I was even more excited when I found out I would get to see all of my siblings at the ranch. My kids had so much fun with their immediate cousins and all their cousins once removed, second cousins? Whatever...
Truth be told I think Tanner really was just disappointed that he would be missing out on the amazing steak dinner.
The kids went to the lake up the canyon but no one had much luck in catching fish this year. But they all got a turn in a canoe and had a lot of fun throwing a bumper for Aunt Boo's dogs. And I got there just in time to watch my Aunt Phyllis jump off the big rock into the lake. She's awesome. After that we headed down to the main ranch to ride horses, shoot guns, and play games.
Chet and Austin got to shoot guns with Grandpa and Chet hit three balloons.
Eliza would not let me leave her and would cry anytime anyone else held her. But she did love this swing.
Eliza loved all the farm animals
All the great grandchildren reenacted some stories from family history.
It was only a few days ago that Mariah told me that "one of the boys at the fishing derby wanted to marry me." Someone's going to have to break it to him gently that even cousins once removed shouldn't marry.
The kids about ran the tires off of this go-cart while we were there. Mariah and Chet couldn't reach the pedals but their cousins were more than happy to drive them around. A cable would slip off every once and a while and my dad was so patient in fixing it every time for them. It wasn't until days later when my dad was gone that I went out to try to fix it and realized that it was super easy to do and I could have been doing it the whole time. But my dad didn't ever complain. He's a real fun grandpa.
Mariah and Elise had so much fun together. They snuck away from the rowdy boys a couple times to take baths in the jetted tub. They also shared a room a few nights. I'm so grateful Mariah has Elise for an older cousin.
We took our obligatory trip to Roxaboxin (a sandy spot by the creek a little ways from my parent's). There was a lot of splashing and tears and demanding of snacks, but we did it. By this point the honeymoon period for the boy cousins was over and there was quite a few confrontations; they are just trying to prep us for when they are teenagers.
Tractor rides with Grandpa
Before going out to Nevada my mom and I decided we should go to the Reno rodeo. I thought everyone else would have headed home by that point but Amanda and Tiffany decided to stay for the rodeo. It was fun to all go together. We missed Brittany, Tyler and Emmie though.
My sisters took my kids to Scheeles while I went to sign documents to close on our house. I love this picture of Jude pointing to the fish.
And of course, we had to get cotton candy.
Mariah was so excited when she saw all the flag girls warming up their horses in the indoor arena. And then she saw a rodeo queen across the arena; she gasped, and shouted, "rodeo queen!". Mariah always says she wants to be a rodeo queen when she grows up. It was a dream come true for her.
The kids did really well during the rodeo and even Eliza was pretty good. We were on the back row so she had fun crawling back and forth.
The kids got to feed Brooklyn and Karlie's 4H animals a few times and loved exploring the junk yards where we spent so much time as kids.
Of course we had to have a tea party. Mariah and Elise even tried to speak in English accents the whole time. Chet had mastered the raised pinky by the end.
With all those kids around there were some movies, for the mothers' sanity.
It was so wonderful to be with family. I love that my kids get to spend time with cousins and become better friends. And it is so wonderful to be with my siblings. It was fun to have my nephews coming up to me thinking I was their mom. Now if only Eliza could have been tricked...
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