy July everyone! Where did June go?! As of yesterday, I am officially done cooking for the Presbyterian camps and now the girls and I (Andy still has to work) get to just hang out and play and help Andy when we can. We had an AMAZING time with Janet and Kemper before they left on Wednesday and are so thankful they were able visit for so long.

In the first part of June, Andy's grandpa (Janet's dad) and his aunt and family came to visit. They drove a long way and stayed way too short a time but we had so much fun while they were here. I hardly ever saw Hadley because she was playing with Alex every waking minute. We call him GGP (Great-Grand-Pa). :)

Roasting smores in the lodge....

....and then eating them.

Alex and Hadley found a little hiding place/fort under a table. They played so well together.

This is Miranda (Andy's cousin), Tyler (one of the counselors that hung out with us that night), Lauren (cousin), Andy, me, and Becky (his aunt).

Trying out the tight rope section of the obstacle course. It is much more challenging when there is water in the river. (The water did finally come on and NOW it feels like camp)!

Joni LOVES this house. She goes in and comes out and goes back in and closes the door and looks out the windows. She is getting so big, talking more and more, and has officially decided to walk instead of crawl.

This is Hadley in the house LAST year! It's funny but she looks kind of the same. She has grown though....now she has to duck a little (and I do mean a little) to see out the windows.

Janet found Hadley like this one afternoon and when asked what she was doing, Hadley said, "I'm just sad." I guarantee that mood didn't last long when Nana came to the rescue!

Helping Dad mow....

Helping Dad ride the 4-wheeler.....

Not sure if there are pictures of the water table yet but it was Joni's birthday present from Nana and Papa. They LOVE it and when it was too cold for water, we put bird seed in it. One day I found Andy had put both girls in the water table to "swim" and we decided it was time to get a little pool for them. More pictures to come of that fun.

Only in Wyoming....

Here it is. The weather has been so warm (the other day it got up to 98!!!!) There have been many times when the girls just get in (with my permission) with their clothes on because it is so hot. They have fun!

One day during camp, it had been arranged that a fire-truck would come in and soak everyone. I was in the kitchen cooking and missed it but Hadley and all the campers saw it and enjoyed the cool water. That is Jordan (the director of camp) running through the water with Hadley. After it left, it was all she could talk about.

We love family!!! After Janet's family visited, Kemper's brothers and their families, and his mom from Worland came to see us too. Again, the time was too short but we had a blast!

Anna, Hadley, and Grant roasting marshmallows.

Today we head to Gillette to have MY grandma's 80 birthday celebration/family reunion. More pictures of that to come. Love to you all!