Man, I'll tell you what! Kate and her eight ain't got nuthin' on Ms. Simons and her seven! Their adventures pale in comparison to our good times! And that's cuz this mama knows how to rock the house and the whole stinkin' state for that matter!You know, I have spent the majority of my life suffering with an inferiority complex, a need to please others and a terrible self-esteem--it's sort of the paradigm I grew up with. Suddenly, just the other day, I realized there is this huge difference between Jessica dealing with being alone last year and Jessica dealing with being alone this year--I am so over my issues already. I can now look in the mirror or write a blog entry and announce to the world, I am one cool mama!
That's not to say I'm prideful (although, the title sort of insinuates that, but please know I really am a nice person and I'm not trying to rub it in that your mom is boring--I'm sure that's painful enough for you :). I've learned that pride actually manifests itself as being insecure, comparing yourself to others, being intimidated by others, judging others, being hypocrtical, or being easily offended. Those are all things I am guilty of (although I hope less and less every year), but I have finally learned that avoiding pride does not mean that you can't or shouldn't feel good about who you are and what you have to offer the world. And I just have to admit it out loud, I'm a really fun mom and a really cool person. I was blessed with ADD and energy coming out of my ears, I love to have fun and I don't let having seven kids prevent me from exploring this big, beautiful world. Besides PMS week, I really am good at being a mom and I have great kids. (I feel confident in lots of other areas now too, but this is enough confidence sharing for one blog post!!)
We have done a ton of things from touring the state capitol building, going to history museums (pictures to come in the next post) to hiking and playing in all sorts of ways. The following outing was probably one of our favorites. I have lived in Utah most of my life and I have never been to the Great Salt Lake. I swam in the Dead Sea when I lived in Israel, but never here in my own state. The kids and I decided to change that.
First, we all went on a two mile hike around the edge of Antelope Island. The kids were awesome little hikers. It was perfect 80 degree weather, which was nice because as you can see from the pictures this place is absolutely desert climate. There were giant spiders everywhere so the kids picked up dried sage brush branches and called them their spider whackers which we used to clear the path as we hiked.
It was so funny to watch Giselle. She is sick of being the youngest and the slowest and she was determined not to be the last one on the hiking path. Anytime any of the kids tried to pass her, she'd start running. Finally, at the end of the two miles she decided she was going to finish the hike first and took off running. I'm not kidding that little, scrawny baby girl ran a half a mile without looking back. Go girl!
After our hike, we had a little picnic and the kids got in their swimming suits. They had a great time jumping into the soft sand. I love this picture of the kids (Diamond and Florence were still eating, of course, Diamond was finishing everyone's leftovers and Florence has a bad case of the slows in everything she does).
I did not bring my swimming suit for the very reason that I have swam in extremely salty water before, and right after I shaved for that matter, and after 17 years, I still remember the pain. I was in and out of the Dead Sea in the blink of the eye. That's about how it came down for a few of my kids this time. They waded out until they could dunk under the water--I forgot to tell them not to do that. The four youngest came back pretty quickly and didn't experience the cork feeling of being in such salty water--but the three oldest stayed out there for about 15 minutes.
When they came back in, they were all jumping around whining, "Oh, my lips are burning, my eyes are burning, my nether regions are burning." You can see the look of pain in all of their eyes in the picture below. I had tried to warn them before they got in that it would sting, but I guess it's one of those things you have to experience to understand. Once the initial sting wore off, they had a great time building sand cities and driving rocks around them. Every once and awhile I would look over and notice one of the kids licking their own shoulder or arm to taste the salt. I'm not sure if that's gross or just funny. It was a really fun day with one cool mama and her seven really cool kids!
These last couple pictures I thought I would throw in of our hike with my really cool younger brother. We went up the canyon for hiking and roasting marshmellows. Another fun evening with my my three siblings.
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