This past week we got to spend time with lots of my side of the family! Friday morning we drove to Boise for a friend from Georgia's very unexpected funeral.
She was Blake's best friend's Mom - the boys were always together, so it was pretty sad to see the husband and kids she left behind. It really makes you stop and think about how short life is.
Then it was back to Aunt Shannon and Uncle Devin's house for the weekend. The kids had fun playing with cousins, swimming in their new pool and going out for ice cream.
Saturday night Grandma and Grandpa got in to Boise. We enjoyed playing some games that evening and headed to Walla Walla after church on Sunday. Check out Blake's new suit we got him, he looks WAY too old...not gonna lie it made me REALLY sad...he does look sharp though.
We spent Sunday evening relaxing around our house. Some how the little girls climbed up on Rick's lap while he was on his iPad and convinced him to turn a Tinkerbell movie on to watch with them...still not sure how they managed that one, but it was really cute!
Monday morning we all headed over to the Pendleton Aquatic Center for some fun in the sun with everybody.
The kids were pretty excited that Grandma and Grandpa got in on the action and did more than just hang out in the kiddie area.
After a little coaxing Blake was able to talk Ashlyn into going off the high dive with him quite a few times...no such luck with any of the cousins, but they were able to talk Zach into jumping off the lower diving board. Ryleigh was pretty grouchy that she wasn't tall enough to leave the kiddie area.
Tuesday morning Grandma and Grandpa went into Rick's office to get eye exams.
And Bailey talked Blake into playing some games with her.
They had a fun cousin sleepovers each night in Ashlyn's room, even though Blake decided he was too old to participate.
Thursday afternoon we headed to Tri-Cities to my aunt's house for my Dad's family reunion.
Poor Blake was trapped in the car with all us girls and the Frozen soundtrack for the drive. The kids had a blast belting out the songs...Blake was just thankful it was only an hour drive!
We had fun seeing most of my aunts and uncles and some of our cousins. The best part was the picnic and all the games we played one afternoon at Pioneer Park here in Walla Walla. We did a water balloon toss that ended up getting out of hand like they always do, but was a blast.
We played a human size version of Candy Land - that I won! Had a paper airplane contest...
...had a scavenger hunt and played a game trying to break each other's hard boiled eggs. After my dad's reunion my parents and my brother's family headed home...
...but the fun didn't end there for the Harrison and Larsen families! We headed up to Anthony Lake for a long weekend of camping.
Talk about BEAUTIFUL scenery!
(Remember this island for swimming pictures)
Rick was pretty excited to try out his new cot he bought for all the future campouts he has to take the scouts on. He admitted it was very comfortable and won't mind camping more often.
The kids had a great time spending time with cousins and relaxing in the outdoors.
We couldn't have asked for better weather.
The first morning we set out on a hike...poor Bailey and Ryleigh are so short that it was a lot shorter of a hike than the Harrisons would've done on their own, but we still had fun and were able to see lots of REALLY pretty views.
Notice Bailey is almost always riding on someone's shoulders! Blake was pretty excited to offer her a ride the first night we were there and hiked around the lake.
Most of the time the kids were ahead of us on the trail and at one point we hear, "Oh no!" The rest of us came around the corner to this fun bridge across a muddy bog...they were all a little nervous to go across.
On the hike there were lots a huge meadows, full of tall grass. The first one the kids looked at us with big eyes and asked if they could run through it. It was pretty cute to watch them take off...
...luckily it wasn't a muddy mess once they got out there. It was beautiful with the big rocky hills behind them and the big trees. I couldn't help asking them to spin and sing "The Hills are Alive" from Sound of Music...they spun, but wouldn't sing.
Remember the island from an earlier picture? Ashlyn was proud to be the first one to swim out to it, despite the VERY cold water and chilly breeze that day.
The boys got out there a little after her. They swam way out to the middle of the lake together. Uncle Devin finally joined them, but we had taken the younger kids back to camp to change into dry clothes, so we don't have a picture with him in it.
It was a great time to enjoy nature, get away from the crazy heat we have had in Walla Walla this summer and spend time with family. We had a lot of fun camping Larsen family and can't wait to go again next summer!
No comments:
Post a Comment