Utah with the Woodburys

The reunion was over but the fun never stops. We made a week long pit stop with Aunt Sarah and the Woodburys. Started off on the way down from Bear Lake at this cool random cave beside the road. Charlotte and Clark both were quite adventurous following Isaac up into the cave. And Char touched goose poo...twice. Fun all around!

Clark discovered a new love in arcade games like this little Pac Man in the basement. Unfortunately, his temper often got the better of him as in the case of a punch to Isla's stomach when she cut in line.

Isla took full advantage of her little sister for the week and one day while I was in the shower made her up with "just a little lipstick and blush" and a pink bow. Char loved it. 

Tuesday we went to Thanksgiving point children's museum with the Grandparents and Jim's family. It was a little awkward with masks but everyone had a good time.

Then we found the water area and everyone had a GREAT time!

That night we went up into Big Cottonwood Canyon for a picnic. Some of the cousins climbed a tree in search of cherries and even Clark joined the fun one branch up. I told him to smile naturally...and this is what I got.

And we threw rocks in the river. Of course. Duh. Always. 

Wednesday we did cousin camp which was probably a bit more than Isaac and Miles wanted to handle. Then we stopped by Sandy for a visit with Aubrey and Jamie. It ended well with mud water fights and a nap on the way home. 

Thursday was our last day and we spent it at a skate park while Miles and Isaac had a lesson. Clark and Char took turns on the scooter but never really got the hang of it. Then we headed home for the activity Clark had been asking for all day - the pool! Sarah bought me a Root Beer soda from Thirst (which tasted like a honeydukes creation) and some giant cookies from Crumbl so we were all set to veg and watch the kiddos entertain themselves.

And then we were off. Friday's drive went better than I thought. A few meltdowns over electronics and one when we left this seriously cool park in Boise but we made it home just in time to see the floor guys take off so we could come marvel at our beautiful new house. We LOVE the floors. They are super soft and the carpet is like a pillow. Now time to look for rugs!

Oh and just cause we are crazy, we spent all day Saturday moving back into the house and then ended the day with a windy swimming dinner at the Reiersen's new house. It was fantastic and wore our kids out. Now back to life in quarantine. 

Kitchen Reunion - Bear Lake

The Kitchen Family Reunion was a thing of legend. After getting booted from Colorado for being too big a group, we threw together a wild and crazy 5 days in Bear Lake (thanks to a youth group cancelling on the awesome house!) and had so much fun and adventure. It was heaven to get out of Yakima and into the civilized open world. 

Tuesday we drove to Twin Falls. The drive was...awful. Let's just leave it at that. But we stopped for some normalcy at a Dick's Sporting goods and the kids did their workouts. 

Miss Char did NOT fall asleep the entire drive. She did not sleep through the torrential hail storm right before Boise. She did not fall asleep after we swam for an hour in the hotel pool. Not even when we settled down for a family Jurassic World movie. Nope. Instead, she was crazy pants annoying. Eventually, this angry momma took her out in the freezing rain at 11PM for a drive and she passed out literally one stop light down the road. Head smack!

The good news is the next day she passed out on the drive up from Logan in her cute little blue sunglasses.

We arrived at the house with the Woodburys first and WOW the view was amazing. This picture is not even close. It had panoramic windows of the whole lake and the water was intense blue.

The house had this weird indoor pool that became the coolest thing for all the kids. We had to divide up big kid and little kid time but my babies were in heaven. 

Thursday morning the cousins went on a hike. Apparently Clark did not want to smile:)

Charlotte and I stayed home with Jess and Clara. Charlotte discovered a huge bin of barbies and set them on chairs and accessorized. It's just natural with this lady. 

Dinners every night were chaos (in true Kitchen form) but there was plenty of seating and Clark would rotate between the big boy table and the kid zone.

Charlotte didn't really know what to do with so many girl cousins so usually she just plopped herself down and got cozy with Clara and Daniel Tiger.

Friday we tried out Minnetonka Caves. You had to wear masks which was...umm...a problem. Charlotte flat out refused hers after the first set of stairs and Clark was very sneaky about slipping his down to his chin. Oh well. Other than that the cave was very cool and Char was super awful. But Clark did find the hidden stick with Spencer so he was jazzed. We had to go in small groups so it was just the little girls and boys and Necia, Kristina, Dana and me.

Clark spent a lot of the reunion hanging with the big boys, watching video games. They even taught him this weird catch phrase where Ethan will say "Hello there" and Clark will respond "General Kenobe, you are the bold one." He did it all weekend.

The house had an amazing swingset that occupied the kids for hours and some semi lethal racers that Clark tried out once. We had a roaring illegal campfire one night and the older kiddos stayed up for hours playing night games.

Even though the weather was cooler, we still squeezed in a beach day with all 6 of the new SUPS (stand up paddle boards). Our kids mostly threw rocks in the water. One may have antagonized Uncle Fred and almost gotten themselves dunked. Dana tried to talk Clark into riding on the SUP (it was a hard no) but Char complied and then LOVED it! When he tried to bring her back in she freaked out and demanded he keep paddling.

Sunday we had a wonderful Father's Day lesson by Grandpa Pat and then watched a little of the Washburns Stake Conference.

Sunday half the families rolled out, including Dana and Taylor. Monday the rest of us packed up and left paradise. Some other funny memories include Charlotte waking up screaming about 11PM most nights and thus getting to sleep in our tiny Queen sized bed (she's a neck snuggler). Also the hike to the lake that never really ended in a lake but did allow us to portage through about 10 beaver made swamps. That was fun.

I think Clara's face pretty much sums up the trip. Yum. Happy. Fun!