One tradition of summer, for as long as I can remember, is the Tolman Reunion. This is my mom and her siblings and their families, so all my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side.
This year the Reunion was at Riverdale Resort, just north of Preston Idaho. So we left Friday and made sure we stopped in Logan to get some Aggie Ice Cream. We made it there just in time, because right as we left a huge group of efy kids came in and packed the place.
As we were driving, we realized that we had left home the jackets (among other things we forgot) so we had to do a little shopping in Logan. Luckily we found some hoodies on sale at Old Navy. I was worried there wouldn't be anything.
We stopped at Willow Park to have dinner with Dan's brother Sam and sister Paula and their families. Thanks for the yummy pizza guys!
Andrew loved this slide and went down it at least a dozen times or more.
Andrew said this slide was too hot, but he wanted to go down on my lap.
But my legs were too long and acted as breaks. We went down really slow!
We finally made it to Riverdale Resort. It is a water park with RV/Tent camping and a few motel rooms. The first thing Andrew noticed was the smell - we were right next door to a dairy farm. I guess the word "resort" is used loosely in Idaho :) Dan set up the tent with some help from the kids:
My brother Ben set up his tent next to ours. Looks like he had help too!
These are the hoodies we had to buy in Logan. I am such a space cadet.
Going to bed.
The next morning we had a yummy pancake breakfast made by my Uncle Lloyd and his family. My one regret from this trip is that I didn't get any pictures of my extended family, mostly they are all pictures of my kids. I will try to do better next year!
Debbie, Mickelle, Ben, and Adam. Just chillin' I think.
Jorgen was getting grumpy and needed a nap, but the tent was too hot. And the pool wasn't open yet, so we decided to go on a walk. We walked up the road, literally right down the middle as there isn't much traffic. The only traffic we had to move over for was a few 4-wheelers and a truck pulling a load of hay.
We really were out in the country:
We saw a cemetery up on the hill and decided to take a look:
This was a memorial stone for couple who came with the Willie Handcart Company.
We were surprised at how many children were buried in this cemetery. Probably close to half the graves were for children. The kids liked reading the headstones.
Mission accomplished!
My brother had a fun card game for the kids, called "Take the Train."
Debbie with baby Katy. She was a popular baby! I don't think any of my pictures of her are with her mom, they are all with aunts - because we all wanted to hold her!
Grandma had some crafts for the kids. They made Jingle Boxes.
After lunch we went swimming and had a great time! Sorry, no pictures. My camera isn't water safe. They have a regular pool, a geothermal pool with water from a hot spring, and a water slide. We swam for over 3 hours and got really tired and even a little sunburnt. The sunscreen wore off I guess.
If you are wondering why Andrew is in the same clothes again, it is because his brain-dead mother, who was in charge of packing, didn't pack any clothes for him! And I didn't realize it until Saturday after we were done swimming and looking for clean clothes to put on. I can't believe I did that! I had clean underwear and socks for him, and pajamas, and his swimming suit, and his suit for Sunday, but nothing else. I had clothes for the other kids. I don't know why I was so dumb. I felt really bad. Especially when he got sick Saturday night (read on).
Andrew, Annie, Ben & Bekah, Mickelle & Katy (I lied, that's her mommy)
Mr Cheese (Jorgen)
Ellie and Lance
Abby, Nykalus, Jorgen, and Bethany
Jorgen's favorite thing to do was get into the cooler in the car, which had yummy treats in it.
Saturday night we had the family auction and meeting. Except we skipped the business meeting and gave the kids baths in my parents' room. We were originally planning on going to church Sunday morning. However, Andrew changed our plans. He had been complaining that his stomach hurt for several days. If you have read my blog, you know Jorgen was sick last weekend when we were in Southern Utah, then everyone else except Andrew got it when we got home. But Andrew didnt' get sick. Yet. I guess he was just waiting for us to go camping so we could have the lovely experience of barf in the tent.
So Saturday night we all went to bed. Dan, Bethany and Andrew were sleeping in the big tent, and Jorgen and I were in the small tent. We don't all fit in one tent (we need to buy a bigger tent). All seemed well, except Jorgen wasn't going to sleep. Then one of my uncles came over and said they were doing smores. Jorgen heard and wanted to go, so I took him over. I think the other kids were asleep already. He LOVED his smores! So then we tried to go to sleep again, I think he finally fell asleep around midnight. Within about 15 mintues I heard Andrew start crying that his tummy hurt. Dan was trying to help him, took him to the bathroom, offered him some Sprite, etc. Then after they had laid back down, Andrew started crying again, then the ominous sound of vomiting. Remember I am hearing all of this from the other tent. Luckily Jorgen only lets out one cry when I try to leave, he goes back to sleep. So I went over to help. Lets just say that grilled hot dogs, Doritos, and Sprite make for some nasty barf. He got it all over Dan's sleeping bag, his brand-new jacket, and his pajamas. And this is the kid who didn't have a change of clothes. So we put him back in his Wall-E shirt and jeans, which he had already worn twice.
Long story short, it was a rough night. He ended up sleeping on the back seat of the van, with me sitting under his legs trying to keep warm - an not sleeping much at all myself. Jorgen slept all by himself in the small tent and didn't even notice. Dan slept out on the grass inbetween the two tents, in his smelly sleeping bag (it was on the outside) until Bethany started to panic, then he went back in her tent. I guess the one bright side to all of this was that I got so see the sunrise, something I haven't seen in a really long time. :)
So we decided not to go to church after all, but just have breakfast and go home.
Here are a few pictures from Sunday morning:
Nicole
Ann holding Katy, and Lance
Joshua
Ellie taking a picture of me taking her picture
Bethany
A praying mantis that Uncle Javier found.
Abby and Katy.
We made it home without stopping once, and now I have loads of dirty laundry to do and tired grumpy kids (and mom too). We are ready to stay home for a while now. Except Dan has a campout with his scouts next weekend, but the rest of us are staying home!
Yesterday while I was making dinner Dan called and said I had to come pick him up at the Front Runner Station in Layton, because his bike had been vandalized. Someone stole every part that wasn't locked up, including the handlebars, his helmet, and a bunch of other things. They also kicked and bent several other parts. They tried to take the tires, but the lock went through both tires and the frame. He was pretty mad and frustrated, to say the least. It's at least $400 worth of damage. (Edited: After work today Dan told me he priced out the parts and it will be $700-$800 to repair it, about as much as he spent to buy the bike). He has two bikes, this one and his recumbent trike. So at least he has a way to get to work still, but no helmet. His car is currently being borrowed by my mom, whose car broke down and is getting a new transmission this week. If I didn't have the kids in swimming lessons this week he could take the van and we would just hang out at home. It makes me really mad that someone would be so mean and do that to his bike. It had to have been someone who knew the parts were valuable and knew how to take them off. It also makes me mad that this happened in broad daylight and nobody saw anything, or at least didn't report it. Dan did file a police report, but they told him it is pretty unlikely that they will find out who did it.
