The boys and I decided to hitch a ride down south for a long visit with the grandparents. We had a great time. It was about 105 in temp the whole time we were there, but we still made the most of it. Grandma and Grandpa Bowler's backyard is magical fo my kids. They have swings and bikes and the best part is it's mostly shaded. So the boys were in heaven there.
Luke has the best time in the swings. Sometimes he falls asleep in it.
We made a lot of trips to Dairy Queen at night for dessert. This was our first attempt with me feeding an ice cream cone to Luke. All the rest of the times we went we made sure just to give him an empty cone to eat so he can feed himself with less mess. I know, I'm horrible. But you know, he didn't know any different. He was just happy to be able to feed himself a treat. Fine by me!!
Another shot of messy face before the bath.
McKenna and Caden brought their dog with them to visit one time. Luke fell in love with this little mutt. Here he is mauling it with his Papa and cousin Colton.
We had a many of sleep overs with the cousins and this is one of them. All ready to watch, The Muppetts.
After the movie was over, my boys since they were really little would dance at the credits to any movie, even in the theaters they go down and dance in front of the screen. So this is the credits and the kids decided to dance this way.
So they all paired up and after a while they would switch partners, it was really cute. There was always an odd man out so my boys had partners and the extra girl out was the ballerina. It worked.
We went out one morning to this spot Amy told us about. It was under a bridge near her home. The kids had a blast splashing around in the water which was never higher than their chests. So it worked out perfectly. And we were in the shade the whole time so we didn't have to worry about frying the kids.
Luke was loving the splashing part.
Lincoln never warmed up to the idea of the water so he stuck with Papa. I really didn't mind it since I only have so many eyes and we had a lot of kids to watch. But eventually he did play in the sand.
So Luke was having a great time until he lost balance and fell back on his bum. The water went to his chest sitting down which was great until again he lost balance and went back on his back. Face went under and I went into survival mode. Dropped my camera (thank goodness for waterproof cameras) and grabbed his foot and pulled him up. I still couldn't lift him high enough with his foot so his head was still under. I finally got him out and can I just say, is that the scariest thing, seeing your baby's terrified face under the water. It shook me up a bit. So that was it for Luke in the water also. I tried to get him back in, but once his toe touched the water, he freaked....I don't blame him. So after that he was on shore with Lincoln and I was fine with that. I was a ball of nerves after that.
Kelsey kept wanting me to take her picture. She kept yelling, "Aunt Neenie, look at me".
This was seconds before he fell back.
Spencer was having the time of his life in this underpass. I think it was the company more than anything. He loves his cousins.....have I said that already....well, he does.
Another of Kelsey girl.
Papa tried so hard to get Lincoln to like the water, but it was no luck.
Then Papa tried with Luke after the ordeal. But just like Lincoln, no such luck. But secretly, I was really ok with him not getting in this water again.
Grandma was all prepared with snacks for the kids. Yummy grapes!!
Happy 4th of July!!! We had a great picnic that night with such yummy food and then headed to the park for the fireworks.
Luke still with that shiner. I had a lot of people ask me what the other kid looks like. Heehee!!!
Papa and Lucas making homemade ice cream.
Papa couldn't resist giving Luke a piece of rock salt to suck on. I love the hands...
This is the reaction of sucking on rock salt.....not as good as I thought it would've been. He barely grimiced.
The picture below is of Spencer's owie and he had his cousin, Brenna fix him up. They now call her Doc.
See the homemade cast she made for him. It even came with a sticker and everything.
Brenna showing me how strong she is lifting Tessa.
Now she's lifting Spencer.
And now Lincoln's turn.
I love taking this sweetie's picture. She is so cute!!! Such a danty little angel.
Can you tell what this is of. This was during the fireworks show and Brenna is resting her head on Spencer's shoulder with his hand around her. It is so cute!!! I bought glow sticks for the kids so they can play with them and also for us to know where they are at all times. I know, smart thinking on my part. They had them around their ankles, wrists, and necks.
Then they moved on their backs and they have their hands on each other. That did no sound right. They are laying down holding each other.....nope that didn't sound ok either. Just look at the picture and see for yourself.
Lincoln showing me his artwork.
On our way to the Bowler reunion. Thank goodness for Grandma Bowler's van. It is so nice to have pure silence with 3 kids in the back. It's so unheard of.
The Bowler family is so smart.....every year they rent these waterslides and bounce house for th kids for the weekend. It was a genious plan. I didn't see Spencer the whole day. It was so great. Can you see the mud all over his face. That was the only downside. A muddy mess every time they jumped off the waterslide.
Linc didn't want anything to do with the waterslides. We barely got him into the bounce house. But thanks for amazing cousins, they did keep him entertained. He followed Sabrina, Fred and Sabrina everywhere they went. They took turns with him and he was loving all the attention.
This is when we finally got him in the bounce house for the first time. He was so reluctant at first, but then he got in when it was mostly empty and had the time of his life. Look at that smile!!
Jason drove straight there from Salt Lake and got in about 3pm. Luke ran straight to him and got some dad loving.
This is him telling his dad he wants to go up again.
Lincoln with his "favorite Fred" as he calls him now. Fred (Ryan Bowler) was so amazing with him. He put him in his truck and showed him all the cool stuff his truck did and let him wear his sunglasses around and was his best buddy really. These two really could be father-son. It's crazy the resemblence.
I don't think Lincoln has ever warmed up to someone so fast as he did with Fred.
They just were the best of buddies together. It warmed my heart. It was so cute!!
Lucas was so enthralled with these twins that were at the reunion. He never would touch them, but he just stared and stared. He loves babies as I found out, which makes me happy. He was so soft with her. It was really cute.
Now where ever this dog was, so was Lucas. He followed this dog around like a little puppy. Heehee!! And this sweet dog just let Luke maul him. He would touch his nose and ears and even his mouth and the sweet dog did nothing. It was really amazing.
Don't you think these pictures could be in a dog ad. So sweet.
I loved every picture I took with this dog.
The dog even put her head down and so did Luke.
At the end of th first day of the reunion we all went to the Gunlock Rodeo. A lot of Jason's family was involved in it and so we went to show our support and just enjoy the rodeo.
Sabrina got th kids their first cotton candy. I told them it was blue and pink clouds they were eating. They loved every sugary bite!!! Thank you sweet sweet Sabrina, she spoiled these kids this night. She is really a sweetheart.
The boys wanted to participate in the chicken race. They wanted to catch themselves a chicken. But there was a ton of kids and when they sounded the bell, Spencer let go of Lincoln's hand and in that chaos, Linc started panicking and crying so Spencer turned back without any persuasion and grabbed onto his hand and they ran around together hand in hand. They didn't get a chicken, but Spencer told me later on that "What's more important mom, a chicken or Lincoln being happy and safe". It really made me proud of him. He really has grown up.
Spencer lovin' on Brenna at the rodeo. Spencer calls it the "Radio".
The second day at the reunion. They made rockets that they could shoot into the air. They went sooooo high. It was really fun.
We had another fantastic time at the Bowler reunion. It's so great to visit and catch up on all the families we love and adore so much. We are so lucky having such amazing people in our lives that we can call family. Hopefully we can keep up this tradition so our kids can see how important it is spending time with family. Til next year.......
