Every year around the 4th of July my family has the Esplin reunion on Cedar Mountain at our favorite place called, "Memory Meadow". This reunion is my mom's side of the family and we didn't go last year so I thought we had better get there this year. I'm actually glad we did!
Todd was gone on another fire in New Mexico so it was going to be just me and the three kiddos, but the night before, my brother called and asked if I wanted to ride up with him. Heck YES! The kids loved riding with Uncle Jeff. When we stopped in Cedar and Jeff bought them a treat (cotton candy and drinks) and then we got back into the truck, Payton said, "Jeff is my favorite uncle!" Can't buy our love, huh?
There were plenty of things for the kids to do when we got there. Payton's favorite was the 4-wheelers. He loves to drive but he's not allowed to drive with just anyone. They have to be 16 or older. It was tough to get someone to go with him all the time. By the end of the night I finally allowed him to do the loop by himself with strict rules that if I saw him going too fast or being too crazy he would not be allowed to do it again. That was enough for him to know he better be good. Of course he was ready to do it again after he got back but it was time to put the 4-wheelers away and start the program for the evening. bummer.
Porter loved riding the horses. You would think that after the first time he got bucked off he wouldn't get back on...but he did. I guess it was after the second time he got thrown off (or I guess he back flipped off onto his head "into a soft spot") that we called it on the horses. Not his day with the horses but he still loves them.
Julia played in tents, rode 4-wheelers and horses, climbed mountains, explored caves, anything her brothers were doing, she was right there with them.
One of the things they did was a treasure hunt for all the kids. Julia and I didn't keep up very well but we had a cousin who made up the treasure hunt to let us know which spots to be at for the treats. For the final treasure we all rode in the back of a truck or trailer down to the mammoth caves. Inside they found marshmallow guns for everyone. The kids (and adults) loved them and we had a marshmallow war between the kids in the truck and the kids in the trailer the whole way back to camp.
I didn't get a ton of pictures, but I'm finding myself not taking too many pictures of events lately unless they come to me as I'm sitting in a chair--I'm too lazy to get up! We did have fun and made it back safely to find our dad home from his fire and waiting for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment