Fair Week!

In the past when Shaun has had his summers off- we have been able to spend a good portion of Fair Week at the fair.  However- this year we only got to have the weekend- so we had to squeeze every last drop of fun out of the few days we had available to us.  

We took the kids in to have a look at the animals...  Kate kept her distance from most of them...

And Ty was thinking he was pretty cool and tough by touching the nose of this little pig.  However- when the pig turned to look at him... my little city boy jumped clear out of my camera's lens range and this was what I was left with.  It made me giggle though- so I kept it.

Ryan took some time to goof off around papa's 4-wheeler...

I also had the chance to snap a few pictures of Grandpa JayBird and Grandma Dorothy while they were at the house one evening...

And it was onto the RODEO!  I have to admit- I look forward to the rodeo all summer long.  I love it!  And my kids love it- I hope we do it until we are all too old and decrepit to make it up the bleacher steps anymore.

Chad, Jeni and baby Carson joined us for the rodeo too (along with Grandma and Grandpa).  Though- I guess I should quit calling him baby Carson- he turned one this week!!

 And what Fair Week post would be complete without a family picture of us at the rodeo?  I think I have a picture of us in this same spot for as many years as we have been coming to the rodeo.

New Family Pictures!

While we were in Declo this last weekend, I had my cute sister in law, Dani take some new family pictures of us... I think we're pretty darn cute if I say so myself!!

Thanks!

Thanks again mom and dad for a SUPER fun week!  We had so much fun and love you guys so much!

Minnetonka

My dad, Shaun, Dave, Cam, Nat, Miss and Jer all went to visit Minnetonka Cave one rainy morning.  The kids all thought it was very cool... though Kate got cold.  

Super Mable

On a whim- we decided to rent a tube one of the days on the lake.  It was called the SUPER MABLE.  She was huge.  You can see from the pictures- it's like a loveseat on water!  

The kids loved it- and this was probably the reason we decided to rent one for the day.  Yes they can jump into the water and drive the boat- but it was kind of fun to have something the kids could do behind the boat too.  Uncle Dave was the first on one with all the kids...

They rode it for a while, then Dave handed Cam into the boat and he and the boys took off...

Then it was my turn... I stuck Kate back on and we went for a nice little ride.

Being stupid- I let the kids get off the tube first and I stayed on ol' Mable to catch some rays while the kids played in the water.  Once the kids were back in, my brother and his wife jumped on the tube and my dad took off.

See... here's my issue with tubes.  Fun for little ones.  But when you put teenagers and adults on the tube- it's like a switch flips in the boat driver.  All of a sudden there is only one thing that goes through his mind... "MUST DUMP TUBE RIDERS".  He then proceeds in driving like a maniac trying to dump off the idiots that signed on to be the riders.

That said... off we went...

I held on for dear freakin' life.  I was so terrified my grip was going to slip and I was going to knock all 8 pounds of my sister in law into the water and land on top of her.  It's just not a  pretty picture...

We made it though... No causalities.  Other than the punch I threw at my father for driving like an idiot.

And I got a cute picture of Gma and Gpa with ALL their grandkids!

Jackson Hole

We took Wednesday and drove up to Jackson Hole.  It was a long drive with the little kids- but I guess that's why they invented in-car DVD systems.  Thank goodness for Mickey Mouse- Kate may have induced some kind of mayhem if we hadn't had Mickey along for the ride.  

Once we got there- we went to a little park up by one of the ski resorts so the kids could get out and wiggle for a little while.  They had a lot of fun throwing around the football...

And climbing on the climbing wall...

HeeHee helped Kate out when she got  a rock stuck in her shoe.  Check out Kate's hair... can you say bad hair day???

Ryan took a turn going up the wall...

And this is as far as fearless (cough cough) Kate made it...

Then we ran the river... Grandma babysat for us and we took the afternoon to run down the Snake.  So much fun!!  We were on a smaller raft- it only had room for 6 paddlers.  Since we were a party of 7- one of us had to ride in the front at any given time.  We decided to switch between each "Big" rapid.  Each of us "rode the bull" and ended up soaking wet- but it was SO much fun!  Next time we're taking Ty for sure!

We finished the night with a trip to the Bar J Chuckwagon- where we had dinner and listened to the Bar J Wranglers.  I grew up going and listening to these guys- it was still a lot of fun.  Kids were a pain- but it HAD been a long day.

RockBand

Have you ever played "RockBand"?  To date- my only experience with it was in a Best Buy one Christmas.  Shaun was looking at something in the electronics and I got bored- so I sat and played RockBand until he was done.  

That said- I am now a serious RockBand groupie (is that a thing?).  Jer brought up his Xbox and his RockBand paraphernalia for us to use and abuse while we were up at the lake.  There is this time- it's not very long- maybe an hour that falls after dinner and before bed that is kind of a limbo hour.  You're done eating and it's not quite bath/bed time yet... so we filled that time with video games.  The boys loved the drums!  And actually... Ty was pretty good at keeping time!  The best part was- EVERYBODY played.  

Grandpa stunned us all with his rendition of Mollie Hatchet's "Flirtin' with Disaster"...

Nat was killer on the drums...

Jer rocked the guitar...

And Shaun astounded us all with his amazing vocals...  Boston will be calling any day...

Vroom

My boys love going for motorcycle and 4-wheeler rides... and apparently so does my cute nephew Cam (he is cute isn't he??)  Kate does not and won't go near the things.  

Boats Float

We just got back from a fantastic little vacation!  This year- we went with my family up to Bear Lake for a whole week- with a brief stint in Jackson Hole.  But instead of putting a TON of pictures in one huge post... I'm going to kind of break it up.  Not for your benefit.  For mine.  It's easier- and let's face it... if there is an easy way out... I'm gonna take it.  

We got there Monday and immediately took the boat out with Grandpa.  Miss and Jer came with us too.  The water- as you can see- is absolutely gorgeous!  I don't know of a body of water that is as pretty as Bear Lake.  The boys loved jumping overboard... okay- it was usually to dive bomb grandpa or Jer- but hey- they were in the water and laughing- mission accomplished.  

And here's our Boat Captain... Captain Kate!

Kate even got in the water to play with Melissa...

Kate and Ryan kicking off the back of the boat...

And Grandpa being, well... Grandpa.  I think he looks pretty good for an old guy!