Summer vacation 2012–week 6

Our original plan was to stay in Idaho for about 7 weeks.  But with Derk’s broken ankle it really made things difficult, and we decided to head home a week early.  I didn’t get many pictures this week because I was really busy taking care of Derk and the kids.  We got some last minute fun in, though, and do have a few pictures to share. 

We took another trip to Silverwood with Grandma and Grandpa (Derk came, too, but had to be in a wheelchair).  Asher and Grandpa went on lots of water slides together!

We spent a nice day at Farragut with my dad, siblings, and nephews.  This was neat for me because I came here as a little girl and got to think about the fun times my family had here all those years ago.  I love taking my kids to places I went as a child and watching them do the same things I once did.  The cousins had a blast blowing bubbles, digging in the sand, hiking around the lake, and playing in the water with Uncle James.  We also had a nice picnic.  It was a nice day, especially since Derk came with us.  He had to just sit in a chair and read/relax the whole time, but it was nice to spend time together outside.

And we had a last family get together at my mom’s.  The kids swam away in Nana’s pool with Uncle James, and the rest of the adults sat around enjoying the weather and chatting (and if you’re Derk, glaring at your wife for daring to take your picture…).

Cambria has been practicing her swimming all summer and was doing awesome this last time in the pool!

And here are a couple of pics from our trip back home.  I am normally SO sad to leave, but with Derk being hurt it was just really hard and crazy.  We all needed to be HOME.  Packing up the car was really tricky because Derk obviously couldn’t help me load up much.  His mom helped me quite a bit, but even so it took me until 2:30am to get most everything packed up.  Luckily Derk was able to do some driving that first day, but I had to drive a lot more than usual (actually, he normally drives the entire trip).  Once we decided we were taking off a week early, I had to check the Cache Valley cheese factory’s website to make sure we would pass through when they were open!  Yes, the cheese really is THAT worth it!  We ended up leaving a day later than we wanted to JUST so we could stop and get some “squeaky cheese” as we call it.  The kids were so good that Derk promised them they could pick whatever they wanted as a treat when we first stopped for gas.  Next time we’ll make sure to choose our words a little more carefully because Asher + a huge can of Mt.  Dew = HYPER!!!!!!  And lots of bathroom stops.    As we drove the thermometer in the van started slowly creeping up, and once it hit 100* we knew we must be getting close to home. 

It was definitely the most eventful summer vacation we’ve ever had!  We’ll never forget all our memories from this year.    It’s sad that our summer is almost over now.  Derk has about 2 more weeks until he goes back to work, and then the kids are back in school shortly after.  I love having everyone home with me all summer long.  But with such a crazy summer, it’ll do us good to get home and back into a routine!  Thanks to all our family for such wonderful memories from this summer!  We love you all!