saturday is a special day

If you are familiar with that primary song you will know that the next phrase is, "It's the day we get ready for Sunday." Yeah, that's not really what Saturdays are like in our family. Our Saturdays are more like a frenzied effort to shove in as much as we can-- sometimes this is house work, projects, yard work, or gardening. Other times this is playing together from sun up to sun down. The latter is what this post will document.

Morning started off with a bath in the sink. You guys, can you stand the chub? Seriously. Some might think that this picture is a little immodest, but hello! She is an infant! A good 12 + years away from puberty, thankyouverymuch, and I am so in love with all of her squishy rolls that I can't not post these. The chubbiness is going to melt away all too quickly as far as I'm concerned.

After getting ready, watching a World Cup game, and a little lunch, we headed east to John's family cabin in Midway. The highlight of the drive was watching our boy persistently try to keep shoving strawberries in his mouth despite his body's overpowering attempt to fall asleep.

We always love going up to the cabin to visit with Grandma and Grandpa and any other aunts/uncles/cousins that may also be up there at the time (and there are almost always a few). It is such a beautiful, peaceful, happy place to be. Grandma had Georgie help shuck the corn, and you had better believe that the one ear that he was able to finish (in the amount of time that dozens were done by others) was completely picked clean of every little fiber of that corn hair stuff (anyone know what it's really called?).

Other highlights including the kids roasting hot dogs, the boys gathering wood for the stove, eating a yummy lunch that Grandma prepared, and passing Pearl around. We love going up to the cabin and hope to visit many more times throughout the summer.

We had to race back down the canyon to get home in time for dinner with our neighbors. I think I've mentioned it before, but we seriously lucked out when we moved into this beautiful family of neighbors. I can't tell you how much I love the people that we are surrounded by here, and I feel so blessed to have made such dear friends. Our neighbors that live directly north of us had two other families and us over for a summer dinner in their backyard. It was everything that I love about summer-- fresh food, warm wind, water balloon accidents resulting in wet pie and people, children running through hoses, and being with good people that I love. Thanks for having us over, Bucherts. Here is a random smattering of pictures from the night-- mostly posting them for Angie and Becca (I have about a billion more, too).

While the adults ate and socialized the kids were up in the bathroom feverishly filling water balloons. After dinner the kids were ready for war. (After explaining to George that he had to be okay with being hit by a balloon if he wanted to throw the balloons he gracefully bowed out of the competition.)

Eden was out to get Joel after he popped a balloon right over her.

I love that Martin is using Soren as his human shield.

The hose was introduced by Soren to get revenge on his dad for getting him wet, and then the kids (plus Martin) ended up playing water games with it the rest of the evening.

I loved watching George try to commandeer the hose all night. He doesn't know that he is the smallest one out there and pretty unlikely to get his way :). Water limbo was a big hit.

And here are my personal favorite ways that kids "limboed" under the hose.

While some kids got wet, others got silly on the trampoline. This is by far my favorite picture of the night.

Daddies with their cute girls.

While Martin manned the hose, and I took pictures, the other adults watched the fun (and held my baby-- thanks Angie!) while chatting...

... except for Becca who slyly popped a water balloon down a very unsuspecting Angie's back. Becca maintains that this was a complete accident, but I am not buying it :).