Summer So Far

Summer is in full swing around here.  Last week the kids had cousin's camp at Grandma Malone's house.  Sadly, I didn't get very many good pictures.  This girl was pretty high maintenance:

Seriously, I could barely put her down the whole time!  But isn't she cute? :)

Pictures or not, the kids had a great time.  They swam off the dock, went tubing, fishing, did archery, golf, swam at Lakeview Resort, played home run derby, learned a cheer, played the cup game, made cupcakes and so much more!  They love their cousins!

Aside from that little highlight, we pretty much spend our time at the pool.  The kids have swim team practice 5 days a week and 2 meets a week on top of that!  They love it, so I don't mind.

Last Saturday, we headed out to the middle of nowhere to pick blueberries.  I've never done that before, but it was great!

We picked 40 pints of berries.  When we got home, we froze 40 small bags (for pancakes and smoothies) and canned 17 jars of blueberries!

Of course, a Saturday excursion wouldn't be complete without a little bit of drama...

 On the way home, we got miserably stuck in a road-side ditch.  Lucky we have nationwide roadside assistance!  We found a little shade and enjoyed the pretty views.  There are worse places to be stranded!

Idaho

We aren't going to make it to the Flake Family Reunion this year.  Sadly, timing just wasn't on our side.  We had to be out of the office (remodeling) for a couple of weeks in late May/early June.  So...that's when we headed west.  Not that I'm complaining (much).  It was nice to have my parents and the couple of other siblings we did see all to ourselves.  We will miss being together with everyone, but we LOVED the visit we had in Idaho.

Highlights Included:
1.  Merrody got to ride horses to her heart's content.

2.  We got to see Grandma Emery for the first time in a long time.

 

3.  Hot tubbing and swimming galore!

4.  Matt got to go kayaking down the "fish ladder"

 

5. An un-birthday party complete with crazy decorations and rainbow cake:

6.  We got to be there for Cassidy's high school graduation.

 

7.  The kids had so much fun with their cousins!



I'm not so sure the love between these girls was mutual.

8.  Plenty of hanging out with Mom, Dad, Joel, Melanie, Cassidy, and even Ashley and Derek!

 

9.  Not pictured:  The boys slept out on the trampoline one night, we went to eat at Tucanos, an Indian buffet, and Barbacoa, two movies, a trip to a cool coin shop, Boon Docks arcade, a fun date with Joel and Mel including Salsa dancing, a movie party in the media room, and so much more!

10.  The last night, Aunt Dana invited us to come to her home for dinner along with lots of cousins and uncles and aunts.  So fun!

 

As we headed home across the country, we saw a place we just couldn't pass by-- Meridy's restaurant!

Of course, Merrody just had to eat there!  It wasn't too bad, either!

 

 On our way home, we got to stop for a couple of days in Kansas to visit my brother, Justin.  It was a great time, complete with face painting (Kelsey just started a new business), Hallmark's kaleidoscope kids' craft center, Kansas City and an AMAZING Thai restaurant with the worst service ever.  So fun!

 

 

 

Thanks for the fun time, guys!  Sorry we'll miss you at the reunion, but we sure did make some good memories!