Too much of a good thing

Too much vacation? Unheard of, right? I love to see family and friends, and especially enjoy the rich experiences my children gain from being with relatives. I fondly remember my vacation experiences growing up.

Still, it does seem to catch up with me. I'm loving my vacation this summer, yet my body can't seem to keep up with it all. Is this another sign of me getting older? I'm turning into this homebody who wants to be lazy and lay off the adventure. : )

Luckily, no one is letting me off the hook, so we have lots of treasured memories that we are piling up. We attended a week-long Cropper reunion at a cabin close to Grace, Idaho that included parachute games (yes, like we all played with at PE in elementary school), lots of crafts for the children like making real Mr. Potato heads, family trivia games, picture puzzles of Grandma/pa Cropper, a slideshow showing the life of the entire Cropper family (including grands and great-grands), a dutch-oven cookoff, pie eating contest, kids making stone soup, a CPR training, tubing down a river, miniature golf, swimming, ping pong and pool, making orange juice by rolling oranges and sticking in straws, lots of board games, a talent show (called "American Cousins"), toffee smores, a testimony meeting about missionary experiences, lots of trampoline time, a horse & carriage ride complete with dinner and entertainment, and lots of catching up with family from all over the US.

We have also been to Seven Peaks with the Wilsons, had Dave's fabulous chocolate chip cookies, gone to an amazing stake carnival that included hot air balloon rides, rock-climbing walls, huge bouncy slides, pony/horse rides, rocket-launching, cotton candy and a reptile show, etc. We spent a day at Bear Lake with Nana, which wiped us both out but was very much a wonderful day anyway (we have the sunburns to prove what a great day it was!). We spent an evening at a new park with the Petersens, catching up. We spent another afternoon with the slip'n'slide out front, blowing bubbles, making snow-cones and playing in the water with Nana and Grandpa.

We still have yet to go to Thanksgiving Point, Brick Oven, go see Wall-E, go horseback riding, and then home to get ready for the start of school on Sept. 4th.

Please still love us if we didn't get to see you this trip; it seems each trip we have less time and more things to do.