Bear Lake

For the last few days of our trip, we were in Bear Lake with my parents and siblings. I finally got to see Jackie's new baby, Jolee. She is just so cute and a dainty little thing!

Jackie had some belated birthday gifts for the girls. Evie is obsessed with baby dolls, and was so happy to get a new one!

Kiersten got a ceramic plate painting kit. She's already done them, I'll post pictures later.

And Kara was beyond happy to get more scrapbook stuff!

Most of my family camped, but we rented a house nearby with my parents and Jackie's family, since we didn't really have a way to bring tents and sleeping bags on the airplane. We thought about having someone bring that stuff for us, but I'm glad we didn't, since everyone's cars were packed to the limit already.

The rental house had a bunch of games in the closet. The kids enjoyed playing a few different ones, and ben and I kicked butt at couples trivial pursuit! :)

The kids loved playing in the water and on the beach.

we played football in the sand. It was girls vs. boys. It was actually Ben and my brother in law Josh vs. 4 girls. but we still got destroyed. It was really fun though.

Kiersten buried Lathan in the sand.

me and my man.

Kiersten loves my nephew Zack. she said he is her new BFF.

Josh playing fruit ninja. Nic was throwing a cantaloupe in the air, and he would slice it with a really long, sharp knife. I should have gotten a closer pic. It was kind of funny, but I hated seeing food go to waste. Everyone said they would still eat it, when I protested to this, but none of it got eaten.

We had some fun crafts for the kids. I did cupcake liner and popsicle stick flowers, and Angie had stuff for them to paint rocks, and duct tape to make jewelry and wallets. The best moment was my nephew Afton, rinsing off his paint brush in Ben's coke. Ben still drank it of course! It's good those paints are non toxic.

Adam celebrated his 14th birthday while we were there, so we had a little party after dinner. Here he is in the hat I made for him. I'm sure it will be his new favorite hat from now on ;)

My brother had brought a large birthday sheet cake for him, and I thought, "ooh, there will be leftovers for me to eat later". but I was shocked how fast that cake disappeared! We did have a pretty large group, so I should have known.

We stayed at the camp ground til dark playing games. Then us house people had to go back to our rental for the nights. I was really jealous because every morning, the campers all had hilarious stories of their fun from the nights after we were gone :(

Papa and Grams house

On tuesday, we drove from Island Park to Lewisville to spend a few days with Papa and Grams. The girls love having tea parties with Grams, and it was one of the big things they were looking forward to. Kiersten was disappointed at the airport when she learned we weren't going straight there for a tea party.

They had borrowed Tanis' bouncy house, and when we drove up, the girls were thrilled to see Papa sitting in there.

Kara and Kiersten got to drive the tractor. I didn't get out there in time to get Kara's picture, but Kiersten seemed to enjoy it much more anyway.

Of course we always have to ride the horses. Kiersten was so proud that she got to ride the horse without Papa leading it. She keeps talking about how she was using the reins to make her go.

Evie was just so happy to get to ride. The other girls were both pretty nervous around the horses at this age, but Evie loves them. Every picture of her riding is a giant grin.

Kara is doing pretty well with her riding. She can steer the horse, she learned to stop the horse, and back it up too.

But her true love is the dogs and cats. She has an animal in her lap pretty much the whole time when we visit. She wanted her picture with each dog and cat, but I'll just post one of them.

Kerry's 60th birthday party. We held it at a park, and it was so fun! Lana had this rubber chicken launcher that was a real hit!

Then there were big hoola hoop pants that we all took turns wearing, and you would have to run to try to catch the rubber chickens in your pants.

I think (and hope) he had a good time at the party!

The kids got to break a piñata. They all got a few turns before it finally opened up. I was surprised that Evie wasn't really interested, since at home she goes  crazy with baseball bats, hitting anything and anyone.

We also had a piñata for the adults to break. Grandma Hill got to go first.

All the girls with their Papa. They sure love to visit him and get super spoiled with attention.

Kara couldn't have her picture without one of the dogs in it!

Island Park family reunion

After seeing Ben's Grandma, we headed up to Island Park on sunday to spend time with his Mom, Stepdad, and sisters. The kids needed to get out after being in the car all morning, so we all went geocaching near the cabin.

The kids were all excited to find treasures!

We had a family decathlon. One of the events was shooting. I let Kara shoot for me, which didn't go very well, since she couldn't squeeze the trigger hard enough.

Ben started out well, but got shaky, and wasn't happy with his ending score.

 

Kara fell in love with this "spot it" game. She wanted to play it over and over with whoever would play with her. I'll have to remember to put it on her Christmas wish list this year. 

 

She really liked playing in the sand and mud. I hated to see her all covered in mud like this, but at least she was having fun.

Ben took the girls out on the jet ski.

When he let Kiersten ride on the tube, he flipped her and Katie. She was under the tube and wouldn't let go, so he had to gun it to pull the tube out of her hands so she'd float up to the surface. It was really scary. She told me that she was choking on water and couldn't get any breath. She ended up going out again, but just sitting on the jet ski with Ben, not on the tube. I don't think I even let Kara go back out on the tube after that.

Evie had lots of fun riding with Daddy.

Ben trying to do a back flip for the decathlon.

and there he is falling while trying to stand up on the tube.

We had lots of fun at the cabin. Kara said her favorite part was building sandcastles, and Kiersten said her favorite was winning bingo prizes.