A Second Trip

On July 5th, we packed the family up again and headed east to David’s parents.  His sisters were coming with their kids, and we had some errands to run while the grandparents watched the girls.  David spent the weekend with us at his parents then headed home Sunday night to work for the week.  The girls and I stayed at his parents’ for the rest of the week—that was not the original plan, but things change.  We had a great time with the in-laws and even got to visit some old friends.

Some of the cousins posing for a picture.

All the cousins posing—grandma wanted a new picture for her frame.  I’m not sure the kids cooperated well enough to get a good picture.

We spent one whole day at a children’s museum that was not too far from the farm.  The kids had a great time exploring, and didn’t even get to everything.

They had a “river” area outside.

The dinosaurs roared and moved.  Bria was scared, but Bentley loved it.

These blocks were really cool.  The pictures of what you could build with them was amazing.

Aunt H and I decided to help Bria make a more stable house than the one that was already built.  We spent a good hour figuring and constructing.

Outside the museum, grandpa had to take a picture of all of us.

At the farm, the kids enjoyed playing with each other, grandparents, exploring the farm, playing in the pool, and lots more.

Bentley and grandpa working on the conveyor that goes with the trains.

Bria by the pool.  The main way of keeping cool outside.

Two sisters who really love each other, even though they may fight some times.

We came back home on Saturday and are trying to get back into our “normal” routine.  I thought things would slow down when we got back, but it looks like we will be busy for a couple of weeks yet.

Earlier this Month…

At the very beginning of the month, we had a family gathering (really a reunion) for my mom’s side of the family.  I’m not sure how many were there in total, but we all stayed at a hunting lodge not to far from my grandpa’s.  All my aunts, uncles, and cousins were able to make it.  It has been a long time since we have all been together.  Some of my relatives I haven’t seen in at least 5 years, maybe even more.  It was great to see everyone.

The girls were a little nervous to begin with but warmed up to my younger cousins quickly.

All of July has been very hot, so these little pools were one of the ways the kids kept cool.  Once in a while, even the adults could be found standing in the pool to cool off.

We spent plenty of time outside and even played some yard games.

It was too warm some of the days to spend too much time playing games, so some time was spent in town, at the pool and the river, or inside the nicely air conditioned lodge.

Some of my family is from a state where they are not allowed to shoot off fireworks.  What would a gathering around July 4th be without fireworks?  So, on the 3rd we attempted to shoot off some fireworks at my parents’ house (about 40 minutes away), but the wind came up too much, and due to the dry conditions, we ended the night early.  As we were heading back to the lodge at 11pm the car thermometer still showed 90 degrees. 

On the 4th everyone headed back home.  We came home and celebrated with some friends with a picnic at their ranch.

The next day we headed out again.