We almost made it through a whole summer without making a trip to Royal, but at the last moment, we were able to squeeze in a Labor Day weekend visit. Talk about a tragedy averted! Visits with our friends at the Farm are always a highlight of our summers, and this trip was no exception. The whole weekend felt like we were living a storybook life (without any of the storybook villains or drama).
We arrived at the Franks Friday afternoon, with just enough time to walk across the street and pick some super sweet corn to eat for dinner.
The corn is so sweet and delicious, you can (and should!) eat it raw.
I can never resist the opportunity to get a Bryce and Maggie picture.
For good or for naught, my kids feel so comfortable at the Franks' home that they immediately make themselves at home. We don't see a whole lot of them while we're visiting because they're always having some adventure or another with their friends, and there is no shortage of adventurous possibilities at the Frank home! I have to be intentional about trying to take pictures, and usually only capture the times we recongregate to eat.
Thane loves to play games, and is pretty good at convincing others to join him. Tyler is such a good sport!
Saturday morning, Ashlee and I had a chance to go out for a morning walk along past the fields of corn and irrigation ditches. Though it was a warm day, I wished our walk would never end. Time with Ashlee is balm to my soul. Our walk couldn't last forever, because more adventures awaited!
First, we went apple picking. There's something profound about spending time in an orchard or a field of growing food. This time, I kept thinking about how each tree is a product of a single seed, carefully and deliberately nurtured. I remembered previously hearing the questions, "How many seeds are in one apple?" and then, "How many apples are in one seed?" There are so many gospel and life and parenting parallels.
It was hot, and our little apple pickers varied in their picking persistence. The older girls were the first to peter out. To be fair, Aubree explained that she'd worn the wrong shoes (flip flops), and the long, sharp, nasty thorns kept piercing her feet.
Nellie was reasonably happy as long as she had an apple to hold and pretend to eat.
The big kids were most excited about the chance to ride in the back of the truck as we moved from orchard to orchard. Graham was really upset when we told him he wasn't yet old enough for that particular adventure.
When we'd filled the back of my van with apples (no joke), we went over to the home of Ashlee's good and gracious friend, Krista. I'm convinced Krista should open her home as an adventure destination, because it's so much fun! She had lunch waiting for us, but the first the kids were off to try out the zip-lining, in-ground trampoline, and monster slip and slide.
While Aubree spent most of her time on the slip and slide, the boys spent most of their time zip-lining. It was an idyllic afternoon.
That evening, we stayed the night with another of our spectacular Royal friends, the Fieldings. Andrea had just her sixth baby (and her fifth boy) four weeks earlier, but didn't seem phased to have seven extra people invade her home, so you can already tell she's Superwoman! Andrea and Spencer have been two of my favorite people ever since we met them at Wymount. I have no end of admiration and love for them as people and as parents.
We decided to have breakfast for dinner, and Aubree and Megan immediately and eagerly got to work making pancakes, cooking bacon, and cutting up fruit. There are definite advantages to having older children!
While we worked on dinner, the boys, who haven't spent much time together the last couple years, immediately got down to the serious work of reconnecting. Each of my boys has an almost exact age-mate in Andrea's kids, so it was extra fun to see them become friends again.
In the evening, the big girls went back over to Ashlee's for a special fun night together. They tried to convince me to let them ride in the trunk, but I'm not that nice (or would that be mean?).
Don't feel bad for the boys. Andrea spoiled them with huge ice cream cones.
And Nellie? She had a super hard time falling asleep the previous night at Ashlee's, but at Andrea's, she laid down, giggled, and went right to sleep. What?? I had to get photographic evidence of the miracle.
After the kids went to bed, the adults stayed up watching BYU get clobbered in football (that's a running theme this year) and talking business strategy. That may seem like an odd choice of topics, but Spencer owns his own personal injury liability firms, and it was fascinating to discuss and learn more about how it all works. We *might* have gotten so wrapped up that we forgot to go pick up the girls. Whoops! Again, don't worry too much. They did not complain about having an extra half hour to spend together.
Sunday morning, we managed to get up and get 11 kids out the door for 9 am church. I think we deserve a special award. All of my kids had at least one friend in their church class, and they couldn't have been happier. Nellie loves nursery in our home ward, but I wasn't sure how she'd do in an unfamiliar place. She didn't bat an eye! She's turning in to quite the social butterfly. She came out of class with a golden crown, and wanted to wear it the rest of the day.
After church, we went back to Andrea's to pack up and let Nellie have a brief nap. She didn't sleep long, probably because she was overly eager to see baby Samuel. Have I mentioned before that Nell is obsessed with babies?
We snuck back over to Ashlee's for a farewell lunch. The kids snuck in a few more episodes of Studio C.
Aubree and Jaylen snuck in a last second duet. I'd been bugging them to do it all weekend, but they were always more interested in other things. Once they got started, however, they were bummed they didn't have more time to play together.
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