Our summer hadn't quite been full enough yet, so kind of spur-of-the-moment (we drug our feet and didn't decide until a week before) we decided to join the massive backyard camping group at Bryan and Candy's for the Eclipse! Alex wasn't able to join that close to football season, but the kids and I headed out Friday morning to avoid the traffic and crowds that were supposed headed south to reach the zone of totality. Pullman was at about 93%, which was good enough for me, eclipse-wise, but I can't say no to a party, so we went down for the weekend.
We got to B&C's ahead of the crowd by a day, just my parents were already there, so it was a nice relaxing day to meet baby Emma (I had seen her in the hospital but it was the first time for the kids) and my parents had this cool new car tent (plus the car to go with it) that we got to explore then sleep in the first night.
My kids have a love-hate relationship with dogs (as in we love them until the breathe, move, or look at us...then we run away) so it was fun to have a little more time with Taylor and realize that dogs are quite as scary as they thought :)
Our big summer toy purchase this year was another pop-up tent, this time in the 13*13 size (because bigger is always better and we always need better of course...) but it came with a cool '3 minute set up' feature, that Alex had to turn into a challenge when he found out he wouldn't be the first to set it up :) 11 minutes later he had finished with a sort of Ancient Chinese Temple look :) Alex is yet to complete the challenge, but I'd be surprised if it took longer!
Hunter and Grandpa T Buzz are always buddies when we are together. They think on the same level :)
And Makenzie can always be found wherever there's a baby (not that Grandma isn't a major pull also!).
Saturday mid-morning the Grovers arrived, which was SUPER exciting for my kids and me. It had been almost a month since Twin Lakes, and we always go through cousin withdrawals when we are away. I love this next picture SO much because the whole weekend I was wondering why Carter was sitting crooked in his chair, but when we got home (and I stole Amber's pictures) I immediately knew. These older, super cool cousins are so fun to be around, and my kids emulate everything they see from the older kids. I'm sure Kade wasn't even aware that he was teaching a new skill :).
Amber and I should seriously give up on selfies...but we never will, because eventually we will get the perfect angle, the perfect lighting, and the perfect number of chins and teeth showing :). Eventually...
This girl and her beautiful beach hair :)
Earlier in the day (before the Grovers arrived), Grandpa had taken all the kids over 1 (Olivia, Kylie, Carter, Justin, and Makenzie) by himself to run some errands. He actually took them out for treats Friday afternoon, and I couldn't believe it when he offered to do the same thing on a Saturday Walmart run. I wouldn't even take that many kids if I had any choice in the matter! Anyway, he took them on a fun Grandpa outing, and they came back with 4 dozen-ish donuts (not a surprise at all :)). Makenzie and Dan had a fun staring contest through the hole in their donuts, and by the end you couldn't even see her skin through the film of sugar covering one side of her face :).
Smiling cousins...
And these faces :) I can't help laughing every single time I see this picture.
Candy spent a chunk of Saturday assembling this AMAZING birthday cake for Justin! She seriously puts me to shame in this department, it was totally correct to the eclipse theme. The moon had a hard time staying in orbit after a few hours, so I'm glad we got these pictures! It was super fun to have a weekend-long, fun-filled birthday party for Justin, whose actual birthday was on Monday, the day of the eclipse.
These girls were checking out the top story of the 2 story car tent that Grandpa has. It was challenging for me to reach the kids in the middle of the night the first night (I slept in the truck bed, but there's no access to the bottom level of the tent without going out and around the car) so the kids and I pitched our own tent that afternoon.
After a few hours, Grandpa revealed what was SO important that he had to go to Walmart on a day that had projected traffic and shortages of supplies and other disaster prep type stuff...the E-Clips! Thanks Dad :)
Candy made this great sign welcoming us, and she had cute eclipse signs and decorations throughout the house and backyard. It was so nice of them to open up their house and yard to all 36(!!) of us for the weekend, it made the event possible and SUPER fun! I definitely couldn't have done full camping with the kids and no Alex, but having the house, kitchen, and bathroom so close made it not only doable, but enjoyable :).
Later that afternoon, Dan made his water obstacle course. I'll admit that I was totally worried that it would be kid-fun or adult-fun, but this was the perfect mix of skill levels and just plain craziness.
The MMA helmet was a must for all first-time participants :) Amber will remember this as a huge sleight of her judgment, but she dared Dan that no one would be able to complete the slip'n'slide jump into the pool. I'm not sure challenging Dan to anything is ever a good idea, just the knowledge of a challenge and reward gives him super determination and super strength.
Sure enough, he was victorious, and super humble about it :).
After a demonstration of the course by Dan, Maely was the first participant. You can see most of the course in an earlier shot, but it was under 5 hoops, assemble a block tower, over some jumps, throw the ball into a hoop, spin 10 times around a bat, run across the lawn, and finally slip'n'slide into the pool where you could find and kiss the flamingo to end your timer. The spinning on the bat was by far the hardest, but most of the kids did just fine.
Kylie was next, with a growing cheering section.
Her dad with the assist on the jump :).
Teagen was next, with abounding enthusiasm, as usual :).
Kade, with what I believe is the fastest time overall...
Olivia, with a not-so-straight exit from the spinning :)
And another assist, this time from Uncle Dan.
Elli - I'm amazed she didn't trip on her hair!
Makenzie was a trooper and the youngest participant by a couple years :)
We improvised and used a water gun as her bat :)
Carter was so excited the whole time he never stopped grinning :).
And Uncle Bud was our first (and fastest) grownup participant, until the Stays came and Zach knocked him out of the leading spot.
Thanks to multiple camera angles, we get to see before and after Bryan tripped over the jump :). He was the first one to completely fall after spinning, and we were all dying.
Amber was next, with Bryan assisting by counting the spin numbers :).
This one came just before a slightly too unflattering for the blog picture when Amber fell, but she got right back up and used her straight-arm steering to get to the float for the slip'n'slide.
I didn't let forgetting my swimsuit stop me...I was all in.
And since I am a leftie and spun the opposite way from everyone before me, I was also the first to run/fall directly toward the cement walkway and steps into the house. Thanks Dan for preventing permanent brain damage :)
I got back up, then back down about a foot further, before crawling a few steps until I could get up. I really wanted to win, and might have forgotten that I was incapable of walking :)
Next we had the grandparents division :) Grandma was first, with 100% effort
Grandpa was next, with a few new strategies to show us. First, he ran through every hoop (a 1 second penalty for each one). We thought that was strange, but it was nothing compared to his post-spin walk :) The wide-legged duck waddle was awkward but effective, he may have been the only adult not to fall!
His time was slightly affected by the missing flamingo...this series of pictures sums up who might have been responsible for that one :)
Dan was the last to go, just as the Stays were pulling up. My memory is saying that he didn't fall either, but the third picture looks pretty mid-fall, so I could be wrong.
The kids got to mess around on the course for a little bit :)
After a few minutes, some Stays were able to find their swimsuits and they wanted an official time as well. Zach overtook Bryan for the fastest in the Adult Division, and Kade remained on top for the Kids Division. Zach was another run/faller, his long legs produced a much more dramatic fall into the cement entryway. Luckily he escaped unscathed and was able to continue his quest for victory.
Every time I look at this picture I get confused. This is Maggie (not Olivia, who has the same swimsuit), with a great run. I love her face as she is entering the pool.
Caleb was the last official participant, and surprisingly, was the only one to fall into the pool! He landed on the side and slid down, so it wasn't quite the fall we expected throughout the afternoon, and he had a great run.
It was pretty hot on Saturday, so after the obstacle course we let the kids play school inside for a while. I can't say enough how amazing it was that Candy and Bryan opened up their house for us. The kids were ready for a break, and they were able to cool off for a while. Thank you!! Candy also had some great education materials and crafts for the kids about the Eclipse. The girls were in heaven with a willing class and great teaching materials :).
And some random evening pictures. The whole weekend felt like an extension of Twin Lakes for me. Our entire grand cabin family was there, and we just played and hung out the same way we do at the Lakes.
As it was getting dark, Grandma turned on Home, our eclipse movie :). She brought a projector and sheet to hang so it was big and fun, my kids have never watched a movie like that so they were super excited.
And games until well after midnight is a must at any family gathering :). This time we played spoons, but we took out the table and anything hard in the area surrounding us before we started :).
