Family Reunion Part 2

Day three of our reunion started off with breakfast and then we all loaded up in the bus and went to Waterton State park in Alberta. There were a lot of people on the bus. I am glad we didn't have that many people on the bus the whole ride.

In Waterton we went on what we were told was a fast easy little hike that even the kids could do in about 15-20 minutes. Really it was a pretty steep and intense hike. I had the baby in the baby carrier and Joel gave Kyla a shoulder ride most of the way up. Annalyn got aunt Joanna to give her a piggy back ride up most of the hill. Bryn was a trooper and walked up the whole way. She was way ahead of Joel and I so we hardly saw her the whole hike. It was a cold and breezy morning so we all had pants and jackets on but as soon as we started hiking it began to get super hot. I roasted and little Summer was so hot and sweaty in that baby carrier. I took off her socks and jacket and we were almost to the top when I had to stop and take her out for a few minutes so we could both cool off. In the process of getting Summer out of the carrier, her soother rolled down the mountain. I thought it was a goner but Joel's dad went and rescued it for us. That is when I had Joel carry Summer, Grandpa Hirtle took Kyla and carried her and together we made it to the top of that mountain. Good thing we had lots of help cause Joel and I never could have gotten all of our kids up there without some help. The view at the top was breathtaking and they had these cute little chipmunks that were eating food right out of people's hands. 

Once we made it to the top we took a quick family picture and then everyone was ready to head back down. Jenny volunteered to take Kyla down, Brynlee went ahead with aunt Joanna, Annalyn went with Bre and Trent and actually walked down the whole way, I was pretty proud of her. Joel took Summer and I carried all of the water bottles and stuff that we brought up with us. Joel's brother Josh actually brought their little boy up that mountain in his stroller and carried it up most of the way. Kyla fell asleep almost as soon as Jenny started carrying her and she drooled all down her shirt. Going down was much easier than going up. 

Once we got down from the hill it was cold again. The kids all played by the water and we ate a lunch before we headed back to the campgrounds. We had planned another hike but everyone was pretty tired and it was starting to rain. 

It wasn't too much longer after we got back to the campgrounds that it started to pour and hail. I was stuck in the bathroom with Brynlee for a while waiting for the storm to calm down. Eventually it calmed down enough so that we made it back to the camp and everyone played some more games and ate dinner before bed.

Our little family spent one last night in the tent and then we woke up, ate breakfast, and cleaned up so that we could go back home. 

The ride home went much faster than the ride there. The kids watched lots of movies and played several games. We stopped at McDonalds for dinner. Bryn wasn't feeling that well and kept her pajama pants on the whole ride. There was one scary moment where the car in front of us slammed on their breaks and came to a complete stop in order to avoid hitting some quail that were in the road. Joel's dad tried to slam on his breaks but there was no way the bus would have stopped in time. He expertly swerved the bus around that car and narrowly avoided hitting the car that was coming towards us. It was pretty scary and he said he was pretty sure he hit those birds the other guys was trying to save. It was past midnight by the time we got home and all of our kids were asleep. 

It was a pretty fun trip. I am glad we got to spend some time with Joel's family. It is always fun to visit and spend time with them. Brynlee keeps asking to go back there and has determined that when she grows up she is going to live in Canada in that exact campground. 

Family Reunion Part 1

This year we went to a family reunion for Joel's mom's family in Alberta, Canada. Joel's dad drove his bus up there and we got to ride in it for the first time. It really was a great way to travel. The bus is classified as an RV and it has a kitchen and a bathroom so we didn't have to stop every time a kid needed to use the bathroom. The bus overheated on us twice on the way up there but we just added more water and we were on our way again. Joel's brother Jake and his family came and we picked up Katie and her two girls in Rexburg. My girls loved having so many cousins to play with and there was a TV in the back so they all stayed back there and watched lots of movies. Everyone had to get out and bring in our paperwork at the border but it was mostly pretty painless. We anticipated the ride taking us 12 hours but in the end it took us 15 hours. Good thing we had lots of people to keep us company. I was a little afraid that all the kids would get really hyper and crazy but they did pretty good. We were all awake by four in the morning so they were all tired and Kyla and Anna even took a nap on the way up there. Summer stayed in her car seat for a good amount of the trip and did great but it was nice that I could take her out and feed her when I needed too. 

By the time we  got to our campgrounds In Canada, it was almost 7:30. We all hurried and ate dinner while Joel set up the tent. It was fun to visit with our family and see people that I have never met before and other people that I have not seen in a long time. It had been cold and a little rainy all day in Alberta but the girls were determined that they would stay in our tent. They camp had a playset that my girls enjoyed playing on all week while we were there and they played on that for a little that night and then were so whiney that we made them get ready for bed. They were all crying and Brynlee threw a huge fit about how she wanted to sleep in the bus. I told her to try to sleep for 20 minutes and if she didn't fall asleep I would let her sleep on the but. It was after 8 at this point and Brynlee fell asleep about 2 minutes after she laid down. At about four in the morning she woke up panicking and yelled out "mom, has it been 20 minutes yet?"Annalyn woke up crying once that night and it took Kyla a while to fall asleep but they did pretty good. Joel and I had an air mattress but Joel is so much heavier than me that I kind of felt like I was sleeping on the hard ground. Summer slept in bed with us cause she got too cold in her bed. This was the first time most of us have slept in a tent and I think we did pretty well.

After Joel helped me get the kids in bed he went back up to the campsite. They had some fun Survivor games. They split everyone up into teams. Joel, Kyla, and Brynlee were on the yellow team while Annalyn and I were on the blue team. That night they did a giant puzzle thing that I hear was extremely difficult.

     Our girls were all up bright and early the next morning and ready to play. It rained on and off a little during the night and was pretty cold the next morning. After breakfast the plan was for the kids to play all of these water games and they had this giant water slide that the kids really wanted to slide down. I didn't think they would go on it but the cold didn't stop them. Brynlee and Anna both got their swim suits on and played in the water a little. Mostly they just played with the bubbles. Brynlee went down the water slide but she was the only one from our family that tried it out. Summer really enjoyed being held and got passed around to all kinds of different family members. She sleeps great when people hold her so she was really enjoying that. Joel got to play a little baseball and horseshoes with the adults while I fed the baby.(I took several of these pictures from other family members that posted them on Facebook cause I hardly took any.) 

 

     Once we were done with the water games the girls and I retreated on the bus for a bit while I fed the baby and Kyla took a nap. Right after that it started to pour a lot. Luckily there was a big pavilion where we ate lunch and then everyone played games while the little kids played with play dough and did some crafts. It got warm for a little before dinner but got cold again a few hours later. 

After dinner we did more survivor game which was essentially a whole bunch of minute to win it games. The kids played outside on the playground equipment some more and then everyone went to the outdoor community pool to go swimming. It was so cold and already close to bedtime at that point so we decided to skip the pool and stick the kids in bed. Our kids were pretty unhappy about that decision, Annalyn really wanted to go swimming so we let them play on the water slide for a few minutes before bed. I am surprised they played on that slide as long as they did since it was so cold but the fun came to a quick end when Brynlee and Annalyn collided into each other and they both got big huge bumps on their heads. Annalyn's bump was huge and is still there two weeks later. I gave them both nice warm showers and some tylenol and then stuck them in bed. Everyone was so tired that they fell asleep pretty quickly. Part two of the reunion is coming up next.

July Day!

     Once again Annalyn could not be convinced that the fourth of July was anything other than "July Day" and she couldn't wait for it to be July. I kept telling her it was already July and tried to explain things to her but she never did grasp that whole concept. Once the fourth did roll around she was all ready to put on her red white and blue dress and go to the parade in Melba and see the fireworks.

. It seems like there were a lot more people at the parade this year. My mom, brother Brian and his wife, my grandma, and Jake and all Rachel's extended family sat by us. Brynlee sat by Madison for most of the parade but the loud noises really bothered her this year so she kind of moped and held her hands over her ears for most of the parade. I made her come and sit by me towards the end of the parade and that made her mope even more. Whenever someone came with water she would run away and hide. She didn't get much candy but as soon as the parade was over she talked about how she liked it and how she wanted to go again so I guess it wasn't that bad for her. My mom was getting all kinds of candy for Annalyn and Kyla so at first they just sat there and held their bags open. They were content to just sit there and let my mom do all the work. I finally made my mom stop getting the candy so Annalyn would get up and get it and then she started chasing the candy and got a huge bag full. Kyla got some too but mostly preferred to sit on someone's lap.

The rest of our fourth celebrations were pretty simple. For dinner we had hamburgers, hotdogs, and smores at grandma Verna's house and then we lit off a few fireworks in her back yard. I don't think Kyla was a huge fan but she never complained. I think she might have held a sparkler for like a second. Bryn and Annalyn both really liked the sparklers but were pretty cautious about holding them. The first time Brynlee held one, Joel told her to go and twirl it around in the air and she quite literally twirled it in the air like a baton and tried to catch it. Luckily it just landed in the grass. Haha. 

We ended the night with front row seats to the fireworks in Melba. We had to get french fries since our girls kept on talking about the french fries they were going to eat and they had been looking forward to that all day. Looks like that has officially become a tradition. Joel just took Brynlee with him to get the fries and apparently she had to use the bathroom when they were about to get the fries so Joel made her wait until they paid for the fries and he left them there while he took Bryn to the bathroom and then went back for them. As soon as he left Anna had to use the bathroom too so he ended up taking another trip to the porta potties with her. The fireworks were just as magical as ever and everyone really enjoyed watching them. Summer slept through the whole thing and Kyla would not move from her dad's lap. Summer woke up as soon as I put her in her car seat and then would not go back to sleep so she cried for most of the car ride home. That is unusual for her. Everyone else was asleep as soon as they got in the car and they slept all night. I love days when I get to spend time making memories with my little family.