My Family Gets Together, or The Longest Blog Post in the History of This Blog

Most of it is pictures though.  We had  a long, fun, busy, exhausting family vacation.  It started on Saturday with a picnic at Barber Park and a float down the river.

No pictures of the river float.

After the float the kids ate everything they could get their hands on.  I was expecting them to start crashing strangers picnics in the quest for food.

Sunday we had a family birthday party and celebrated Sam's and my nephew Weston's birthdays.  Grace was very, very sad that it wasn't her birthday.

We even managed to snap a picture of my almost-complete family.  We are missing two nieces, one couldn't get off of work and the other was with her father.  I hear the siren call of Photoshop.

A picture we didn't take of the view from the terrifying road

Tuesday we headed down to the Salt Lake City area for some camping and tourist type activities.  Michael had found a campground right outside Farmington, UT (Lagoon town) where we planned to stay.  The campground was five miles outside town but took us half an hour to get to.  To get to the campground we drove on a single lane gravel road that hugged the edge of a canyon.  I couldn't even look down because we were so high and the drop off was so sheer.  I was having a panic attack but the road was so narrow we couldn't even turn around.  I was also freaking out because I knew we would have to drive this road several times, sometimes in the dark.  On the way up I swore I would never be on the road again for the rest of my life.  Michael was informed he needed to get me off the mountain no matter what it took.  I was willing to cash out his retirement and put everyone up in a hotel as long as I could get off the mountain.  Once we finally reached the campground the campsites were small, miserable spaces without even space for a tent.  Plus, there were bear and rattlesnakes warnings posted on the campground board.  I had all the information I needed to make an well thought out decision.  We went straight back down the mountain.  When we reached the bottom, though only traveling a max of 10 MPH, our brakes were smoking.  SMOKING!  After a few phone calls and another 45 minutes on the road we found a different campground.

What the campground lacked in privacy it made up for with huge sites, grass, lots of shade and friendly hosts.  It also happened to be right on a reservoir.  Huzzah!

My niece didn't seem as excited as i was by the water.  She seemed hesitant to get in.  I tried to help her.

Wednesday we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  I've never been there so it was very interesting.  Here is a cut away of what the inside of the Salt Lake Temple looks like.

While certain family members were enjoying seeing the Christus statue I was freaking out.  My older kids kept wandering off with their cousins and neglecting to tell me. 

I eventually found them and made them all stay with me for the rest of the time in Salt Lake.  All the ducklings in one spot.  I was finally able to relax.

 On the roof of the Conference Center.

 Finally made it back to camp.

The next day we headed into Lagoon.  Talk about fun craziness.  I've promised the kids we will go back.  It's just going to have to wait 8 or so years.  I'm not going back until everyone can ride the same rides and be in the same area of the park together.

Grace was yelling "Woahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!" the entire time we were riding the little roller coaster.  This was the scariest ride the little ones wanted on.

No pictures of people going on the big roller coasters because Michael and I were usually on them.

The last day of our vacation my brothers took their groups back to Lagoon.  We stayed at camp because one day was enough fun for us.

So we played in the water

and built a few sand castles

and got a little sunburned.

 Once everyone came back to played some Bocce ball and roasted some marshmallows.

Saturday we drove home and kids were dropping like flies in the backseat.  All the fun caught up with them and all they wanted was some sleep.  Michael and I took turns driving so we could grab a snooze ourselves.  Great trip but not sure I want to repeat it any time in the near future.

Occasionally Michael Wins An Argument

He wanted a fancy DSLR camera.  He has wanted it for some time.  I protested.  He searched Craigslist.

He won, and I played.

A good camera doesn't make a good photographer.  But it sure doesn't hurt.

The Sport of Table Jumping

Sam started it.  He discovered he could jump from the table, fly over the chair, and land with a "whump!" on the couch.

Cowabunga!

 Grace tried it.  She fell and gave up.

 Everyone else decided Sam was a genius.

Yep!  Just another Tuesday.

Three Number Four!

The little man quietly contemplating his birthday cheesecake turned three years old on me.  I'm out of babies and toddlers now.  Crazy how fast that happens.

Lately his favorite activity (besides hitting his siblings and throwing everything around the house) is telling stories.  They all go something like this, "Once a time, there was a big girl.  Then a dinosaur ate her.  The end."  Replace dinosaur and girl with any combination of shark, monster, ghost, big boy, little boy, and little girl.  Rinse and repeat.  All day.  Every day.

My days wouldn't be nearly as interesting (or as long) without him around. 

Duck Valley Indian Reservation

A week after we came home from McCall we turned the van the other direction and headed to the high desert.  I barely had time to catch up from the McCall laundry and go grocery shopping before heading out on vacation again.  While packing I was a smidge less than cheerful.  The reservoirs on Duck Valley Indian Reservation is known for its fishing, sage brush, and...well that's all really.  The kids tend to get pretty whiny and I have sympathy for them because unless you are out on the boat fishing with Grandpa there really isn't that much to do.  But we went.

There were lots of storms.  Hot, hot windy days followed by afternoon storms with buckets of rain and gale force winds (at least it felt that way).  But then the evenings were mild and calm.  And the rainbows came.

We found a park and Michael was over the moon that there was a real metal slide!  The kids seemed to enjoy it as well.

 I think I'm in trouble.  I may have to send this one to an all-girl boarding school. 

 We let off a few fireworks on the Fourth but Mother Nature just had to show us up.

 Did I mention the wind?  It did make for some great kite flying.

Duck Valley should also be famous for the sheer quantity of  bugs.  May flies, red ants, black ants, red and black ants, mosquitoes, horse flies, house flies, little and large dragonflies, cicadas, and more.  One of the cicadas (think huge ugly fly looking thing) made a momentary home in my hair, and I think I did a fabulous job keeping my squealing to a minimum.  The dragonfly above hit my father-in-law's windshield, was sucked into his open window and landed on his lap.  He flicked it over to Michael's brother in the passenger seat who thought it awesome and showed everyone when we stopped.  The dragonflies didn't bite but I think everything else did.  My kids look like they are small pox survivors with all their mosquito bites.  25% DEET apparently isn't strong enough.

We also headed into town for a pow-wow we learned about.  It was definitely a small town, slow-paced, low key event.  We only stayed for a few dances as the pauses between the dances were longer than the dances themselves. 

We didn't catch any fish nor even had a nibble, got baked by the sun, got rain poured out upon us, and got eaten alive by horseflies and mosquitoes; but the trip had its high points.  There were sunsets and fireworks and cousins.  It also made me homesick (in a good way) because I was raised in similar country.  With all that said, I may just send Michael and the kids next year.