Thompson Family Reunion

We had a great time last week in Wisconsin Dells at the Thompson Family Reunion. This was my parents, my siblings, and their families. I am the 5th of 7 children, and there are 34 grandchildren, ranging in age from 2-18. The week was really all about COUSINS!! I love to see my children having so much fun with cousins. Growing up, I had as many siblings as I did cousins, and we did not see them that often. They lived 3+ hours away, so I didn't really know them. My kids don't get to see their cousins, aunts and uncles as often as I'd like, but we really try to make the time worth it when they do. There were cousins' parties planned for the different age groups, twice a day, except the day we spent at the waterpark. Evenings were spent all together, with a dinner together, and games/activities. The aunts and uncles took turns planning and running the cousins' parties. We did all sorts of things. That's what I mostly have pictures of....

For the 10 and up party that Rick and I were in charge of, we did an egg drop. We divided the kids into teams, gave them a bag of materials and had them build a contraption to protect an egg as it was dropped off a 3rd story balcony. It was so much to fun to see their creativity and teamwork!!

More of the egg drop, and one of the boys ages 5-9, paddle boating with Uncle David.

Cory and Jen did marshmallow guns for the cousins 10 and up!! The resort maintenance crew was loving us : )

This is what Rick and I did when it was our turn with the girls ages 5-9. We dipped pretzels, and filled candy molds. It ended up being a little harder to do with them than I thought it would be, but they liked the end result!!!

I was really hit and miss with the camera. I, of course, wish that I had more pictures, but Kailee, the oldest of the cousins, did put together a slide show at the end of the week. We spent Thursday at Noah's Ark, America's Largest Waterpark, and we had a blast!!! It was so much fun!!

Thanks to my parents for making this possible, and to my family for all the happy memories that were made this week!!!

All Together Again

With the return of Dallin from Scout Camp, and Dailie from Girl's Camp, it feels good to be all together again as a family. We're making a quick turn around preparing for our next summer adventure. The Thompson Family Reunion beings Tuesday at the Wisconsin Dells. We're looking forward to a fun and relaxing time with lots of family (my parents, 6 siblings and their families, totaling 50 people)!!

Spontaneous Camping

Thursday came, and there was Dad, back home from camp, and the day off of work. So, the girls asked if we could camp in the backyard that night. Rick said, why not just go out to Jubliee State Park and make it a real camping trip? It was awesome. Eliza made a list (with check boxes and all) and started gathering the equipment. We got it pulled all together, and left a little before 4:00. First stop was the zoo (no pictures). Next we had a picnic dinner at Glen Oak Park, and then Audri played in her final concert for Summer Orchestra. She's on the far right, hidden behind her stand.

After the concert, well, actually after Audri's part was done, we took off to go to Jubilee. We got there just as the sun was setting, and the rain was starting. We frantically started putting up the tent, and then the rain stopped- thank goodness!! We got the fire started. Wait, who am I kidding? RICK got the fire started, and we sat around the fire telling stories and eating S'mores!!! The kids climbed in the tent, and Rick and I stayed up sitting by the fire, enjoying some rare conversation time. We were also dreading going in and sleeping on the ground. It's not as easy as it used to be... Anyway, we got up this morning and made pancakes, eggs and sausage over the fire- YUMMY!! Pancakes taste so much better when cooked over a fire and eaten outside, don't you think?
Here are the girls in front of the tent, with a random girl who was also camping at Jubilee and found my kids to play with. Her name is Lotus and she is 5 and she wanted to be in the picture. That's all I know. They all had great fun playing while Rick and I cleaned up and packed up camp.
On the picnic table...Lotus is still there in the picture...
The kids really wanted to go hiking so we took a short hike before heading home. I'm not sure what Rick's pointing at, but it very well could be poison ivy. We tried to use the abundant examples of it to teach the girls how to identify it : ). I'm hoping nobody got any.

The lake we hiked to. Well, and the kids too. You might notice the light saber in the pictures. That was in case we met up with Darth Vader on our hike. I know it really eased my worries. You might be surprised to learn that we did NOT encounter Darth Vader on our hike.

Audri and Daniel heading back. And now, the entire family has done at least a little camping this week. Makes us all itch to do a little more....

Different Dynamics

This week has been a little different at our house. Dallin is at Scout Camp, and Dailie is at Girl's Camp. Rick was at Scout Camp until yesterday afternoon, and then he went to Girl's Camp for Bishop's night. It was fun to talk to him last night about how the kids are doing. It sounds like both of them are having a great time. Meanwhile, it's just been the "little kids" and me at home. I've tried to enjoy the time with them, and give myself an excuse to let the house go a little and play a little more. It's funny how the change in dynamics makes it feel ok to do that. I like it : ). We've had a good time, going to the pool, attending a summer orchestra concert of Audri's, shopping late at Sam's, sleeping in, etc. Starting today, we'll add Daddy to the mix. I'm hoping we can take advantage of the time to do some things the younger kids will enjoy. It's been good for me to focus on them a little more.

Deep Fried Jeffs, Anyone?

Paula Dean, or any Southern cook for that matter, will tell you that anything is better fried, and for the most part I would have to agree. Today, I discovered an exception- children are not better fried. I don't know what is wrong with my brain. I'm pretty good at remembering sunscreen when we go anywhere with water, but if we go anywhere else where we plan to spend the entire afternoon in the sun, I seem to forget that we might just get sunburned. Today was such a day. We went as a family to the Peoria Air Show, and let's just say we're all a little red this evening. We really had a great time, and got to see some really cool airplanes. It's especially fun to go to something like this when you have a resident expert. Rick, in my opinion, is an expert on airplanes. The world of aviation has been opened way up to me since marrying this man. I really had no idea there were so many things to know about airplanes. Anyway, I've got lots of pictures, so I hope you're ready. I do not have any pictures, however of the fried children (oh, and the parents are fried too. Only, we were wearing sunglasses, so we also look like racoons).
Here we are (well, I'm taking the photo, not in it) waiting to go inside a C-130 Hercules. There are some of these here in Peoria with the National Guard Airlift Unit.

And here we are in front of one of the Thunderbirds' F-16s. The Thunderbirds were the main attraction at the air show today. They were quite impressive.

The kids in the cockpit of the C-130 Hercules.

Daniel met up with a few friends. I could go on and on about him, but let's just say he was hilarious. Before we left home, he was told that he'd see some stormtroopers. He insisted on taking his light saber, so that he could get them. He was a little nervous at first about getting too close to these guys, but by the end he was asking them where there ship was. Of course, one of them told him it was over by the other planes, and then Daniel kept bugging us to take him over to see the stormshooter's (this is what he calls them) ship.

Here are a few shots of the Thunderbirds. They really were amazing. We had to wait for quite awhile to see them, and the kids were getting impatient, but in the end I think they all were glad that we had waited for the show. Audri, Eliza and Daniel were even playing Thunderbirds when we got home this evening. What a fun day!

More Peoria Fun

We also went to Fondulac Farm Park with Grandma and Grandpa. Something about having visitors kicks me into gear to do things in the Peoria area I've wanted to do but haven't yet. We all had lots of fun seeing and feeding the animals and learning about life on a farm in the early 1900s.

The one room schoolhouse was a fun stop. The goats were the most fun to feed. We purchased "feed cones"- ice cream cones filled with feed that all the animals liked. The goats especially liked to eat the cone. The girls named all the goats, and they all had a lot of fun feeding and petting the goats. Coming home, they kept asking if we could get a goat. I told them I didn't think the Edgewild HOA would like that idea too much...

More goat pictures, plus this cute bridge that crosses the pond. There were ducks and geese in the pond, a horse, a cow, chickens and baby chicks, turkeys, sheep, a pig. In spite of the smell, there's something refreshing about visiting a farm.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Another activity we enjoyed while Grandma and Grandpa were here was a Peoria Chiefs game. It was a perfect night for a baseball game, and it was lots of fun to attend as a family. We had only been once before to a Chiefs game, and had to leave it early because Dailie had a piano recital.
Here's Daniel, being his usual goofy self for the camera!!

Just a couple of game night shots. It was fun cheering on the Chiefs, who managed to pull a nice win off for us. They beat Beloit 7-2. Our seats were right on the 1st baseline. I thought it was a fun spot to watch the game from.

This is Homer, the mascot. The kids had fun watching for him to come around to our section. I'm hoping we'll go again as a family. I thought it was a great way to spend a summer evening.

July 4th

In spite of the rain, we had a great 4th of July. All week, Eliza and Dailie worked on planning a family party. They planned food, decorations, crafts and games. They were good sports about the rain, and improvised by bringing the party indoors. I remembered to take a few photos of the festivities.

The party planners. We told Dailie she could advertise herself for help with birthday parties. Any takers?

My attempt at capturing the decorations. It looked quite festive!

A close up of the flags they made for everyone.

And treats. Brownies, frosted as Old Glory. We also had chips and salsa and fruit punch. Yum!

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying the celebration!!

After the Ward breakfast in the morning, we were supposed to go and watch Dallin play his trumpet in a parade, but it was raining. Daniel was so excited about the candy from the parade, that we decided we better move the parade indoors. We bought some candy, and Grandma and Dallin went around the house throwing it at us. Luckily by the evening things had cleared up enough that the fireworks show still happened. We headed downtown, and thanks to a tip from some friends in the ward, watched the downtown show from a great location in a Caterpillar parking lot. Good times!!