Las Vegas

This August was our ten year anniversary.  We spent a long time trying to figure out what we wanted to do to celebrate.  Then Will's parents were very nice and agreed to watch our kids for a few days after the Keeler family reunion.  We didn't want to pay to fly anywhere so we finally decided to go visit Las Vegas.  It is close enough that we could drive from Utah after dropping off the kids.  We had a blast.  It was nice having a few days to ourselves where we didn't have to worry about counting kids or packing extra snacks and diapers.

After checking into our hotel, we decided to go to the Las Vegas temple.  It is so beautiful and very big.  I am glad Will and I were able to do a session together; I usually go by myself while Will watches the kids.  I love the temple.

One touristy place that got great reviews on the Internet was The Mob Museum.  This place really was cool.  You got to see all kinds of artifacts and I learned how the mob began and how it made its way to Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, you couldn't use a flash inside the museum so most of my pictures didn't turn out very good.  Here is one of the actual revolver used by Al Capone.

The mob museum used to be a courtroom.  In here there was a video that talked about some of the famous cases that were tried here.  It seems like a lot of mobsters mysteriously lost their memories when they they were being questioned or lost their lives if they remembered too much.  I am sure Whitney would have been fascinated with this museum and all the creepy videos and artifacts.  But it might be too scary for little kids.  We were there for three hours, so definitely an interesting museum.

This is the V Theater in Planet Hollywood.  It is a huge hotel on the strip.  This is where we went to watch our show.  You have to see a show when you are in Vegas.  Unfortunately, you weren't allowed to take any pictures during the show.  But it was really cool.  We saw a variety show (family friendly) and got to see acrobats and muscle men balancing on each other.  It was like watching a live America's Got Talent when the performers are all really good.  I am glad we got to see a show.
 
There is just so much to see in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for pictures from the Strip next.

Yellowstone

I have never been to Yellowstone, so I was excited when we decided to go there one day as part of the reunion.  I did not know how big Yellowstone is.  You could be there for days and not see everything.

An especially cool area was the paint pots geysers.  These were beautiful colors.

We could see blue and brown and red and orange and all kinds of beautiful colors.

This geyser does not go off very often.  Se we were lucky that it went off as we were traveling by.  A bunch of people rushed down to get closer to it.  Now I can say that I have been misted/sprayed by a geyser.

Of course, we needed to see Old Faithful while we were there.

While waiting for the eruption, which happens about every 70 minutes, we went into the visitors center and the kids got to learn more about geysers and other things in Yellowstone.

The geyser was amazing.  It lasted several minutes.

I thought it looked kind of cool against the cloudy sky background.

While waiting for everyone to gather, the kids made sand/pebble castles.

Some of the grandkids after eating a yummy picnic.

We stopped for some ice cream while heading back to the car.  Adam was nicely fed from everyone's ice cream cone; he got a little messy.

If you see a head cut out board, you have to stop and take a picture.

We saw this as we were leaving.  What an amazing trip to Yellowstone.
More vacation pictures to come.

The Grand Tetons

During our reunion we visited a couple of national landmarks.  One of the places was the Grand Tetons - a magnificent mountain range.

Isn't it beautiful?

Trying to park was a nightmare, but it was worth it.  Will was nice enough to carry a cooler full of our lunches as we hiked.

We found a quiet little spot to eat.  For some reason, picnics make the food taste extra good.  The lunch was yummy.

Then everyone was ready to go into the lake.  Adam was funny; he loved the water but he hated the sounds of waves and would come running back to me all scared when the waves came by.  The water was a little chilly but not terrible.

Rachel and Megan take a turn on the floating tube.  They thought this was pretty awesome.

We rented a canoe for a couple of hours.  Everyone got to take a turn riding in it.  I think Whitney loved it the most and went several times.

We went to another lake close by and Whitney wanted the camera to take a couple of pictures.  I guess this flower caught her eye.

Then we went to the Bar J for dinner.  I have never been to a Bar J but it was fun and yummy.  The girls found this horse immediately.

We went exploring a little bit before dinner.  Look at the ginormous wheel from the wagon.

Cute girls found a bench to swing on for a little while.

The dinner came with a show.  The ranchers sang and told funny stories.  Some of the kids got really into it and started dancing.

So it was a really fun day.  And we all made it back over the mountain in the dark.  More adventures to come.

Mesa Falls Lodge

This is the first post of our amazing vacation.  Will's sister Emily found a lodge in Idaho that was perfect for a Keeler family reunion.

Look at all these cute kids (plus one arm).  This is the kids outside of the lodge.

And this is the view from the yard.  It was beautiful and so peaceful.

Will brought his big bubbles.  All the cousins seemed to enjoy playing with the bubbles.

Adam especially loved the bubbles, but he liked the flavor of it more than the making of it.

We took advantage of the fire pit to make s'mores.  These were so good.

I went down the path with Megan to get down to the little river.  We found a cute little waterfall at the bottom.

The hot tub was set to 98 degrees, which was perfect for the kids.  They were in it for a long time.  And some were even brave enough to put their heads under.  Will and I took advantage of the hot tub after the kids were asleep.  That was really nice.

Grandma Keeler brought pool noodles for all the grandkids.  These toys were a hit and instantly became swords between the good guys and the bad guys.

There were a couple of crafts that the kids could do during some down time.  We actually stayed pretty busy during our couple of days at the lodge.  More about that will come in another post.

As we left we decided to feed fish some of the leftover bread.  They seemed to like it and the kids liked seeing their bread pieces disappear.

Anyway, the lodge was super wonderful.  I am glad that so many cousins got a chance to play together.  Thank you to everyone who helped plan the reunion.

Fun Fest

We went to another Fun Fest here in Hermiston.  It is like a big carnival once a year.

There were some fun kid games.  This bowling one was new.  It only took many many tries to get the pins to knock over.

The Home Depot comes every year to bring kid crafts.  The girls each got an apron and we brought our crafts home (it was too hot to want to stay there hammering).

Megan tries out another new game - throwing darts at balloons.

Once an hour a radio station group would pick five names to go into the money box.  Rachel and Will were both selected to take a turn.  We earned some free money and free bowling and free swimming.  So that was really cool.

A lot of bands come to the Fun Fest.  We stopped and listened to the youth drums.

There was a small art exhibit.  Each kid got to vote on their favorite, but I am not sure who won.

Lots of face painting.  Look at all those cute girls.

We took a turn at the bounce house.  Actually, we took lots of turns.  This is probably the girls favorite activity whenever we find one.

And right after Fun fest, we blew up a bunch of punch balloons that the girls won during the carnival games.  Adam loved the balloons.

Anyway, it was a fun day.  Now we are starting to get ready for our big vacation.  I am excited to see a lot of family in a few days.