Pioneer Day 2010

Our neighborhood has started a tradition of holding a Pioneer Day Children's Parade. The kids decorate bikes and/or dress up and race down the street. This year we thought we'd step it up a notch and add a "float" to the parade.

Jayden got a lot of applause from the crowd (all 10 of them) for being the only "float" in the parade. Or, maybe it was the fact that he was throwing candy that got him all the attention. He loved it.

Landon decorated his scooter as much as he could, but scooters just don't have that much area to decorate.

Dallin thought it would be cool to decorate his super fast RC truck for the occasion. You know, like those 4-wheel drive trucks that do stunts in parades. Well, sorta'.

Cameron wanted in on the R/C action, too. His didn't go nearly as fast as Dallin's, or pop any wheelies, but it was all he could do to keep up with it anyway.

Of course, after the parade there were treats - including cotton candy, can ya' tell?

And, of course, there was a water fight. I was nice and safe watching and taking pictures of the water fight from across the street. So many neighbors got really into the water fight - Leon and Kathryn, included. Don't worry, they both got what they deserved.

Tyler and Rourke somehow managed to be the keepers of the hose and had all of the power. They felt I was too dry across the street and formed a plan. Tyler enlisted one of his teenaged sons to come at me with a bucket. I'll tell ya', I can run a whole lot faster than a teenager carrying a bucket of water, but I soon ran out of road and had to give in. I think I have a score to settle. Hmm.

Later than evening we got together with our cul-de-sac and had some fireworks. Of course, there were a lot of kids (the Jefferies had their grandkids) and even more sparklers.

Leon had a line of kids waiting for their turn to choose a firework. Leon would read the name of the firework like "Flaming Devil" in a loud, sinister voice and dedicate it to the kid who chose it. The kids thought Leon was the coolest fireworks guy. Hmm.

Leon saw this interesting firework and rigged it up for the finale. The crowd loved it.

Happy 24th of July!

Eddington Family Reunion 2010

This year the reunion was held at the Uintah County Youth Camp just outside of Fort Bridger, WY. Leon wasn't able to take the time off of work, so it was just me and the kids this year. It has been several years since I've been to the Eddington family reunion, and it was great to see everyone.

The first thing the kids found was the fuseball.
Uncle Brian Cragun got a fire going each night, which the kids loved.
The kids also loved the playground, even though it was pretty much just dirt. The first evening they spent hours out there checking it out and exploring the surrounding area.

Jayden has always had a thing for Maddie. The kids were such troopers on the geocache hike. My dad had placed geocache buckets along the trail, split us into teams, and gave us GPS coordinates to the caches. It was a great way to keep the kids motivated through the hike.

This was our geocache team up at the farthest cache above the pond. (Alisun, Aimee, Daniel, Maddie, Dalton, Laurel, Jayden, Cameron, Taylor, Dave, Derek, McKenna, Landon, and Ethan)

Back at the lodge Great-Grandma had her traditional scavenger hunt for the kids. We don't go to every reunion, but my kids remember this activity and look forward to it.

Great-Grandma figured the older kids would find the scavenger hunt a bit too easy, so she had the over-12 kids hide the prizes. I must say that Dallin felt quite important and grown up to be on the hiding end of the hunt.

After lunch the group headed up to the pond for some canoeing and fishing. We called Uncle Scott's canoe the "School Bus."

Uncle Doug was pretty serious about catching a fish, which he eventually did once he abandoned the canoe and all of the crazy kids. Isn't there some child labor law being broken here?

Jayden figured out how to finagle the fish food dispenser to get one or two pellets at a time for free. What a shyster - I'm so proud.

That evening we played some "Minute to Win It" games. Great-grandma even got in on the action.

Needless to say, some of the Eddingtons got a bit competetive with these simple games. It's all about the time, afterall - right?

Even though Leon was not there to protect me from the wild squirrel that got in our cabin, we had a great time. I even learned how to play Pinochle - thanks Alex, Christian and Jeff for finally initiating me into adulthood.

Lake Almanor 2010

Lake Almanor was as GREAT as last year only we weren't able to stay as long. Really, this year's post will look a lot like last year's.

While at the lake we did NOT:

Have a computer,

Watch TV,

Use our phones (much),

Worry about the time,

Go to bed early or get up early,

Get as sunburned as last year - we learned our lesson,

Do our hair or wear make-up for 4 whole days (well, at least I didn't),

Have to cook as much - we took turns between the 3 families,

Count calories,

OR Hear "I'm bored".

Dallin just couldn't wait to try knee boarding again.

The tube got dragged around the lake more than a few times.

Cameron spent a lot of time just floating around on his own tube.

Dallin, Jayden, Allison, Landon, Cameron, and Hayden ready to hit the open water.

The "Wave Runners" got a lot of use.

Jayden added to and guarded that shell collection for several days.

Dallin did his fair share of kickin' back.

And, so did Landon.

The "neighbor's" trampoline was another popular spot.

The kids had a sand castle competition going on that carried over a couple of days. Of course, the dads had to get in on it to "tweek" it just a bit.

I think that canoe logged at least a hundred miles - a good physical outlet for the kids, too.

Night time was all about games - night games on the lawn, card games...

and "Just Dance" competitions on the Wii.

No trip with cousins would be complete without the "couch picture" right before we leave.

Grotto Falls

Since Leon had Monday off for the 4th of July, we felt compelled to do something. I guess we felt like slackers for not going to the Provo parade. So, we headed on down to Payson Canyon to hike up to Grotto Falls. Actually, "hike" is a pretty loose term in this case since it's only .3 miles each way and requires very little effort - perfect for the non-hikers in the group (names will be withheld to protect the innocent).
There were several bridges made from logs and planks of wood that mixed things up a bit.

Leon was the only one to brave the cold water long enough to wade out and stand under the fall.

I guess at one point Landon found the experience too loud for him. The falls are in a cave of sorts and I suppose the sound of the waterfall and all of the people bounced off the walls more than he liked.

Since it was officially a holiday, there were many other families with the same idea. With the water being so cold, we had to wait our turn for the rocks to become available for the photo opp.

Some pretty cold feet (sorry, Laurel and Natalie - just look away).

The 4th of July WEEKEND

One good thing about the 4th of July being on Sunday is we had the whole weekend to celebrate. We did start off a bit early on the 1st of July with fireworks, too. Saturday we went up to my parents' house for a barbecue, swimming, and a gnarly water balloon launching fight (sorry, Natalie for the welt on your arm). Our neighbor had all of his family over for fireworks on Sunday, the actual 4th, so we just HAD to join in, again. Besides, how do you get your kids to sleep when there is a cul-de-sac of people and screaming fireworks?
I've pretty much decided that most fountains look alike. However, my favorite ones are the crackling, sparkler-like ones. Can you see all of the already-used fountains? Good times.