The Start of the Summer of Ryker (and Rock and Jens)

This post isn't all about Ryker, but a lot of it is.  And since he's the middle child I think he deserves the focus in a post now and then.  He has been busy the past few days, like when he came to help us clean the church.

 Or when he woke up a little grumpy and so Papa Dale bough him off with an ice cream cone.

 Papa Dale also bought off Rock and guilted Kendra into getting something for Dean and Wyatt (and herself...).

 Jens wasn't going to just sit there and take the injustice, so she sat there and Papa Dale brought her her own cone. 

 She definitely knows what to do with an ice cream cone.

 As we walked back to the car the boys had to try out every piece of patio furniture on the sidewalk.

 Thankfully we had Nick and Papa Dale to help herd the cats.

 Deano loved the spinning things.

 Chayo's twins graduated from high school this weekend and to celebrate she had an awesome party at her house.  The boys wanted to play hide and seek, and this was Ryker's hiding spot. 

 By the end of Saturday we were all worn out, so DeA and Jens practiced their synchronized sleeping routine.

 Sunday lunch was at Janet's this week and the boys always ask for rides on the swing. 

  We have been enjoying perfect evening the past few days which make the patio even nicer to enjoy.

 Papa Dale bought a fire tray/pit/basin thing for the kids to roast marshmallows on.  

 Jens loves the fire and that's why now the ring is sitting on an upside down apple bin.

Memorial Day Plus Fathers and Sons

Memorial Day is about remembering those that served, those that sacrificed and those that made it possible for us to shoot a Russian sniper rifle at Top Shelf.  This is looking down from the target that Nick and Dad welded together.

 The range master runs a tight ship and makes you say 'pew pew' every time you pull the trigger.

It was a pretty sweet day to go shooting.

 It was also a good day to eat lunch in your Batman skivvies. 

 Monday afternoon we went out to visit Grandma and Grandpa England's grave and leave them apples.

 DeA asked Rock to be quiet and reverent.  Rock then asked what happens to the apples and DeA said "They crawl out of their graves and EAT THEM!" which ended any chance of the kids being reverent and respectful.

 USA!!  USA!!  USA!!

 AMERICA!!  AMERICA!!

 Is there anything more patriotic than Batman holding the America flag while wearing Spiderman skivvies and Superman boots?  

 Last Friday was the Fathers and Sons camput at Antilon Lake.  I've taken Rock camping at Top Shelf before, but never on a real camping trip to a real campsite.  And I've never taken Ryker to even sleep in the tent in the yard, so this was definitely an adventure.

 They took to camping like Ryker to Lego Batman.

 It was pretty rough conditions, we only had one kind of cheese for our cheesburgers and the generator made enough noise that we had to move the movie about 20 yards away.  

 Thankfully it wasn't too dry in the hills otherwise the kids and their flying flaming marshmallows would have been a problem.

 Rock kept trying to go fishing on the 20ft cliff and Ryker kept trying to go cliff diving where the fishing spot was.  Now I know why parents put their kids on leashes. 

 The big kids and adults enjoyed Swiss Family Robinson on the projector.

 Rock, Ryker and Colby enjoyed Lego Batman: The Movie on my Surface. 

 The boys crashed hard and slept pretty well through the night.  At 4 am Ryker started screaming and I realized that he had kicked off all of his covers and was cold.  After re-wrapping him in the sleeping back and blanket and cuddling him he finally went back to sleep.

 Breakfast was delicious pancakes, sausage and eggs.  

 Ryker seemed to like the idea of sitting around the fire and eating his food.

 Rock really liked the idea of running everywhere with his food and not having to worry about spilling it anywhere.  They've been asking when we are going again, so I think they liked it.

 As we were coming home Dad called to see if the kids could help him with the helicopter.  The answer to that is always yes, so we headed straight to the hangar. 

 While dad was up flying the boys and I walked to Jack's and picked up some sharkfin goggles.

 They made the boys look every cuter than before.

 Well, made them look something...

 It was a perfect day for flying, but any day is a perfect day.

 When we got home we helped DeA clean the house by getting out of her way.

 Jens helped by pulling the needles off of the little trees by the house.

Stewhit Reception: The Take Home Game

So we flew down to Utah for Stewhit's wedding and reception a couple of weeks ago.  That was fun.  Then we drove down to Medford (which is in Southern Oregon, not Western) for Maristin's wedding and reception.  That was fun, too.  Then we had Apple Blossom and Stewhit's at home reception...if it weren't for the giant bounce house my kids would have lost their little minds.

It took a lot of work (mostly by other people), but we got the patio, waterfall and new stairs ready for the reception.  Then we (but mostly other, more creative people) decorated the new patio/waterfall area.  Krissy, Bonnie, Mom and others (I'm not sure, I know Lesa was there and another Bonnie, maybe) made it look pretty cool.

DeAndra spent her time telling me that she didn't like pictures while posing for pictures.

Dad was just glad that everything came together at the end and he could finally sit down and relax.

Rissa was pretty busy checking the ice cream machine to make sure it still worked.

Whitni and Stewie both put on their wedding clothes for one last chance to show off.

"Mmm...delicious soft-serve!" 

"So the gun that I'm going to use to shoot the ice cream machine is this big."

Donna Coggins made a ton of delicious pies.

Krissy was a trud about letting me take her picture, so I had to try and sneak them in.

She didn't like it and threatened me.

Jensley was in heaven with all the attention and ice cream.  Those are the two things that girls in our family can't get enough of.

Things really did look good.

Bonnie guarded the ice cream machines to make sure that no one made a huge mess (namely Marissa).

It was a pretty good place to relax and party.

Krissy and Rachael did a lot of hard work and finally had a chance to sit and relax.

At some point the kids tipped over the bounce house.  Ryker wasn't happy, even though he came up with the idea.

Jens had no problem finding people to feed her pie, ice cream and other delicious items.

Chayo came out with her boys who ate a lot of ice cream, but not as much as you'd think.

The kids played so hard in the bounce house that they got sweaty, even a lady like Kate.

The kids all crashed pretty hard at the end of the night.