Chuck E. Cheese

 We accepted an invitation on July 21st to meet up with a Grandma in our ward who was bringing her grandson to Chuck E. Cheese.  As a child, I thought this place was one of the most epic places to experience.  As an adult, I decided that this place was one of the most epic nickel-and-dime-you frustrations...their system was definitely rigged to get the most money out of you and the manager definitely did her job to make that happen with our crew...but in the end, I had to remind myself that the kids were delighted to have spent an afternoon at this crazy place.

Eliana spent the majority of her time behind this wheel--she was digging the race car game!

What kid doesn't love buttons that actually do something when you push them?

As fun as all the games were, the biggest highlight of the day was when Eliana bit into her pizza and lost her first tooth!

Nelson Family Reunion Talent Show

 Each family shared some talents one evening, and oh--how I loved every single act!  Thankfully, Dean and Andrea recorded every number and will be posting them on YouTube.  So here are just a few highlights:

Grant and Pap Pap playing one of Pap Pap's favorite piano duets

Pap Pap brought the house down singing some silly songs for us and also pulled out his harmonica.

Leah, Kaitlyn, Hyrum, and Amy amazed us all with a kazoo quartet.  I'll definitely be a groupie when they go on tour!

Minute-to-Win-it

 I love playing Minute-to-Win-it games because so many of the silly tasks are able to create a playing field where 5-year-olds can legitimately compete with 40-year-olds.

Grant displayed his machine gun muscles when transferring gumballs from one container to another.  I got the best laugh hearing Graycee proudly exclaim, "That's MY Dad!"

Lots of kids were excited to see if they could suck pudding through a straw!

Landon dominated in "Poop the Potato" - a relay where you had to put a potato into a bucket using only your knees.

Who knew you could find "Peeps" in the middle of the summer so you could have a competition to see who could stick the most to their face!

Raccoon State Park

 We all had a blast at the beach!  It was great watching all the cousins play together, we all had time to gab, and the hot sun made it easy to get wet!

We ended the day by toasting marshmallows and enjoying some delicious s'mores

Bottle Rockets - Nelson Family Reunion

All the cousins had fun building and decorating a bottle rocket to launch on the last day of the reunion.  The kiddos loved the entire process and had a blast (no pun intended...) launching them and flying kites on a beautiful summer day.

 

Grandpa's Zipline

Grandpa continues to find new ways to bring more and more fun for the grandkids.  This year he successfully installed an epic 200 ft. zip line and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!  We all (yes, all three generations of 'kids') thoroughly enjoyed trying it out and not one person was disappointed.  Truth be told, I felt like a stuntman from the experience!

In addition to the 200 ft. zip line, he also built this smaller ride for kids to enjoy 24/7.  Lillian LOVED it and was often heard yelling "BOING!" when she reached the spring at the end.

Quick side view of one of Geoff's runs

Lillian surprised us all by going twice!

Eliana was not interested in trying out the zipline, so imagine our surprise when she voluntarily asked to give it a go!  She wasn't up for a second run, but I was so proud of how she handled the daring experience.

Thanks to the four brothers with their strength and healthy backs and a 4-wheeler, Janna was able to experience flying on the zip-line.  When asked if she liked the ride Janna replied, "I most certainly did!"

Thanks for making this amazing thrill ride, Dad!  Up next...roller coaster?