Rolling and Rowing

Our day started out at the train station.

Fortunately, we didn't have to ride in a box car.

We were all excited.

We had lunch on the train.

It was quite tasty.

A train robber got on board.

When I tried to sneak a picture, he threatened to take me hostage.  It was very exciting.

We saw many sights.

It was a perfect day.

Ella concurred.

Luke had the best time.

Of course Kate just chilled.

I asked everyone to smile.

We have an overachiever in the family.

Then we rafted down the Provo River.

Papa Ben really enjoyed this.  I had a great time, too.

This started out fun...

And got better and better.

Luke looked for fish.

Ella is in love with the mountains.

Jane got brave and moved to the front.

Kate sat next to me the whole time.

After awhile Luke and Ben joined Kate in the front of the raft.

Janey had a blast!

This is how we all felt at the end of the trip.

All Wet

I was the caregiver for 2 adorable children yesterday.  We chose to go to a nearby splash pad, my first visit.

It won't be my last.

Happy Birthday!

No one forgot today was a special day.

I got up extra early to make bagels.

I wanted something special for Ella's birthday.

The bagel was fine, but Luke contributed a cupcake from the counter.

This was definitely a better marker of the occasion.

Luke and I played hookey from an outing.  We put together a puzzle.

He beat me in Memory, fair and square.

To my chagrin, I lost a child today.
After frantically searching, I finally found her sawing logs.

Papa Ben and I took Jeff's family to the tramp place.

Jane loved it.

Jumping into the foam pit seemed very natural.

Ben had a great time, too.

He liked both the up and down parts.

Kate was pretty much interested in being up.

Jeff's family enjoyed trampoline-dodgeball.

My camera did not like this and refused to focus.

That's not going to keep me from using my pictures.

This was very intense.

It was, in fact, perfect for the birthday girl.

Flying High!

We've been having a lot of fun!

One of my favorite things is watching Jeff and Steve toss kids up in the air.

Pretty much everyone loves this.

The kids have a lot of fun with Ben's underwater camera, which wasn't really lost.

I just didn't know where it was.

So far we haven't lost any people.

I will admit we've come close.

This is a selfie.

Kate has been pretty relaxed this week.

Camille is not relaxed at all.

Our evenings have been more calm than our days, fortunately.

Someone had a birthday.

We've stretched out the festivities.

Everyone loves a birthday party!

Sometimes the guests are as important as the guest of honor.

We spent a whole day at the Curiosity Museum.

I had heard rave reviews about this.

Turns out nothing was exaggerated.

We had fun with a mysterious harp.

We all took turns.

My favorite was this room.

Luke, Kyle and I stayed after the others left.

How hard can you squeeze?

Jeff and Luke got a good score.

I happen to know that Papa Ben can squeeze pretty hard.

The zip line was a blast.

Almost everyone took a turn while Papa Ben calculated the energy output.

Jane was excited but not tall enough to get on by herself.

I had a lot of fun watching.

Ella smiled this big all day long.

So did Kate.

Seriously.

The rope climb was fun for Camille.

Adele found something very interesting.

Usually I just enjoy watching the kids play together.

This time I was in there with them, having fun.

I did not have as much fun as Jane.

We all learned something new.

And sometimes our circle of close cousins got larger.

The museum had something for everyone.

This room was full of water exhibits, and yet we all stayed dry.

We spent a lot of time learning about our eyes.

Papa Ben and I were planning who we would take next before we left the museum.

Climbing was probably the most fun, but very hard to photograph.

I had asked them in advance to please stop and wave; otherwise I would have missed this.

Back at the ranch, we still managed to have fun.  This dodecahedron consumed Steve and Kyle's vacation.

Camille had a lot of fun with Corinne's doll house.

We are still eating well.

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals.  I'm happy when others enjoy it with me.

Espy has been included in several family events.

Camille helped make cupcakes for Ella's birthday.

Adele taste-tested the batter.

Jane joined in the frosting event.

I'm pretty sure Jane enjoys Utah corn more than cupcakes.

Janet was interested in the books on my shelves.  She found a 40-year-old house-cleaning book.  It is the author's belief that the state of our home reflects our personality.  We had quite a laugh about that over the course of the week.

Cleaning the house has not been a priority.

Having fun has been the goal.

Everyone has been playing with my collection of bean bags from a recent Primary calling.

No one has had more fun with them than Jeff and Steve.

They have both been juggling objects for many years.

This was their goal, which was quite impressive.

I keep an eye on which of my toys are used.

We have spent many hours discussing how this works.

I bought a new game.  It was fun even when we made up our own rules.

Adele is pretty good at making up her own rules.

The XOs have become a standard.  I finally learned how to operate one.

Camille gets along with everyone.

One morning while doing a head count, I found these two quietly working on a project in the garage.

We've enjoyed a lot of music.

Luke's favorite song is In Our Lovely Deseret.

Not everyone knew the words.

Ella has a beautiful voice.

I love to hear my boys sing.

I love to hear them play, too.

Ella has decided being on the other side of my camera isn't such a bad thing.

Some people are so into their vacations that they don't even notice.