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! 

More from Washington

 It's been several years since we'd been here at prime cherry picking time.

 Super yum. 

 Uncle Bryson and Aunt Pam's wedding reception. My parents and siblings. 

Grandpa and Grandma Hill came out from Idaho for a quick visit. They are half of my kids' last living great-grandparents. 

 Evelyn on a sugar high. 

 Angel food cake with slice strawberries and cream puffs were served, along with fresh cherries, nuts and candy. I like food. So does Jilly - most of the time. 

 Evelyn posing a nice picture for Dad. It's been the best picture of her this year.

 The kids liked watching who was going to get cake in the face. Jaren's kind of photo-bombing in the background. I think the kids liked the wedding over all; they had a lot of fun entertaining each other. 

 Nicole and I (my sibling closest in age to myself). She took on the task of last-minute prep for the reception, and I was  happy to babysit the kids. 

If Gordon could have made this face in our good pictures, he would have been a happy camper. 

The cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Cow's House

Everything is more fun with cousins around! We all stayed at the house and carried out plans Grandma had made for the wedding reception. For the kids, this meant hours of mostly uninterrupted play time. 

 Train-building. They cooperated most of the time. And then 10 month old Devon would come along to dismantle it. 

 Ev and Kaden trying to swing together. 

 My mom was working on this flower bed - here it is unfinished. It provided the perfect digging pile for the kids. They built a system of canals and filled them up a few times over the course of a couple days. 

 Digging potatoes out of the raised beds. I wish I could get my garden plants to look this good!

 It was hot, so out came the sprinkler. 

 Burying Gordon. He came out covered in dirt, and then muddied the small pool in the backyard. 

Hoping for four-wheeler rides. 

 They were playing nicely, and then not-so-nicely. Ben made them all hug. It was funny watching them do it so begrudgingly, except for Clayton. He was more than happy to squish all together. 

 Watching Uncle Ryan blow up things up or race during the hot part of the day. 

The pasture at sunset. I love how quiet and dark it gets at night. Summer is definitely the best time to visit. 

The cursed fishing trip

Way before we were ever in Washington, Tyler asked Ben if he wanted to go fishing. Ben was game, and we just had to figure out when it would happen. After the wedding, we headed north, and picked up a fishing license at Cabela's along the way. We did not get a catch record card with the license, due to some employee oversight (we didn't even know that he was supposed to have one). It wasn't until about 10:30 pm that Tyler realized Ben didn't have a catch card, which put the fishing trip in jeopardy. Ben headed to the only open retailer who would sell fishing licenses at that hour, Wal-Mart. They couldn't  do anything. Ben gets pulled over for a headlight being out on the van on the way back to the house (no ticket). The guys resolved to hit up a gas station on the way to the fishing destination, a drive of two hours. It's midnight by this point, and we all turn in for the night, Ben and Tyler getting two hours of sleep before getting up to leave at 3 am. Nicole and I hoped they'd be able to stay awake on their drive. They left for fishing around 3:30am (?), and this time Tyler gets pulled over on the way south (he gets a ticket, boo). They were able to get the catch card though, after buying another fishing license. 

 Elk herd

 They got there after 5 am, got rigged up, and waited. 

 And waited. 

 Finally, Ben nabs a nice steelhead trout. It would prove to be the only catch made that trip. 

 Poor Tyler, so much trouble gone through for this trip, and no fish to show for it. All in all, we had a good laugh about the money spent - the ticket fine, three fishing licenses, and the gas, for one fish. Ben summarized the experience by saying, "You don't go fishing to catch fish, you go so you can have a good story to tell."  

The lone fish on the grill for dinner the next day. It's creepy how the eyeballs turn white. 

While the mens were off fishing, the kids continued to run wild, happy to play together, while the moms packed to head to Grandma's house. As soon as the mens returned, we left. It was eight hours of driving that day for Ben and Tyler. Ben was pretty sick of driving by this point, we'd been doing it for five days up til then.

The kids took turns swapping vehicles as we made stops, entertaining each other for the 4 hour drive. Fun times for them. 

Bryson and Pam's wedding

It was the place where the cousins had crazy-fun being together. 

Eating breakfast in the hotel, trying to keep them all under some semblance of control so we didn't get a noise complaint lodged against us. 

 If all wedding pictures could look like this, then we wouldn't have any trouble at all. 

 I had high expectations of getting a picture as good as the one we got two summers ago, but Gordon just was not in the mood for it. This one is pretty good thought. 

 Gordon secretly hopes to be adopted by his cousins so he can live in a house full of boys. 

 Eww. Kissing. 

 Gordon, the picture evader, wouldn't get in this shot with all the kids. 

 Jilly looks like she's off on some secret-evil mission or something. 

 Gordon is the one turned backwards on the right. Such a stinker. I think wedding pictures and kids under the age of six don't mix well. 

The weather stayed really nice throughout the picture shoot, and didn't start raining until the very end of all the pictures, when all the kids were back in the cars eating lunch. It was a fun and eventful day, one that my girls will hopefully remember.