Family Reunion Part 2: The Food

There is a lot of cooking going on when you get the family together.  Even though not everyone was camping at the same time, there were usually several mouths to feed at once.

Family Reunion Part 1: Grandma and Grandpa's House

The out-of-towners all got in late on Saturday to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Orem.  I think we were all thankful that church stated at 11:00.

It was fun to spend some time at the house before the camping began.  The real treat for the boys was playing with all their cousins.

Layna, Lane, Rhett and Breton play with Grandpa's awesome marble track

Grandpa and little Will

Marianna, Cara, Grandma and Heidi chat over breakfast

The dancers: Alyssa and Marianna show off their tap moves

Makaylee does ballet

Lane is always a good buddy for Benjamin

Rhett, Breton and Layna on the swingset

Vicky and Lane

Always a helper, Lane lowers the swing for Benjamin

Funny Breton

Grandma visits with a few grandkids just before we leave for the campout

Next up, camping at Washington Lake (or was it Lake Washington?)

Longest Drive Ever

Okay, I know it really wasn't.  People drive further than that all the time.  But I haven't.  And the four of us haven't together.

We drove to Utah mid-July for a Duersch family reunion.  It was long.

Edit:  Paul wants me to update this to include the facts that the drive was about 17 hours long, lengthened by unexpected construction along the way.  And a 3-year-old who managed to need the bathroom right after we passed a town with any facilities.  Let's just say we had a few side-of-the-road stops.

Not to mention Paul started the trip off sick.  And he still drove the whole way!

But enough of that.  Here are a few pictures of the beginning of the drive.  Mostly of Rhett.  It must have been too hard to turn around in my seat to get Benjamin.

My husband, the ultra-trooper

A sweet gesture (Benjamin was sleeping)

Playing dinos (copied from here)

Cool dude: he loves his $1 Target glasses

I'll fill in the rest of the trip in later installments.

Rhett's birthday revisited

I realized that I didn't post about Rhett's birthday fun!  So here it is.

We had fun celebrating Rhett turning 2!   Nachos were on the menu for dinner because we wanted something Rhett was sure to like.  (However it should be noted that Rhett is a fantastic eater [knock on wood] and it probably wouldn't have mattered too much what we had.)

Like many 2-year-olds, one of Rhett's favorite books is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so he had caterpillar cupcakes, a big hit.

Digging right in

Now I'll try a green one...

And on to presents...

Benjamin picked out the first gift (with several reminders that it was for Rhett, not himself).

Rhett got that birthday crown in nursery on Sunday but refused to wear it.  Benjamin thought it was awesome.  I think I'll need to make one for his birthday coming up next month.

Happy birthday, buddy!

A Star-studded Girls Camp

I was recently called into the Young Women's presidency in our ward, so I was excited to go and spend an evening with the girls at camp this month.  I drove down with Kirra Self (our assistant camp leader), and what should have been a 1.5 hour drive turned into 3.5 hours when the directions we had proved to be terrible!  I'm grateful we were safe and made it in time for dinner, but really, I could have done without the ordeal!  And thank goodness the camp got cell phone service so we could call for help!

Once we got there it was as fun as could be.  The new stake presidency's fireside was fantastic, and I found myself wanting to reach out to the girls and ask, "Are you listening??  This is true!!  They're right!"  Their words were a great confirmation to me of what I already know is true, but what I hope the girls will learn soon if they don't already know:  that they are daughters of God, and He knows them, and He loves them, and He will help them.

The wards put on their skits the night before, but the girls reenacted theirs for us before we went home.  Our ward's assignment was Cinderella, and they put on a fun, modernized version.  But the modern twist wasn't the best part.  Imagine the excitement of the teenage girls in the stake when this guy waltzed onto the stage:

!!!

A few of the girls were giddy over the secret star of the show for weeks, and I wish I could have been there for the big reveal.  I'm sure it would have rivaled our movie theater experience of giggles and hoots and applause.  But even at our private performance he was quite a hit.

Ice Cream Cones

A favorite summertime treat this year.

To the Zoo!

This month we took our family to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo for the first time.  Overall it was pretty fun, but there may or may not have been four tired, grumpy people at the end of the day.

The most memorable part for me was when we approached this penguin habitat near the entrance to the zoo.  As I drove Rhett's stroller toward the glass where Benjamin stands in the picture, Rhett lost it.  The poor things thought I was driving him right into the water and he was desperately trying to escape before he plunged.  It was not so much funny at the time as really sad.

A note to zoo-attending grown-ups everywhere:  I'm glad you like the zoo.  The animals are great.  But when there are a dozen children under the age of seven trying to see an exhibit, please don't stand there in the very front for 10 minutes blocking everyone's view.  Especially if you clearly don't have any kids of your own in your company.  It's annoying.  (Complaint over.)

The admission was a little pricey for our taste (we had to keep reminding ourselves that it was for the kids, who have never seen an elephant/hippo/gorilla/penguin in real life), plus you have to pay for parking (I dislike that part of Seattle very much), so our zoo visits will probably be few and far between.  And maybe we'll go after October 1 when the price goes down for the winter.

Sunday Reading

Our Sunday paper has lame comics.

But Benjamin doesn't know that.

Lately he likes Paul to read them to him.  Then he'll tell us why a certain cartoon was so funny.  Of course he usually doesn't get the point.

But that's not the point.