Monday, August 13, 2007

...And we're back!

With a TON of pictures, as promised! These are nowhere near all of them, but this will tell the story of my vacation. The lake we went to (Payette) is BEAUTIFUL. As long as the sun is shining and the weather is warm, it's wonderful for swimming. The first day we were there the weather wasn't so great because there were fires across the lake and the whole sky was nothing but smoke. It looked like a foggy, overcast day. By the second afternoon it burned off and we were able to enjoy the water.

One afternoon Tessa and my sister spent the better part of 3 hours splashing around (and getting sunburned).

This is the life! I loved laying out on the beach and came home with a nice tan (which was on my list of things to do on the trip).

This was SO much fun!!! The lake is only about 5 feet deep in this part, and this was probably my favorite water play. :o)


Uncle David came up with some new ways to play football... Apparently the catching was great but he had some trouble with the throwing...

This picture isn't really complete without Tessa (the T of MELT). Unfortunately we didn't get any of the 4 of us.

Alaina and Tomas. He reminded me so much of Jordan and I had such a great time playing with him. He's a crack up.

Tomas's little brother Alejandro. He's one of those babies who loves to be thrown backward and we did a lot of this. He's a little cutie.
Owen and I
Kendra and Cisco
Cary, Owen, Tessa and me. I had SO much fun with my cousins this trip. We're all 3 years older than the last time we went, which makes a huge difference for the cousins who are now 13. We all had a really good time together and pretty much never stopped laughing.

Somehow my Triscuits became this huge joke and they laughed for about 20 minutes over Triscuit jokes. "Triscuits for Reid?"

Here we are on the challenge course! This log is 65 feet in the air, and you get to it by climbing a steel telephone-like pole. At the end of the log there is an air horn to blast and then you simply lean backwards and let them lower you!


The pole:
This is the Leap of Faith. This is another 65-foot high pole, which you simply climb, and stand up on, with nothing to hold onto. This was actually my favorite challenge, aside from the zip line. The top of the pole is about 6 inches in diameter. Once you stand up on the pole...

You jump for the trapeze and on the count of 3 you simply let go and are lowered to the ground. That's my brother on the pole and me on the trapeze.

And on the last day they did the zip line! That guy standing up on the platform is 6'11". I forget how long they said the cable is, but I think somewhere around 600 feet. The first 40 feet is a free fall and then your harness catches you and you're going about 35mph. The best (and most fun) way to jump is a swan dive.


This was the view from behind all the boys during the week. I apologize if this offends anyone. I won't post the one of all the boys standing outside in nothing BUT their boxers because they were in a hurry to get outside and see the space shuttle go by!


Here's the 6'11" guy again. If nobody was waiting to climb the wall he just "hung" out.

The boys cabin was messier then the girls!

The boys on KP
A bunch of sunbathing cousins

One of the coolest innertubes I've been in. It's a 4-seater (we only used 3) and was later popped by these same boys, but was a ton of fun. I have a lovely scrape on my back and elbow from where they rubbed on the nylon during the ride, but I never got thrown off, despite coming OUT of the tube on some of the bumps!

Brynn (not part of our group) and Tomas in the tube! This was Tomas's first time in a tube and he absolutely loved it. I went along to take pictures because his parents' camera wasn't working. There were about five 4-year olds in the boat and was one of the funnest boat rides I've had. They were all so excited about going 9 mph behind a boat. :o) Too cute.

Tomas and some other little boys buried Sam in the sand and were so proud!

Heading out for some tubing!

Carly and Kendra
All the cousins in the evening. We mostly just sit around and laugh. :o)

Tomas was into tackling everyone and took quite a liking to Colby.

The cousins (not all of them) in age order:

And in height order (notice how I move WAY down the line!)

And the whole family at Camp Ida-Haven

We were at Camp Ida-Haven for the first 3 days and then went across the lake where my mom's uncle owns a cabin for the rest of the week. We actually stayed about a mile up the road from his place but hung out with everyone at the cabin and the lake during the day. One night I think we fed 39 people for dinner. And Kathleen always kept a supply of raw cookie dough in the fridge!
I would love to go back to Ida-Haven in another 3 years (the timeline for the next reunion), but some of us could be married with families by then, so we shall see. This family is constantly laughing, and almost always sitting or standing in a circle. Tessa and Jamie both suffered knee injuries, but I think everyone left happy and tired. It was a GREAT vacation.

3 comments:

Eva said...

Great photos and seems like a great vacation!

Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

Hi Donkey
Jordan