Backyard Fun

Our fire pit didn't get used quite as much this season as I'd thought it would, but Eli did invite the Deacons over one night and had a great time with them.

We also had some friends over to watch an outdoor movie one evening. I also thought we'd use this more this summer too, but fun things are hard work!

 

Six Flags

Logan's friend took him to Six Flags for his birthday, and Logan came home talking it up to Ali and Eli. The three of them hatched a plan where they asked if I would take them to Six Flags-they were all willing and able to pay for their own tickets, they just needed a ride. Well, how do you say no to that? The main problem is that it is about an hour and a half from here, so it's not like I could drop them off and then go back later to pick them up. I thought for a bit about seeing if there were things in the area Jake and I could do, but I wasn't sure how we'd kill a whole day. So I asked Jake if he'd be willing to pay all the money he had ($8) to have me and him go too. He was thrilled with the idea! We were lucky enough to find one day where everyone was free, and went.

The three older kids spent the morning together, and Jake and I enjoyed lots of smaller rides (none of which had lines!). 

Ali joined us off and on throughout the day because it turned out that she didn't like the crazy rollercoasters as much as her crazy brothers did. We found the handful of medium-scary kinds of rides to go on with her (including one that she assured us wasn't that bad, which Jake very bravely hated).

Logan and Eli went on all the big rollercoasters at least once, and I think Logan was grudgingly impressed that his little brother was brave enough to try them all, and then loved them all too!

Cousins

Amanda came to visit and we had to soak up time with both her and Emily before they both went off to college. I've so enjoyed watching these little girls become young adults. 

Emily had an internship in Chicago this summer, so Jason met up with her and Amy a time or two downtown for lunch. 

Nauvoo

On the way home, we stopped at Nauvoo with Michael and his family. Jake had never been, and it had been a long time since Eli had been, and why not?! It was fun to show Michael's family our favorite spots, and finally go on the wagon ride I've wanted to do but haven't been able to do on past visits.

Lake

 The last day we all spent together at Table Rock Lake. The paddle board and floats were a lot of fun.

This was most of my family's favorite day of the trip.

Cavern and Magic

The next day we went to Talking Rocks Cavern. It was beautiful!

That evening we went to a magic show with Michael and his family, Jesse and Grandpa. Reza was the magician's name and he was amazing!! 

This was my favorite day of the trip.

Ripley's Believe it or Not

Our first full day of vacation, most people went to Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum (thanks in large part to Eli picking it as his  must-do activity). It certainly had lots of interesting things to look at!

That evening, we took family pictures, something my siblings and I decided to plan and pay for. All of us being together for the first time in 8 years is certainly something to record!

Family Fun

The best thing about the vacation was all the time spent with cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, and grandparents. This is also a fun preview of the other fun things we did! You can also see from this post how fun the house was, and that we had access to some fun pools.