Work Hard - Play Hard

The second day of vacation my brother had planned a work day for all of us to help out my parents with some projects.  My sister offered to make everyone breakfast at her house so, the day started early and we stuffed ourselves on her delicious crepes.

We all got to work doing different jobs.  There was lots of weeding!  Tori and Sadi pruned the rose bushes...poor Tori had just been poked by a thorn when I snapped this picture.

Matt programed their new car, and then set to work to help my brother David replace a new toilet.

Kelsey's first job was cleaning out the garage.

Chase was not feeling the "vacation" in this, and bounced around from job to job.  I think the longest work he did was with Nathan digging up these trees from the garden.

Once the toilet was done, it was back outside for Matt where he cleaned out the gutters, and helped with the weeding in the backyard.

After all that work, we were all pretty sweaty, and hungry!  The little kids wanted to stay and play at Aunt Susie's house with her grand babies while Matt, Kelsey, and I headed out to refuel.  We quickly decided on Arctic Circle, since it is the only time we get our fry sauce and lime rickey fix (it did not disappoint).

After lunch, we had a little time before our family would be getting together for the evening.  I had been thinking about one of my best friends parents from high school (my friend now lives in Montana, but her parents still live a few streets from my parents.).  I haven't seen her in a few years, but knew her Mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the first of the year.  I spent so much of my high school years at her house and I really wanted to go by and see her.  I picked up some flowers and decided to drop in on them.  She is still fighting, and had just had her feeding tube removed a few house before I arrived.  It was so good to see her, and I hope I get the chance to see her again.

That night we all got together again for dinner, and more family time.  These 3 girls quickly bonded, and were pretty inseparable.

The older cousins busted out a card game, while the parents visited. 

We always wish we had more time to visit and be together, but like all vacations it quickly came to an end.  We're glad we were able to make the trip, and make some lasting memories.

Water Day

The first day of vacation our family had planned to go to a water park.  Not everyone could go to the water park, due to work/school obligations.  Soon after arriving we quickly got the impression my parents were feeling left out of the days activities, so we invited them to go to the new aquarium instead.  My Dad was really excited to get out of the house.

We told him we would take turns pushing him around in a wheelchair which is just what we did.  He even got up and walked a little himself.  My sister Susan and her daughter Tori also came along which made it even more fun.

We quickly fell in love with this new/improved aquarium.  All the kids were able to get up close and personal with all the fish.

They have several different touch pools where you can touch anything from starfish to stingrays.

Besides the HUGE shark tank, I think by far our favorite exhibit was the penguins.  This is Sadi's favorite animal, and she was in heaven watching these guys.

There were 3 baby penguins, all of different ages within the exhibit but they were sleeping most the time we were there.

These guys are just so funny waddling around.  We especially enjoyed watching one particular penguin waddle back and forth trying to figure out how to get down off a ledge.

I liked watching these two have the longest staring contest I have ever seen. 

In the Asia habitat we found some slimy creatures.  Kelsey tested her kissing skills on the frog to see if he would turn into a prince....

Where there's a jungle, there's bound to be a bridge...

Now this, is a funny exhibit that I was happy they had not taken away from the old aquarium (the electric eel fish).  If you see this, you have to take a seat and watch how funny people are when they try it.  Matt is pretty strong and can hold on for a long time.

I teased the kids and told them it wasn't even turned on.  Sadi gave it a try....she was not happy about my little "bluff".

We visited the arctic, and ran across Shamu's friends.

 

We had a "whaley" good time.  Of course we had to visit the gift shop (you actually have to walk through it to exit....well played marketing dept., well played).  So, we left with a few new critters to take care of.

Later that night, it was time for a family barbecue in Susan's backyard.  We also had a salsa contest, which was fun to try each family's salsa.  Mine came in second (I believe only because some thought it too hot...wimps).  Each family was asked to bring a game to play, however we were the only one's to actually bring one.  We played the "not so new newly wed game" with the adults. 

It was really fun, and we played well into the dark.  It was fun to see how well the spouses new each other.  (Since I was playing I enlisted others to take photo's for me, this was the best I got)

We had some pretty revealing answers,

and we all had some really good laughs.

Luckie had a few moments of explaining to do....

It was fun to have my parents participating as well.

Matt and I didn't win, but we did okay. 

My brother David and his wife Santina won.  I bought the winners a gift card for DQ ice-cream, and all the losers got a little extra love for the night (Hershey kisses).

Vacation...changed a bit

We had a camping trip planned with my family in Utah for the first week in August.  Because of my parents accident, our camping trip was cancelled.  My brother Mark had planned some other fun activities for all of us during the days we would have been camping.  It was a little weird rolling into town seeing how much everything has changed.

It was so good to see my parents, and how well they have recovered so far.  My Dad is able to get around now pretty good for a short time with a cane.

We unloaded and Matt and I headed out to run some errands, and to go to dinner to celebrate his birthday!  I felt bad that we really didn't do anything to celebrate all day...unless you count the licence plate game :/  I failed big this birthday.  We ordered big to celebrate at T.G.I. Friday's.  Great food, hot date, horrible service!

I wanted to get him a cake or something but Matt isn't really a fan of sweets, so we headed back to my parents and spent the evening visiting, and watching a competitive game of Life.

Snow in July

This weekend we set out to do something we have wanted to do all summer...hike.  We picked a hike we remembered enjoying a few years ago, Winnemucca Lake. 

Chase and Sadi were not happy about our choice of activities for the day, and made it known they were protesting.  The views hiking this trail are incredible.

There were wildflowers all over this trail and  I was glad there were not bee's in abundance.

There were plenty of places along the trail to sit and rest, including this tree we remembered from the last time we hiked here.

Just a mile into the hike there is a fork in the trail where you can take a short detour and head to Frog Lake.  Since we got such a late start to the day we decided that we would stop for lunch here.

The lake was much higher this year, and the view....

We ate lunch and decided to explore around the lake.  The kids loved climbing the rocks,

and exploring all the different view points. 

We even found a good patch of snow!  The kids wanted to stay and play.  We decided to stay here and enjoy the rest of the day rather than push them to hike more.

This snow loving girl was in heaven. 

I even helped her build a GIANT snowman.

Okay not giant, but man that snow was SO cold! 

We found a nice beach area on one side of the lake that was somewhat sandy, and let the kids play in the water.  

It was such an enjoyable afternoon free of wifi and texting.  I was sad when we headed back down the mt. and once again reached service and everyone's phone's started blowing up.  It was nice to be without those distractions, even if it was just for a few hours.