WaPaNiKaDeTa Reunion

We made a big push to get things finished up at home and on the farm in order to go to the reunion.  At about Fort Hall, Hudson said he didn't feel very well.  We threw him a sand bucket and by Pocatello, he had thrown up.  We called the clan to poll the audience.  They said to come!  Mom rationale, "Besides if you would have gotten here last night like planned, he would have gotten sick here."  So this is the fashion Hudson spent the first day and a half.

We were itching to fly kites and the kids were dying to get wet.

The water was cold.

People were packing up and leaving at the beach.  I commented that I hope we didn't scare them off and they pointed to the approaching storm clouds and said, "they are."  It was a most memorable evacuation.  Wet kids were cold and whining, kite strings had to be wound up, Gracie June and lost her clothes.  Most of us made it back before the rain fell and it fell hard.

The big bathtub downstairs was the perfect way to warm up some girls.

We joined the 1,200 other people for Sacrament meeting.  Here the girls are in their Sunday best on the porch of Valhalla.

Don't forget the boys.

And this was the view.

We spent some time making wallets to store our Papa Pesos.  You earned pesos for participation and they worked for bribery.  

My flat-landed kids loved the hills to ride on.  Some of us rode on the bike path down to the lighthouse.

The kids did great.  It was about a 6 miles bike ride.

Grandpa promised extra pesos if you could ride the entire way up the hill back to our place.  Dalanie couldn't pass that up. 

We went on an outing to the bird refuge.  We saw a few birds and this snake.

On the way back through, I decided to stop at the Paris tabernacle for a tour.  I have driven by so many times, I decided we might as well check it out.  It is an amazing structure.  The thing that always impressed me is what they were able to do without modern machinery.  The rock was hauled from a quarry on the east side of the lake.  

We had people brings things to contribute to a store/auction where they could cash in their Papa Pesos.  Dalanie made several rubberband bracelets.  Hudson made pb bars.

The auction very well could have been the funnest part.  There was all sorts of jumping up and down and outbidding.  Grandma was the cashier and kept giving "change" back.  

The funniest was when they wanted something so bad, they would outbid themselves.  The kids were great sports and even bought items for others.

As time went on, the number of sickies kept growing.  By time it was all said and done Brent, Tuff, Gracie, and Grandpa had all been infected.  Some of us braved the lake so we could cash in on our rentals.

Dalanie hogged the paddleboards.  The kids played in the water, but you can bet that the adults kept a good distance from the water.

We rounded things out with lunch at the Bear Cave.  This is the Kool Kids table.  The best part of lunch was inheriting some extra burgers and fries that no one claimed.