An Evans Kind of Summer

Since we now have 3 bums we have to pay for when flying (Collin turned two), it was just too pricy to fly home for the summer. Quite the disappointment! However, we were lucky enough to have some of Travis's family make the trek out to see us! We were really looking forward to it. His brother Marcus came out with his family and stayed with us Saturday through Monday. They have 5 kids, including a 3 month old, and were doing the whole {church history} tour on the east coast, starting with Palmyra and the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Bravery! I don't think I could ever attempt such a trip with so many little ones, but Marcus and Megan are invinceable! Here are most of the crew coming back from a walk to the park. I was pulling in the driveway as they walked up and had to capture the parade. :)

Collin had A BALL with his cousins. And he referred to them not by name, but collectively as "the cousins". This is Sunday dinner of taco salad and Collin was just tickled pink to be surrounded by other kids.

 Weston and his cousin, Orson, are 10 weeks apart. Hopefully we'll get to live closer someday so they can be buds. I love Weston's hand clasp!

 All the ducks minus Ruthie. Adele and Collin are just a few weeks apart in age also.

 So the M&M's departed Monday and then Trevor flew in that Wednesday night. On Thursday we went to the zoo and swimming in a friend's backyard. Then Travis's parents arrived that night.

All was well until Collin woke up from his nap on Thursday with a fever. Rats! This happened about a month ago and only lasted 24 hrs. so I was hopeful this would turn out similarly. Not so. This kid was SO SICK for 5 straight days and then grumpy as all get out for another 2 days. Basically the entire time the family was here. So, instead of participating in all the things I had planned for the week, I spent most of it at home with a sick Collin. I hear some kids are mellow when they're sick, but this one is ornery! I can't really blame him though. Not sure what he had... maybe a virus... maybe Hand, Foot, Mouth (even though he didn't get sores, his gums were swollen). At one point his fever spiked to 105. That's when I had to take him to Urgent Care. It happened to be when everyone was in Palmyra watching the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I think I was the most disappointed to miss that. It would have been my last time being able to see it out here. If you had called me on Saturday, I could have invited you to my pity party.

Exhibit A of Ornery kid:

 On Friday they went to the dental school to see his operatory, then to Niagara Falls to do Maid of the Mist. Saturday was spent in Palmyra.

 Sunday night we went to see the fireworks over Niagara Falls. They do them on Fri. and Sun. nights during the tourist season at 10pm. It was really crowded! And it only lasted maybe 5 min.....so not super cool. But I've never seen the falls at nights, all lit up, so that was neat.

On Monday, they all went to Kirtland for the day then came and got us at night to go to Chee Burger, Chee Burger (or CheecheeBurger as we call it). Collin was doped up on medicine and still unpleasant.

On Tuesday, the fever had mostly broken, but Collin was still whiny and seeking the "sick treatment" he had been getting, including extra pacifier priviledges and blankie time. Not gonna happen. And I was bound and determined to participate in the days activities. We had heard doing a Lockport Cave tour was fun so we drove 40 min. to Lockport where the Eric Canal passes through and you can see some of the old fashioned "locks" that boats used. I thought the whole 70 min. tour was on a boat. It turned out to be mostly outside walking around. And it was a bloody hot, humid day. And I didn't bring the baby sling so I had to carry Weston the whole time. And Collin cried and whined the entire time and made Trav carry him. And it wasn't that cool of a tour. AND.... just kidding.

Here is our tour guide in front of the entrance to the "cave". Mental note: going on tours with kids means learning NOTHING from the tour.

 I think the only thing I'll remember are these millstones. Don't know what they were used for but now I have a mental image for the scripture "It would have been better if a millstone were hung about your neck and drowned in the depths of the sea!". Possibly a better fate than a 70 min. tour with Collin.

 Walking down the cave tunnel.

 Most of our time was spent walking along a "river" of water in an area that used to be filled with water.

 The last 10 min. or so we finally got our boat ride! It was lame sauce. We got on a rickety, fishing type boat and coasted down the "river" for a few minutes, then coasted backwards to the starting point. And here I thought we'd actually be on a boat on the Erie Canal and get to go through a real "lock". Oh well. Live and learn..... then get Depends.

 That night we managed to finish up dinner and get the kids bed in time to make a reasonable showing (we are old and don't see movies that start later than 9:30pm) of........... HARRY POTTER!! Deathly Hallows part 2. This was monumental folks! Do YOU remember the time you saw the first Harry Potter in theaters? Well I don't! But I do remember seeing possibly the 2nd or 3rd one at midnight when I was at BYU and that was AGES ago! Seeing this movie was like closing a chapter of my life. (No pun intended, haha) Come to think of it, I'm a bit disappointed in myself for not dressing up or something. Regardless, it was AMAZING. Loved it loved it! Go JK Rowling. The only weird part was when a few people came in and sat right next to me, when there was an entire empty theater waiting to be filled. Who does that? Complete violation of personal space. Just because we both love Harry Potter, doesn't mean I want your Griffindor scarf touching my arm because you decided to forgo the "one seat of space" rule when sitting down.

 On Wednesday we went to Crystal Beach because Trevor wanted to see Canada and had gone through the trouble to have his passport overnighted when he realized he had forgotten it. Pretty much another miserable experience. It started the moment the sand hit Collin's flip flops and burned his feet. We were not forgiven for taking him to that sand burning hell hole until the moment he was returned to his carseat and on his way back to air conditioned paradise. I think we lasted maybe 2 hours and he truly cried and whined the entire time. Poor Rachel and Gavin had come too and it was the first time Collin had seen Gavin in a month and he still didn't give a hoot to play. It was so frusterating. Especially factoring in the time it takes to get everything packed and lunch made and driving out, just to have a miserable time and return home to put everything away.

THEN, that afternoon was when I found out that all my blog pictures were deleted, never to return, so I got to have a nice, mind numbing cry on my bed for a few hours. Not the best way to end an already crummy week. (The ONE week, by the way, that I was actually looking forward to!) Somehow I managed to pull myself together and go out to eat at Mississippi Mudds.

Exhibit B of Ornery kid:

(Not to say there weren't Exhibit  C-Z not pictured)

 We also got icecream and crossed the street to walk along the river. We were all posed to take this picture when Collin realized my icecream was conveniently close to his mouth and couldn't resist a taste.

Despite the setbacks, it was still good to see family and spend time together. When the kids were asleep, we got to play some games and visit and that was a lot of fun. Grandma also reminded Collin of the hours of fun they had together back in March by reliving the magic of playdough. Grandma is totally his playdough buddy.

They also came bearing gifts which included a belated "4th of July" package, a simply enormous bag of Cinnamon bears, a belated Father's day gift for Trav, a birthday present for me, a couple of toys for Collin aaaaaaaand....... uncooked tortillas!!!! You know, the kind that are doughy and you have to cook them on the skillet? They are no where to be found out here and since they have to be refrigerated, Paula stuffed a huge package in an insulated bag and took it on the airplane with her. I about dropped dead when she presented them to us. Oh the simple things!

Thank you for coming to see us! I am so lucky to have such wonderful in-laws. We are so grateful for the time we had with you!