Thursday we were allowed to check into our rental at 4:00, so we took our time that day getting up to Ronald, which is near Roslyn, which is near Cle Elum...Think a Moore, Lost River, Arco scenario. Our rental home was sa-weet! It had an amazing kitchen, and the garage was totally decked out with video games, pool table, ping pong table, foosball table, etc! And it had a hot tub and an amazing back porch and deck. At the last minute we threw Jackson in with us and he enjoyed having sooo much space to run around and come and go as he pleased. Thursday night we had our first Survivor challenge to determine teams and spent the whole night playing rock band - there is something about that video game that brings family together! I will remember playing it with Gabe, Keaton, and my parents one time in Boise, and Thursday night did NOT disappoint. Turns out Jon and Papa Jon have great voices - who knew??
Friday morning we had yummy breakfast followed by our first team challenge. We headed to the lake to find a somewhat disappointing beach, but the kids don't care and we enjoyed the view, along with watching Justin skip rocks - sidebar - Justin is an incredible rock skipper. He can make a rock skip 20+ times. It's quite impressive. We played more games and had hot tub time in the afternoon. Jon and Laura made steak shish kebabs and we had s'mores and a fire that night.
"hi little boy..." so cute!
I mean, for real...
Friday morning I found the hidden immunity idol - I took the opportunity to make a fake idol and rehid it for someone else to find. It took everyone until Saturday night with multiple hints to finally find it. It was fun to play everyone..."Man, have you guys given up on the idol yet? I think we should ask Justin to give us a hint..." ha! It was great fun.
Saturday we went to a park on the nearby resort. The guys decided to play frisbee golf. I didn't want to carry a baby around for 9 holes (the baskets were 300+ feet apart...yuck) so Laura and I hung out near the big toy and waited for them to finish. I am loving each new stage with Emmett, but part of me wants him to get big already so he can keep up with his cousins! Clara is sooo cute with Emmett - she plays with him and says "hello little boy" in her adorable 4 year old voice! Eleanor is a different story - she's not so fond of her cousin yet (he's been pinched and slapped a few times - lol!) but one day I'm sure they'll be BFFs. That afternoon we tried the lake and it was a pretty big fail...the water was just terribly cold, and the "beach" (really rocky, lots of downed trees, sticks, etc in the way) was overly crowded with some serious white-trash people. I'm sorry but there's just no getting around it! Lots of pot smoking, drinking, and blaring music ... we let Jackson swim around a big but he was just too much energy with too many people. Papa Jon, Judy, and Joe made burgers for dinner with ice cream for dessert. We ate amazing food all week! We had a few team and individual challenges all along the way.
Sunday I wanted to go for a bike ride with Justin and Emmett - but when we got to the rental place, the trailer was for 18+ months. Sad day...so we met the rest of the family at the park again. We had a really chill afternoon, waiting to hear about getting into the pool at the resort since the lake was a fail. Justin and I did a bunch of prep for our dinner, and didn't get to go to the resort since Emmett finally collapsed for a nap when everyone left. We had sweet and sour chicken - or as I've named it, "Bang Bang Chicken" with a Chinese cabbage salad and Justin's avocado fritters. We made peach cobbler for dessert and ate that around the fire. The camp fire is always the best part! It doesn't hurt that you can take a shower and go to bed in a nice soft bed afterward #glamping
Two years ago we did a talent show, but this year everyone prepared something to share - less performance-oriented. Jon prepared a presentation on Muslims (he's big into history and politics ... pretty much two things I am least interested in but I learned something new!), Joe and Judy made fire starters and showed us to how make them for a 72-hour kit, and I played my own version of Justin Beiber on my ukulele.
Monday we got up, packed up, and left before 10. It was an amazing trip full of quality time - which is my love language so my cup is full! Emmett was so much fun and he is just the best thing ever. The Survivor theme made for some great competition and good times - Laura was crowned the "sole survivor" with the most points.
Here are some pictures from what's been going on in the mean time
He likes to try to take the rug apart...
Emmett loves making new friends at the Y
