Dewey is Light Squirrels

Julia worked on her cannonball skills this morning.

Dave and I talked about playing songs vs playing music.  This was one of the most fun conversations I've ever had.

Carolyn and Julia played catch.  Occasionally Julia's throws went a little haywire.

Exhibit A.

Dave caught it on the first try, which actually foreshadowed the rest of his day.

I thought lunch was pretty good.  I based it around Dave's leftover salsa from earlier in the week.  Jacob did not think it was hot enough.

Carolyn prepared lunch for Melanie, then lickety-split Dave and the kids were in the car with her to deliver it.  They played penny golf in the SWKT until their legs turned to Jello from going down the stairs.

Upon their return, Nate, Jacob and I played a game of Extreme Calvin Ball. I was light swirls, Nate was solids and Jacob was stripes, his least favorite.

This was no one's best game, and then Nate scratched on the 8 ball.

Jacob and I followed that game with perhaps the worst game of ECB ever.  For example, Jacob accidentally hit in three of my light squirrels and I STILL LOST.

Dave casually accepted our invitation to play.  He hit six balls in on his first turn, winning on his second turn.  Yes, Jacob is groaning and yes, Dave's smile was very real.

Dave's lucky streak held.  He won the first game of Train.

Nate carefully pondered each move.

Julia was very excited to win a game.

Dave, still on a winner's streak, won again.

Carolyn won twice, and then it was time for dinner.  Some people went out.  The rest of us foraged.

For the record, Jacob thinks dinners around here are the best.

Tramping

Our day began at the tramp place in Orem.

Even though we haven't been there for awhile, it was just like old times.

One big difference is that Jacob has a lot more muscle.

He's now a pole vaulter, so jumping is something he does well.

Jacob is fun to watch.

Nathan is full of surprises.

A few inches in height has made all the difference for Julia.  She had a great time.

I was surprised at the faces my camera caught today.

Times two.

I have it on good authority that one area has been patterned after American Ninja Warrior.  Nate, unfortunately, ended up on the most difficult track.

Jacob's route was a cake walk.

Dodgeball is still there.

So is actual tramping.  We were still scouting out the place while we waited for Dave and Carolyn, who had stopped to do an errand for Ben.

In all my years of visiting this place, this tight rope has not moved.

I'll be honest here.

I don't know why it's there.  It's pretty hard.

The slide is kind of new.  It's a lot of fun.  Julia was first up, and trust me, it's a big climb.

Nate joined her.

I have several favorite pictures from today.  This is one of them.

The kids returned to the dodgeball pit, and about that time I received a text from Carolyn.

Carolyn texted to say they were delayed.  I've been living with the movie-line guy for more than a week, so I was pretty proud of my response.

Dave and Carolyn arrived just before our turn to climb.

Between you and me, climbing is more fun to watch than tramping.

My camera did have a few problems keeping up, though.

The kids had 30 minutes and couldn't begin to climb everything.

Four years ago, Jacob and I spent a whole summer here, but the climbing is new.  It's great.

Jacob, a pole-vaulter as you recall, tried to use just his upper body when he could.

A nice change for me is that the kids can keep up with each other, so I wasn't checking on one here and another there.

The harness keeps the kids safe, but this is still challenging.

Nate and Jacob climbed face to face.

This was fun to watch and went pretty quickly.  To us on the ground, it looked like Nate had beat Jacob.

As I sorted pictures, I realized that Jacob had actually beat Nate to the top, but Nate figured out how to ring his buzzer before Jacob did, so it looked like Nate had won.

Dave thought seriously about joining them.  If we go again, he might do it.

Nate climbed a wall and then jumped over onto this boxing bag.  The goal was to move it six feet.  Nate didn't even budge it an inch before sliding off.

I asked Nate if he could climb this so I could see what had to be done.  It was quite intricate.

Jacob climbed up and grabbed a trapeze.

My camera missed the pull-up.  You'll have to trust me that this happened.  I was impressed.

My camera slept through lunch, but woke up in time for donuts, which Dave and Carolyn brought home, along with Melanie.

I am not a fan of donuts, not that I wasn't tempted to change my opinion.

Finally it was time for pool. Nate creamed me, but he scratched on the 8-ball.

Jacob and Julia joined us for Extreme Calvin Ball.

These kids are all really good.

There is nothing on the schedule tomorrow except pool.  Yet.