Saturday is a Special Day

Many people slept in this  morning.  Kyle and I got tired of waiting, so we had a pre-breakfast of cookies and milk. 

The bagel dough was ready by the time these two adorable helpers came upstairs.

Camille taught Julia how to shape the bagels.

Adele woke up and asked if she could help.

While I worked with Julia and Adele, Camille took over boiling the bagels.

Then she put the egg white wash on the cooked bagels.

While the bagels baked, the girls played a game of Hoot Owl Hoot.

Kyle had time to build a marble track.

The sun began to rise.

Finally, the bagels were ready to eat!

Julia and Adele accompanied me on a few quick errands.  We got a cookie.

Later in the morning, a group of us went to the Escher exhibit at BYU.  I asked and got permission to take this picture with my cell phone.

After the museum, we explored.

We spent time inside and outside.

Melanie, Dave and Carolyn got lost.  We pretended we'd found them.

Lewis caught a ride.

The vortex cannon is one of my favorite things.

We took turns being the target.  My camera and I shot back.

Steve successfully explained the Foucault pendulum to me.  If you ask, I'll explain it to you.

The little kids thought rides were fun.

Aunt Janet was the preferred choice.

Carolyn and Nate helped me make chicken pot pie for dinner.  It smelled delicious.

This needed to bake for almost an hour.  During that time Will and Dave watched a movie Carolyn made of our week together.

Jacob climbed up into the attic to help Papa with a home repair.

Steve and some of his peeps played Commander.

Adele asked for pool lessons.

Finally, dinner was ready.  We had two of these pans, and it was a big hit!

Kyle had thirds.  So did Nate.

After dinner, Matt found the sweet spot in my entry hall and sang a selection from Hamilton for us.

After a fun, delicious day, we had a new fan join us for Star Trek tonight!

Shabu Shabu

In a never-ending task to tidy the refrigerator, I ate the last of the sukiyaki for breakfast.  For the record, this meal surpassed any leftover pizza I've ever eaten.

Kyle shared the early morning hours with Uncle Dave and me.  He and some friends rested for a time on the couch.

Carolyn discovered a jar of raspberry jam in my kitchen.  She thought a linzer torte would be a good use for it.  Camille accepted the invitation to assist.

After breakfast, I took six grandchildren to the tramp place.

Nathan likes the ropes, which require good upper-body strength.

He also likes to jump, and he's fun to watch.

Camille started right off with some flips.

She worked on jumping high.

A ponytail-braid was the perfect hairdo.

Camille did very well on the ropes, swinging for six seconds!

Camille also took her chances in the dodgeball pit, and survived.

Matt wanted to spend time with us, so he came on our adventure.

He flipped in the air with ease.

Matt spent most of his time in the dodgeball pit.

He loved every second.

After this past summer, Jacob feels like the tramp place is his second home.

He's good at the ropes.

Few of my pictures were in focus today, but Jacob in the dodgeball pit?  No way.

Julia also had the perfect hairdo.

She saw the ropes as a great challenge.

She spent extra time here.

However, Julia is a pro at jumping, with or without a trampoline.

Kyle was excited for this opportunity to improve his jumping skills.

Like Jacob, Nate and Matt, he spent most of his time in the dodgeball pit.

Learning to be aggressive is a skill Kyle definitely improved on today.

Steve joined us with Adele and Lewis.

Steve tried to teach Lewis how to jump.

Steve wasn't having much luck, but Lewis has having fun anyway.

Julia joined us in the large ball pit.

She loved the slide.

In fact, she spent quite a bit of time jumping down the slide.

Adele became a living example of static electricity.

Every one of us has become enchanted with Lewis during this trip.

While Dad fished his sock out of the foam pit, Lewis found something out of line.

Camille found a set of ropes nearby and practiced.

Lewis was happy to jump as long as Steve was nearby.

Julia took her chances in the dodgeball pit.

To  my amazement, the cousins were never on the same team.

Steve and No-Fear Nate had fun together.

After a lunch of cheese tortillas, the kids helped me determine exactly how much ice cream was in my freezer.

We decided there was way too much for just Papa and me.

They were happy to help with this dilemma.

Carolyn and Camille continued working on the torte.

In the world of the unexplained, I had never heard of a Linzer Torte before today, and now I don't know how I lived without it.

After an afternoon of Commander, the big kids raided my toy closet and actually played a game which had never been out before.  They had a blast.

Meanwhile, a group I was completely uninvolved with prepared dinner.

Shabu Shabu is one of our favorite meals.

Dave's family enjoys this dinner often.

Lewis enjoyed it for the first time, and I enjoyed watching him.

Papa Ben is the one who makes this meal happen, but tonight he had a lot of help.

After dinner, my peeps joined me for a Star Trek episode.  To my delight, we have a new fan!