A Royal Memorial

(How many more ways can I make word-play titles from "Royal?")

For Memorial Day weekend, we headed to our favorite farm destination.  Bryce had a T-ball game at noon on Saturday, so we had a late start leaving, but still managed to arrive in time to spend a few hours at the pond.  The wind picked up right as we arrived, which made swimming a chilly endeavor.  Bryce and Thane headed straight for the kayak.  Jaylen also jumped right in, then urged Aubree and Megan, "Come on and get in!  We came here to swim, not to stand there saying, 'I'm cold, I'm cold!"

When all the kids were thoroughly chilled, we packed up to stay a couple days with Andrea and Spencer (whose kids mirror ours).  Aubree and Megan spent the entire weekend in Megan's room - playing with dolls, singing songs, and making up games.

Speaking of Miss Megan, I sincerely think she just might be the sweetest person I've ever met.  Just moments after arriving at their home, Bryce and Thane tried to follow the girls into Megan's room.  Aubree began to protest, but Megan immediately replied, "No!  They can come in!"  She maintained this attitude the entire weekend, completely doting on the boys.  As a result, she earned Bryce and Thane's undying loyalty.  When we left, Bryce sighed and said if he could choose to marry anyone, it would be Megan.  Thane designated himself her body guard and followed her around "protecting" her. 

Aubree and Megan slept in Megan's room, but Bryce, Thane, Gordon, and Jerry had a "sleepover" in the basement.  All four of them slept on the enormous couch!  I had serious doubts as to whether or not any sleeping would actually occur, but the boys did great!

Sunday, we had a casual morning getting everyone ready for 11am church.  Since everyone had matching buddies, everyone was perfectly pleased.

Megan and Aubree were tasked with making chocolate covered bananas and strawberries.

Church was a very interesting experience. Spencer is the Branch President of the SPANISH speaking branch and it was their branch conference.  Mark was excited to use his spanish skills; I was embarrassed by how little I understood (so much for 3 years in high school!).
After church we loaded up and headed over to Ashlee and Tyler's.  There were four families there, and each family had four kids, which made dinner highly entertaining.

Don't worry, there was enough dessert to go around.

This was a big weekend for Thane, because he discovered WEAPONS.  Every time we saw him, he was carrying every gun, sword, or bow and arrow he could find...probably to help him be an effective body guard.

When we got back, the boys went to bed, while Aubree and Megan were treated to a makeover by Megan's 14-year-old cousin, Savannah.  When they were done, Megan came out to tell us Aubree had washed all her make-up off.  When we asked her why, she responded, "Because the mascara made my eyelashes so long.  It looks really ridiculous to have such long eyelashes on a little girl!"

Monday morning the boys were up early, eager to spend time building sand castles (a.k.a. digging) in the giant sand box in the backyard.  

Graham and Will pursued more musical entertainment...

Check out G's Stevie Wonder impression:

Soon it was time to head to the main Farm headquarters for a huge Memorial Day breakfast.  Food, friends, and fun galore.  These little bikes are always super popular.

The merry-go-round is pretty impressive as well, though just thinking about it too much makes me dizzy.

The kids begged to go to the pond before we had to return home, and we obliged with the stipulation we could only stay a short time.  Of course, "short time" and "pond" should never be used in the same sentence.  We got a later start back than we'd hoped, and it majorly came back to haunt us.  Our normal 2 1/2 hour drive ended up taking 6 1/2!!!  Aaauuuugggghhhhhhhhh! 

When we did make it home, Andrea sent us these hilarious videos Megan and Aubree had made, and that helped me remember just why the trip (4 hour delay and all) was totally worth it!