Wednesday our big group split into two factions. Kira's family and my family went to Seven Peaks water park and everyone else went on a hike. I remember going to Seven Peaks once when I was a kid, and was eager to allow my kids to have the same fun opportunity. This year I thought they were finally old enough to enjoy it.
When we first arrived, Aubree and Bryce were reluctant to try the big water slides. Mean mom (me of course) stepped in and insisted, saying, "You are required to try the slides at least once. If you don't like it after that, you don't have to do it again." One time on each slide was all it took before they proclaimed their undying devotion. Kylee, a water park veteran, proved a fantastic guide and the big three explored relatively independently.
Kira, Mark, and I traded off watching the littles in the wading pools and riding rides with the middles - Thane, Tyson, Chase, and Graham.
When we got back to Kira's, we turned our attention to preparing for the week's main attraction - celebrating Mom's 60th birthday. Mom recently learned she was accepted into a nursing program this fall, so we decided to use a nursing theme for the party. Thanks to Pinterest, Lauren's decorating skills, and Kira's silhouette expertise, the theme was a hilarious success. Highlights included "happy pills" (m&ms), "urine samples" (lemonade), "tongue depressors" (wafer cookies), and "stool samples" (pudding cups). We also made chocolate pizza for the nostalgia factor.
The kids weren't at all turned off by the idea of ingesting pee or poop.
The family's rendition of "Happy Birthday" was especially horrendous, meaning we must love Mom/Grandma a whole lot!
As part of the birthday festivities, I collected pictures of Mom's life and put them together in a slide show. I secretly asked her mom and siblings for pictures of her younger years, and those photos were sprinkled amongst shots from our childhoods and more current events. As each picture came across the screen, Mom had a chance to tell us all a little more about the circumstances. And now, we have a fantastic collection of pictures!
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| Mom in High School |
We took a break from partying to get all the sugar-laden children to bed. We began with the youngest kidlets, and in the meantime, Mom and Steve decided to have the big kids put on an impromptu talent show. They loved being able to perform and be recorded.
Once all kids were semi-successfully bedded, we reconvened for an evening of game play. First we played the unofficial version of Telestrations, which lends itself well to hilarity.
We then moved on to "What if?" In this game, everyone writes one "what if" question. Then the papers get shuffled and redistributed, and everyone answers the "What if?" question they were handed. The papers are collected and redistributed one final time. Person 1 reads their "What if?" question, and the person to their left reads the answer to the "What if" question on their paper. The non-matching questions and answers add an extra layer of ridiculousness. We ended the night exhausted from laughing.
Thursday, we spent the day together at the Thanksgiving Point Museum of Curiosity. We'd visited the museum back in February, and my kids were overly eager to return. This time around, we started our explorations in the jungle, climbing, play area.
We hadn't been there too long, when Bryce came over saying he was afraid he was going to throw up. We quickly headed to the restrooms, only to find Elizabeth coming out feeling similarly nauseous. Neither of them ended up puking, though after looking at their pallor, we dubbed them the "green team."
Colleen packed up her kids and headed home. I took Bryce outside for fresh air, food and water. It didn't take long for him to perk up, so we tentatively ventured back inside, and thankfully he was totally fine the rest of the day. He seems to be sensitive to milk products and prone to dehydration, so we're guessing those were his problems.
The kids enjoyed exploring the different parts of the museum with their cousins and found no shortage of ways to keep themselves entertained. At one point, they were playing in a pit of "red blood cells" and decided to pull out all the dented balls. After they'd amassed quite a collection, the workers came over, thanked them, and bagged up the dented balls to be taken back and fixed. The kids considered the work their good deed for the day.
I don't think the adults were quite as captivated by the museum as the kids, but they also managed to keep themselves occupied.
We took a break for lunch and enjoyed the beautiful weather and surroundings. Kira had packed a picnic lunch for all of us - amazing!
Around one of our picnic tables was a big ant hill. Jameson, and many of his cousins, could hardly tear themselves away from the ants long enough to eat their lunches.
Aubree kept the big girl cousins entertained by reading them the story she's been writing, "Joy and the Aldernauts."
Once everyone was fed, we headed back inside for more adventures. Mark kept Nellie outside where he miraculously got her to take a nap!
After playing in the water area and getting soaked, we all went to the outside play area to dry off. On our way out, Sean came across a lost kid. The little boy was about 2, and could only tell us his name was "Maverick." We fanned out and soon reunited Maverick with his mom. Good deed #2!
Playing outside was fun, but super hot!
We could only handle being out long enough for each kid to have one ride down the zip line, then we were ready to wrap up our museum time.
While heading back towards Kira's, Mark and I decided to stop at the Seven Peaks Family Fun Center in Lehi. We had passes that allowed us free laser tag games, so we thought we'd take a quick half hour to play then finish the drive to Kira's. We did not realize that the Family Fun Center had so many other fun activities! While we waited for our scheduled laser tag time, Aubree, Bryce, and Thane got to try bumper boats, the carousal, and a few other amusement park type rides.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a pass for Graham and he was pretty sad to miss out. The bigs kids, however, thought the bumper boats (that allowed them to shoot other boaters) were the very best part of our whole vacation. They wished we could've stayed there all day. Now we know for next time we visit...
Thursday night was our last night at Kira's. It was hard to say good-bye to family. Graham and Alexander became especially close friends on this trip. They insisted on sitting together at meals and being partners at every event. It must be repeated - cousin-friends are the best!
Friday morning we were packed up and on the road by 8 am. Gratefully, we didn't hit any traffic or construction delays, but it's still a long drive home. We stopped for the night at a budget hotel in La Grande, Oregon. This one had 3 queen sized beds, so we fit much more comfortably, and we also arrived early enough to swim.
Thane is not in these pictures, because he got in trouble for dumping out his water bottle all over the car. More accurately, he got in trouble for his unwillingness to accept responsibility for said mistake. He did eventually join us.
Our drive on Saturday was "only" five hours, which got us home in time for Nellie to have an afternoon nap. The first thing Nellie did when we got home was to run to her favorite books. The second thing she did was run to her shoes, line them all up, and decide which pair to insist I put on her. She sure takes after her Grandma!
We had a great, but way too short vacation!
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