Glasses, Six Flags, Reunion and more!

A lot has happened since I've updated the blog (hence not updating the blog).

"Hold up NO fingers!" Anytime we're planning a visit to see Nanna and Grandpa Ron, Nanna always tells us to hold up "X" number of fingers ("X" being the number of days before we see her). The day she's coming or we're going, she says, "Hold up NO fingers!" Nanna, Grandpa, my brother Cory, his wife Megan (affectionately known as Magin), and their baby Riley/Wrinkles/Bog/Lil RJ/RJT Jr. (and any other nickname Cory has come up for her) came to visit June 30. Riley-poo is 8 months old and MOST adorable. Of course.

"I can see things!" That's the first thing 4-year-old Parker said when he came out of LensCrafters July 2. He has occasionally been looking out the side of his eyes for quite some time now. We finally got his eyes check July 1. "He's EXTREMELY far-sighted," Dr. Ng said (pronounced EEng), over and over again. So, the poor lad is seeing the world for the first time.
"$20 for corn dogs?!" We went to the Alameda County Fair July 2. Besides spending $3.50 on each corn dog we ate, Cameron was invited to perform in a "Band of Bobs." He played some slap stick, dancing doll instrument thingy. Very fun.

"Whoo-hoooooo!" We went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom July 3. Cameron completed a six hour reading program and received a free ticket to this amusement park. We decided to cash in this week while Nanna's crew was here. Mucho fun. Lots of marine wildlife at the park (previous name was Six Flags Marine World.)
Below: Cute Magin and their adorable Riley.
"Look at all the people!" We had the great idea of going to San Francisco on the 4th of July. Unfortunately, everyone else in the Bay Area had the same great idea. Even with the hordes of people, we had a great time. We went to the Marin Headlands lookout, ate at Bubba Gump's for lunch, bought a T-shirt at Hard Rock Cafe, and hung out at Pier 39. Sad news: The sea lions that live on the Pier 39 docks are visiting other locations right now. We were bummed we didn't get to watch the sea lions push each other off the docks into the water, but there's always next time I suppose.

"Are we there yet?" We headed to Idaho July 5. Exhausted from our week of fun, we hopped in the car and spent another exhausting week of fun in Idaho. We had dinner with Grandma Biff and Grandpa Lovell, I got my hair cut, the men made a slip 'n slide in Nanna's backyard that dropped into the river (way fun), we went to the park with friends, got Jace's Birthday pictures taken, ate at Gertie's pizza (has pizza such as chicken ranch pizza, BBQ chicken pizza, cinnamon roll pizza, Reese's Pieces bavarian creme pizza, etc. VERY yummy), helped with my dad's 40 Year High School reunion party at their house, celebrated Declo Days, and enjoyed my 10 Year High School Reunion. Cam rode on Declo 1st Ward's float in the Declo Days parade. I rode on the Class of 1998 float. My dad rode on the Class of 1968 float. My mom watched the parade for a while, but when my Dad's float passed, the float-goers encouraged her to drive my Dad's truck so he could sit in the back with the classmates in the back of the truck. I didn't see this (bummer!), but first-hand accounts claim she jumped in the truck while it was still in motion, changed seats with my dad, and he jumped in the back of the truck. All this, and they didn't even hold up the parade. Above: Cam and Clint going for a canoe ride. Below: The boys swam in the hot spa pretty much all day and pretty much every day.
Below: G'ma "Biff" Beth and G'pa Lovell after Declo Days.

Above: G'ma smiling at her Great Grandkids.

Below: Clint, Jake (brother-in-law), and Cory (brother) creating the monster slip-n-slide.Megan (below) gave the slide a try. WAY fun!

Us at Declo High after the 10 Year Reunion lunch.

I tried to throw candy toward my kids (but not at them) during the parade. Rumor has it, during the Declo Days' parade last year one cousin was hit in the noggin' with candy and he actually bled. I didn't witness that first-hand, though I exercised the necessary caution so my children didn't suffer the same fate. The only casualty that occured was when the single piece of chocolate I threw went down the drain under the sidewalk instead of in Parker's mouth.

Below: Jace, cousin Caroline, and Parker watching the Declo Days parade. Above: Jace retreiving (and eating) candy during the parade.

Below: Cam and cousin Pierce on the Declo 1st Ward float.

Above: Yo! Cam, Park, Pierce as gangstahs.

"Go, Jacie-poo!!" Jace (grandchild #6) is a walker! He learned to walk last Wednesday, July 9, at Nanna's. That makes 3 out of 7 grandchildren that have learned to walk at her house. And the 7th just learned to crawl there. Please excuse the blurry video. I'm still figuring out how this new camera is supposed to work.

My brother Boomer has a soft spot for stray animals. In the past few months he's brought home two nippy puppies, three needy kittens, and an aged horse. We were lucky enough to meet the second nippy puppy. Jace and the puppy had a great relationship until Jace grabbed the puppy's eye. I think that was a signal to the puppy that Jace wanted to play because, then the nipping started. Then the nagging started (us to Boomer so he'd get rid of the nipping, barking, peeing, pooing puppy he never got to take care of since he works 80-hour weeks). Boomer found a nice new home for Gus the nippy puppy. He really was good with the kids. (Even though he could jump higher than the toddlers' heads.)

We got home Sunday and this week has been crazy getting ready for Girl's Camp. I leave this Saturday and return next Friday.