The vacation continues- July

After the cousins left, found some things to do. 

Uncle Ryan helped us set up the target shooting table one night. The kids really liked this, and nobody got shot. Win-win! Evelyn actually hit her tiny targets three times! We also spent some time at the pool, and generally relaxed from a week of wedding stuff. 

 A friend of my family's hosted a fireworks show on July 3rd, so we stopped by. It got exciting at points (fireworks repeatedly flying in the wrong direction), but again, nobody got burned, so yay! Ben's trying to dole out some snappers in this picture. We ate fourth of July breakfast at my parent's church building (they were hosting it, and it was great), and then left for Idaho.

 Grandma Chickens, home of the chickens. (Or chicks, in this picture). The chicks were about a week old when we arrived, and provided hours of entertainment for the kids during our stay.

 Gordon playing with his great-grandpa's guitar. He was pretending to be Brandon Flowers from The Killers.

 Aunt Michelle has been the family foodie the last few summers we've visited, and again provided new culinary experiences for us. These are jello cherry bombs, very patriotic and quite delicious. Later in the evening, we went to a cemetery on a hilltop that overlooks the river where the fireworks are shot off. We had a great view.

 Michelle also happens to really enjoy making pasta, and we will take her up on any homemade pasta dish she wants to try out on us. I think this ended up being Shrimp Scampi. The pasta was delicious.

 Evelyn wanted a mani-pedi for her birthday, so Grandma took us out for one with Aunt Michelle. We ate at Costa Vida afterwards. Yummy! Even the girls liked it.

 Ben tried his luck at a few bike rides in the 100 degree heat. But he forgot his camelbak so he couldn't go far before running out of water. He made it up Old Freezeout (a big hill in Emmett) for a picture that overlooks the valley. He also helped Grandpa Chickens work on some home improvement projects. (Good experience for the future).

 Grandma Chickens acquired a new hobby since we visited last summer, quilting. She found fabric for the girls to construct their own pillowcases. Here they're simply attempting to follow the lines on the fabric with an unthreaded needle - they did pretty well. Each girl ended up with her own pretty pillow case.

 At the beginning of the visit, the kids were very gentle with their chicks. Toward the end, the chicks were either running in terror at the sound of them (ahem, Gordon), or would just give up and go along with whoever had them. The girls' chicks were a bit more of the latter variety. Jill has her chick "resting" in this picture.

 Some long-time friends who now live in the area came out for a swim one night. Fun times!

While out in Idaho, we got word that Ben's paternal grandmother had passed away in Utah. She was 90 years old, and had been frail for quite some time. It was a real blessing the way things worked out, as the funeral was held on a date which we could easily attend. She was a very sweet lady, and loved holding my kids when they were babies. We didn't see her often, but enough for our kids to know who she was. 

From Utah, it was a straight shot home, with a 10 pm stop in St. George for In-n-Out. That place was hopping, even that late in the evening. We made it home at 4 am, relieved to feel the ocean breeze coming from the coast!