Saturday, June 29, 2024

Grandpa's House and the Idaho Family Reunion

Because my dad took the oldest three kids home with him until we came down to take them to Idaho for the Wilkins' Family Reunion, I promised Trevor and Natalie to take them swimming at our local pool so they could have a special time too. Since Natalie isn't much of a swimmer yet, I had to get in the water with them most of the time and we had a lot of fun.
Trevor was big enough to go on the slide this time, so he spent a ton of time going on it over and over again. The lifeguard was nice and said Natalie could go even though she was an inch or two shy of the height requirement, but she didn't really like it that much and one time was enough for her.
Trevor bought an icy with his own money and was so sweet about sharing it with Natalie.

Since the older boys were gone, we got stuck with walking Torben in the evening and Natalie came with me on a scooter around Windsor Lake while Trevor was at his church activity one night.
I don't have all the pictures, but the three older kids had a great time with their grandpa learning to ride the 4-wheeler, going hiking and building Bella a dam in the river so she could lie in the water, going swimming with Aunt Abbey, and seeing Uncle Travis and Chanel.  As soon as we got to my dad's house, Asher hopped on the 4-wheeler and gave Trevor a little ride before backing it up into its storage place.


We were able to meet my mom and Rex at the Spaghetti Factory to go out to dinner to celebrate her birthday early.
We drove up to Idaho early the next morning for the family reunion. There was a little old tractor for the kids to drive around,

root beer and lots of other treats to enjoy with cousins,





 

and Natalie's favorite was a swing ride that she got on as many times as possible when other kids weren't waiting for it.


 

There were also some presentation of family history and lots of time to talk to relatives (some previously unknown) which the adults enjoyed, but the kids mostly just stuck to playing with their first cousins whom they know very well. 


Also, Leif was so enamored with his "Hello My Name is" tag that he insisted on keeping it on for days until I finally made him take it off so I could wash his shirt. 

It was a long drive home the next day, but we were glad to be home once we got here!


 

Friday, June 28, 2024

Heidi's Ballet Recital, Keely's Birthday, and Father's Day

We had a super-packed weekend with three exciting events in a row. My dad came up to spend the weekend with us and celebrate all three. Mostly, he came to see Heidi's recital and visit with the other kids as well, but it was fun to have him here for the rest too.

My dad paid Natalie $5 to take care of Bella while we were at the recital and then went to dinner. As you can see, she did a wonderful job and spent most of the time brushing her.


Heidi really wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant that she has been to before with her other grandpa, and it was pretty good.



For my birthday, we made chocolate waffles (Austin's parents came over too) and hung out around the house-especially in the backyard.

Austin and both our dads also helped the kids fix their bikes so they can get out and ride more.

For Father's Day, Heidi and Leif made a chocolate Oreo pie. They did a great job and it was really good, but it was a little too much for us to eat.