Vacation - Part 1

I grew up in a really small town in Nevada called Caliente.  One of my favorite holiday celebrations was the 4th of July.  I really wanted to take my kids to Caliente to experience the fun it is.  We also had a family reunion for my mom's side of the family in Southern Utah a week later, so I decided why not take my kids down for the 4th of July, spend the week at my parents house and then go to the reunion from there.  Andrew had to work the first week, so I made the 8 hour trek with my 3 boys and then Andrew met up with us the following week for the reunion.  Here are some highlights of our trip.

4th of July
We arrived at my parents house on Friday evening.  On Sunday evening, my sister Marie and her family came over.  That night, Keagan and 4 of his cousins slept in my parents tent trailer.  On Monday morning, the start of the festivities (all put on by the Volunteer Fire Department) began at 6:00 with dynamite blasts being set off. 

Next up was the very yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and ham at the park cooked by the firemen.

Then the parade.  The kids all got LOTS of candy. Here are my three boys in their patriotic shirts waiting for the parade to begin

 My family that was in town.

After the parade, we headed over to the park for the "races".  0-3 year old kids did just running.  For the rest, it was running, potato sack race, three legged race & wheelbarrow race.  Every person participating received a dollar coin.  Then after each race, the fireman would hand out quarters to every person that did each race. 

Here is my brother and I doing the three legged race and yes, we were faster my sister Marie and her husband. 

After the races, we all enjoyed some yummy watermelon.  After which was the money scramble where they would throw money on the ground while spraying you with water out of the fire hoses. 

That night, we went back to the park for the fireworks.  Keagan and Deker were so excited to stay up late.  Once the fireworks started though, Deker did not like the loud noises, cuddled up to me and fell asleep. 

Working in the Yard with Grandpa
As I mentioned above, we got to my parents on Friday evening when we got there, my dad was putting up forms to pour a cement walkway around the house the next weekend.  On Saturday, my dad spent most of the day outside working on it and then a few evenings the rest of the week putting the finishing touches.  My boys spent a lot of time out there "helping".  By helping that usually means talking non-stop.  At my point, my dad came in and said "I don't know what's more tired my muscles or my ears." 

Who said anything about child labor laws?

Bauer has to get in on the action.

The next Saturday (after the 4th of July) Marie and her husband came back to Caliente to help my dad pour the cement.  There was a lot of cement bags on the ground so my mom brought the truck around and we had the younger kids throw all the empty bags into the back of the truck.  They were so excited to be able to do something.  They even got up in the truck to get all the bags smashed down. 

Cedar City
On Wednesday, my Mom was going down to Las Vegas to pick up my grandparents from the airport (they were flying in for the reunion the following Monday).  I decided to take my kids over to Cedar City for two days to visit with my Sister Marie and her family and also to give my grandparents a couple of days to get settled in and rest. 

I had a great time visiting with my sister and the boys and a lot of fun playing with their cousins.  We took the kids to a park with a stream to play.  We went to a Green Show (free pre-show) for the Shakespeare Festival and my sister and I had a couple of quiet shopping excursions without kids. 

Misc. Pictures
It was fun to spend some more time at my parents house and it was great to have my grandparents there as well.  I was so glad that my kids were able to spend a some time with their great grandparents.

Keagan and Deker loves to play with this marble thing that my mom has.   

Bauer was always trying to steal his great grandma's cane.  For some reason he really loved to play with it.

Keagan loved climbing in the tree with his cousins Hafen and Hudson.

My sister Vera arrived at my parents house on Saturday afternoon.  We went to a local burger place for dinner that night for some yummy Pickadilly chips and shakes.  Keagan and Deker insisted on sitting by Aunt Vera. 

My three boys with theire Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. 

My Grandma and Grandpa Peterson have 12 kids, 80-ish grandkids and 60-something great grandkids (so far) and Keagan and Bauer are the only two that are born on Grandpa Peterson's birthday so we had to get a picture of them with their great Grandpa.