Jacob's funeral, potty party, and father/son campout

At the end of April, Scott's cousin Jacob died of brain cancer. Jacob and his family had courageously fought the disease for a little over two years. He was a wonderful man with a wonderful family and we all grieved this loss. His wife Jordan kept a tremendously up to date, honest, heartfelt, inspiring blog throughout his battle. I can hardly read any of the posts without crying. They are truly a strong family and we admire everything about them. At the end of April, Scott and his family flew out to Utah for the graveside services.

We got to watch Gidget while they were gone, and Lucy loved to keep her company on the couch.

Brotherly Love

We miss the old PPC!

I believe this was on Mother's day. I thought it was a cute picture. :)

We decided that the weekend of the Father/Son camp out would be a good time to have a potty party. Lucy was always dry though the night and showed all signs of potty readiness. So while the boys were gone, the girls had a party. We painted nails, did crafts, and ate yummy treats. While Lucy did well at holding her potty in, she did not like to sit on the potty and go. She is a very stubborn girl and the whole experience was quite frustrating to Mom, who was ready to give up by the time Dad got home! She would stand there and taunt:"I'm gonna pee in my underware!" just to try to get a reaction. Anyway, luckily Mom had Stake Women's conference that night and Daddy was able to hold out on the potty training through that night and help us hold out the next day as well. By that point, she was used to the whole potty thing and we haven't looked back since. She's been great. Hardly any accidents, but the initial experience was probably the toughest yet!

And here are some pics from the father/son!

These kids love fishing!

Bishop chopping wood for a service project.

James was a BIG helper!

Daddy took the kids out to McDonalds while Mom was at Women's Conference

The women did a little better and went to Chick-fil-A. :)

Vermont Trip

We decided to take a trip up to Vermont during the kids April break. We had originally planned to go to Chicago, but that fell through, so we took advantage of a few more of my parents time share points and headed up to Smuggler's Notch, Vermont. Grandma and Grandpa Robertson were able to come with us and we got to do some fun things on our little trip!

On the way up we stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT.

While we waited for our tour we played on the playground

And visited the "flavor graveyard" where they had these real tombstones and little rhymes for all of their retired flavors.

It was pretty crowded inside. The tour was fine, and the ice cream was delicious!

We also stopped at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury. It was a fun stop. Even though they weren't making cider when we were there, we got to look at the press and sample quite a bit of cider! And there is nothing like fresh apple cider.

Of course we needed to buy some cider donuts and sample some of their jams, mustard, and syrup as well.

I also made us stop at the Von Trapp Family Lodge. We weren't staying here, so there wasn't much we could do, but I wanted to at least see the place where the Von Trapps settled after emigrating to America.

The view from the lodge. The hills are alive, don't you think?

The resort itself was a lot of fun. Even though it was its "off" season, there was plenty to do. We played games outside, flew kites, and went on some walks.

They had an indoor "fun zone" that had plenty to keep the kids busy!

We got to swim in both the outdoor and indoor pool while we were there as well. These little fish were happy about that.

One day we decided to go to Burlington, VT and we stopped at a chocolate factory there. This is a typical James face. Not sure what he was upset about. I promise the chocolate was really good. :)

We also went to a fun science center and aquarium when we were there called ECHO.

We happened to be visiting during their "mud days."

After watching a demonstration on how dirt and mud is formed they had all the kids come up to the roof

And gave them a ball of mud

Which they could throw at a target down below.

Obviously, the kids loved it.

Lucy was a little nervous

But soon got the hang of it as well.

A slingshot game that kept the boys

And their daddy busy for a long time! (Until they kicked us out)

In case we didn't get enough mud out side, they had more inside. :)

And they had lots of their non-mud days stuff for us to do as well!

While the museum wasn't huge, the kids loved it and had a lot of fun. Certainly a great day trip.

And on the way home we stopped at the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial. All in all a fun little family vacation!