Spokane Trip and After

June 30th, after a single make-up swim lesson (puke in the pool always throws things off) we headed out for Spokane to visit my family.  I hate to admit, I was in full swing of not taking any pictures, so I have basically nothing to show from our trip...  However, we had a great time barbecuing and catching up with family at my Dad's house on the 1st of July.  The kids had lots of fun playing outside and seeing cousins for the first time in a few months, and making friends with my parents' new dog, Lucy.  Ellie especially loved Lucy, and would move around my Dad's yard with her while she was doing her "reading" we told her to do during the other kids' naps each day.

The other events of that week included:

1. A bucket list event for me.  Steve and I went to Phantom of the Opera put on by The Best of Broadway cast while we were in Spokane on the 6th.  It was so much fun and something I have wanted to see since I was a teenager.  Seeing it with Steve made it that much more special.  We could not believe who intricate the stage sets were - like mind blowing - and just enjoyed being "us" for a bit.  It was fabulous!

2. Lots of fun new health firsts for our family.
For instance, we learned (repeatedly throughout the summer after this) that Mckayla reacts rather strongly to mosquito bites anywhere near her face with lots of swelling.  We later did some research and learned that this is not completely unusual, but was a new one for us!  Poor MG looked like she had a good shiner.  Later in the summer she had a huge swollen spot between her eyes on the bridge of her nose, and again another swollen eye...  And then Kassidy had a swollen eye like this a few weeks later.  Fun.

We also learned that Kassidy had hurt her teeth and not just her lip when she sat down hard in the tub and caught the edge of the tub the week before.  We had checked her teeth and not seen any issues and even took her to the doctor because she was acting a little off after.  The poor girl had such a swollen lip and black inside of her mouth for a while, but no signs of issues with her teeth till a few days after we got to Spokane, when they seemed a little shadowed - and were loose.

We later found out she killed the two top front teeth, but they firmed back up so they are viable unless they abscess, loosen up, or rot.  They are now dark grey and I miss her white smile...  I have since learned that it is so common for kids to kill teeth through falls and injuries, but I still feel like they look like we just haven't taken care of her teeth...

Despite these hiccups, we had lots of fun visiting family in Washington. When we left on the 8th we also brought my nephew, Wyatt home with us for a couple of weeks.  We hadn't planned on bringing him home with us until just a few days before we left for Spokane, so we had a big rush of finishing Mckayla's new bedroom in the basement and buying a bed so that we would have a bedroom for him when he came back with us.

While Wyatt was here I was still teaching swim lessons Monday-Thursday and Steve was doing farm work, so we didn't do much special.  However, he had fun with the girls (despite him and Mckayla developing a bit of a sibling rivalry over time) and loved riding in tractors and grain trucks.  Here he was all dressed up for church with Ellie.

We did have one big special trip planned, which was an extended family reunion on the Bennett side that he happened to be here for.  We went camping up East Canyon for a long weekend.  Our extended family was so great and welcomed Wyatt right in.  Kathy and Ryan were especially fantastic with him taking him fishing for hours one day.  We had lots of fun swimming with the kids one day too, until I started feeling sick that afternoon.  We then had a major rainstorm during which I ran out and threw up into the trees during the storm.  I spent the rest of the trip in a bunk-bed room sick at the condo the oldest generation was staying in.  That trip was not fun for me.  However, the kids had so much fun and I'm glad they had a great time with family!

A few favorite stories that I was told: Kathy and Ryan took our two oldest girls and Wyatt fishing, but Wyatt was hooking everything around him.  So, they asked him if he wanted to fish with a lure instead of a hook.  And he did.  For hours.  With just a lure - no hook.  To be fair, he caught the same number of fish as everyone else did, but hilarious none the less... Then Ryan gave the two lures to Wyatt that he had used - just the painted metal oval mind you - and Wyatt was so excited that he would give them to him that it was the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time watching his big grateful hug to Uncle Ryan.

Mckayla also took to family, but to much older second cousins who she decided were awesome.  This was while I was sick, but the teenage girls were so sweet to MG, making her a craft, letting her eat with them, holding hands with her as they walked places, etc.  Mckayla called them her "best friends" to everyone and felt so cool to be with the big girls.

After Wyatt had been here for a week or so my parents also drove down so they could ring him home with them.  One of the best parts of my parents visiting these last few trips is seeing both of our parents get along so well.  We love it.  And we're so lucky.  We're lucky in who our parents are, that they're so loving and supportive towards our family, and that they get along so well.

Before my parents left we also did some fun things with them and Wyatt.  We took them to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden.  There are so many fun dinosaurs outside and they have amazing fossils inside!  This deinosuchus skeleton with Wyatt is so huge!

 We had to take some pictures of Kassidy with triceratops where that's her favorite dinosaur.

 Here are the kids with yet another incredible and huge fossil.

 Here are the four kiddos talking to one of the paleontologists working in the office.  I have to say, it's so awesome that they have the windows open so that the kids can come right up and watch them work and speak to them!  This was my favorite part of the dinosaur park.

 Here's Kassidy with another ceratopsian.

 There were so many incredible dinosaur statues outside.

 They just added a new Spinosaurus which was neat to see.

 Kassidy took to my Dad in a major way when we went up to Spokane, and picked that right back up when my parents came to visit.  It makes my heart happy to see one of my girls so close to the man that I have always been so close to and means so much to me.

 Wyatt loved the displays of dinosaurs attacking each other.  They were pretty cool...

 Gavin spent most of his time in the backpack.

 The kids just wanted to get through the outside displays so they could play at the park.  It was a pretty fantastic park.

 Gavin enjoying the shade while the big kids played.

All the kids after lots of fun play at the park.

We also took the kids and my parents to Golden Spike where the Trans-Continental Railroad was completed.  They did a reenactment of the driving of the last spike that we watched.  It was hot, but really interesting.

 Here Dad was teaching Mckayla about the construction of the railroad.

 Everyone watching the reenactment.

 The cast of the reenactment afterword.

They also had these AMAZING old engines.  The downside was that they have some broken track so the trains had to stay in the shed instead of bringing them out.  The upside was that because the trains couldn't be moved they were letting the kids go through one of the engines, which they loved.

 Our last stop with my parents and Wyatt was Orbital ATK.  It's a business just a few miles from Golden Spike where they build rockets - like, real rockets. They have parts of missiles and rockets out where you can see them, and the kids loved climbing on them.

This was my favorite piece there - a huge part of a rocket with the NASA logo on it.

The kids were running in this huge tube, and Kassidy was counting to play hide-and-seek which was hilarious with the other kids five feet from her.

 A view of most of the missiles from the parking lot.

 My parents left with Wyatt on the 23rd and we were sad to see them go.  It's always so fun to have them visit and see family.  We are so grateful they make the drive to come see us and the kids!