We spent a few days with Kevin’s family when we first got to California. They are so kind and generous and just loved on our boys.
It didn’t take long before the boys were ready to get into Grandpa Brent’s swimming pool (and by boys, I mean Kevin!) …
We had life jackets for the younger ones. Rusty loved his … he could go where ever he wanted.
Tommy wasn’t so much a fan of his, but he tolerated it.
Billy was good about staying by the wall – although he was coveting the life jackets a little bit. Billy and Grandpa Brent had a pretty good game of Shark going on (Grandpa Brent was the shark) …
Ricky has no fear of the water.
Unfortunately, last year’s swimming lessons were a long time ago and he hasn’t had much chance to practice since then. He tried, but more than once he had to be helped back to the wall. And he got a few more lessons from Poppy.
Friday night, we met Kevin’s brother Marc and his family at a restaurant/play place called John’s Incredible Pizza. The boys were pretty patient about eating even though they knew there was playing waiting to happen. They also were thrilled to spend some time with Cousin Grant.
Cambrie and Ella were there too …
I don’t think this was ice cream that Kevin put in Rusty’s cone – maybe a slushee? Rusty didn’t care. He just was excited to have a cone!
Finally, we took the boys over to the play area. Ricky won a dinosaur toy from this game…
All of the little cousins went on the Frog Hopper. It raised the kids up to the ceiling and then bounced them down. I wasn’t sure what Rusty would think about it, but he was ready to go again …
Since Tommy didn’t get to ride the frog thing, he got a Thomas the Tank Engine ride. He wasn’t impressed.
There were a couple of rides that were actually fun for me. One was a little train ride that our whole family went on. It looked innocent enough. It wasn’t. It was surprisingly fast and whipped us around the corners pretty hard. Kevin kept saying soothing words to Tommy and I kept telling Rusty how fun it was. They believed us.
Then there was this Twister ride. It was like the spinning tea cups suspended from a swing. I took Ricky and Billy on it and we had a blast. I started teaching them about “no hands” (raising your hands in the air on exciting rides) and they were starting to get the idea as the ride finished off.
And Ricky and Grant went on the bumper cars. Ricky was so proud of himself every time he crashed into someone – you could see it on his face!
Tommy did not appreciate that he wasn’t allowed on the bumper cars. At all.
Saturday, Marc’s family, Wendi, and Sheri all met at their folks’ house for dinner and games and socializing. The kids had fun together in the pool …
Billy got his turn with the life jacket (he was in heaven)…
A little basketball was played …
A big basketball was played …
And some recouping time with the Nintendo DS systems …
Sunday involved a lot more socializing, a bit of dinner eating, some time at church, several games, and some bath time for the kidlets. Not a lot of time for baths, so they all took one at once …
It was a good weekend spent reconnecting with family and just enjoying good company!