Camping at Grandma and Papa's

Last week, Caden and Vance stayed over at my parents' house in Murrieta. My brother, Bill, also brought his two sons, Nolan and Cole, and Cole's friend Kyle. I didn't show up until late the next day, but from what I've been told and the pictures I've received, the boys had a great time together. Billy is a wonderful cook, and he barbequed their meals. Apparently, the growing boys ate a ton of food! Vance was fascinated with Kyle (who he now calls "Carl"). They spent the night in the trailer. According to the boys, they only got 2 hours of sleep.

Nolan, Kyle, Vance, Caden, and Cole

Dad and Bill with the boys

Vacation Part 5

Our next stop was Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. We drove north through Idaho, then east through Montana. Let me just say that I think Yellowstone is one of the most beautiful places in North America that I have been to. On our way to the Old Faithful Inn, we searched for as many different types of animals and birds that we could find. There were lots of bison, elk, and canada geese. On a couple of occasions, we had to stop the car and share the road with the bison that just walk up and down it like a sidewalk. One walked right next to our car, and we could see all of the details of its matted fur. Our hotel was nice and right next to Old Faithful. I have to confess that I never made plans in my life to visit the geyser, but I am so glad that we did. It wasn't different from how I imagined it to be, but it was still impressive. What confounds me is how accurately they can predict when it will erupt. Yellowstone is full of geothermic wonders. The visitors' center is state of the art, and Caden and Vance had fun going on an informational scavenger hunt. Caden even did enough work to earn a Junior Park Ranger badge! Vance lost interest before he earned his. How sad that we only stayed there one night (it was expensive, so one was all we could afford)! We would love to go back and explore all of the trails, etc. On our way out of the park, we stopped for about half an hour so that the boys could play in the snow. They loved doing that! The snow was so deep that Tevye sunk down to his knees, but we didn't know that, because Caden and Vance were so light that they didn't sink down. Tevye would have to pick them up and throw them rather forcefully into the snow in order for them to sink. At the end, they were so wet that the boys were only in shirt and underwear as we drove out of the park.

My mountain men

Old Faithful

"Skunky Skunk" was clearly a highlight of the trip for Vance.

My little scientist.

Caden's self portrait

Snowball fight

Tevye throwing Caden into the snow

Snow angel #1

Snow angel #2

Koepler (sp?) Falls- one of my favorite sites

We stopped in Jackson, Wyoming to explore and eat dinner. Though the restaurant we ate at did not know how to properly cook a well-done stake (everyone probably likes it rare in Jackson), we had fun walking through the shops and a labyrinth. My favorite part was the archways of the central park area. They were made of shed antlers collected by the local Boy Scout troop.

The labyrinth

Howling with the wolves

Jackson has a lot of "stuffed" animals.

Vacation Part 4

Tevye with the boys on the Wind Caves Trail.

After visiting Hoover Dam, we headed north to Utah. Unfortunately, we had to skip going to the caves at Mt. Timpanogos (sp?) since they were closed. Poor Tevye- this was the second time he tried to go there but was unable to. We decided to continue on to his parents' home in Logan, Utah. The main reason for our trip was to celebrate Tevye's brother's wedding.Asa and Theresa were married in Greece just a couple weeks earlier. We were excited to see them and some of the other family members (not everyone could make it). Most of the time was spent playing board games around the kitchen table. Caden loved playing the games and is quite the strategist. Grammy helped the boys find walking sticks.We also took a short walk along the Logan River trail that runs through the golf course. I guess that one of the differences between Tev's family and mine is that his family went out of their way to catch a bunch of snakes and mine would go out of their way to avoid them. At one point, Caden was holding a snake, but the snake wriggled free and clamped onto his finger with its fangs. Luckily, Grammy was there to save the day! Michaela and Jared

Tevye had brought his RC truck, so he had fun driving it around with his siblings. Tev's mom made a great chicken dinner for the reception. We made a quick field trip up to Pocatello, Idaho to see Micah and Kolissa's cute new house. On our last day in Logan, Tevye and his mom took the boys hiking up to Wind Cave. I think they had a great time.

Goofy Vance

Some extra pictures:

Talicee and Logan

Vance, Caden, and Logan- the cousins had fun playing "Star Wars" in the front yard.

Caden's Last Day of 2nd Grade

On June 14th, we celebrated Caden's last day of 2nd grade and the first complete year of homeschooling! He did a great job this year, and when I asked him if he wanted to continue homeschool or go back to public school next year, he quickly chose homeschool. That helps me feel better about our decision. I can't believe how advanced some of the curriculum was this year, but he handled it like a pro. Vance helped me make this banner for Caden. It says, "Congratulations Caden!" The banner ended up being so long that I couldn't fit it in the photo. Tevye and I hung it up where Caden could see it right when he walked into the living room first thing in the morning. He was so excited upon seeing it that his face just beamed with joy!

My mom came over to celebrate with us. I made these cupcakes that looked like apples. Caden liked them a lot.

For his last day, his assignment was to construct a working drawbridge and ramp out of Legos (I wish that I had taken a picture of it) and we read several pages in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. That night, we ate Caden's favorite dinner- spaghetti. Overall, I think that he felt like he was celebrated for the great job he did this year. I hope he remembers this day for a long time.

Vacation Part 3

Tevye took this picture of the Hoover Dam from the new walking bridge across the way.

Our next stop on the family vacation was Hoover Dam. Caden was most excited to see this, because we had studied about it in preparation for the trip. This was our first visit to the dam, except for Tevye, who had been there a long time ago. We took the power plant tour. It was so difficult for me to wrap my head around the concept that we were actually 540 feet under ground! Some of the pieces of pipe they used while building the dam were so large that they had to be built on site, because they were to big to transport from a factory. I highly recommend the tour- it was fascinating. After the tour, we walked on top of the dam. The view was beautiful, and it was fun to cross back and forth between two states (NV and AZ). The boys had a great time.

Walking through the tunnels that were over 5oo feet underground!

The boys infront of the water turbines.

Caden took this picture of us, which is why you can't see the dam down below. Despite his height, Caden is a pretty good photographer. Vance, when given the chance, cuts the person's head out of the picture on purpose.

Caden in Nevada- Vance in Arizona.