Shrimp Boil Louisiana style!!

I suppose you could say that I have been somewhat of a slacker lately when it comes to blogging. Our summer hasn't been too crazy, but crazy enough to where I have had no time really to get our pictures on the computer and organize them. So finally I was able to sit down and get things done. So keep scrolling down cause there are going to be quite a few posts from our fun summer!!

Since last summer I have wanted to do a shrimp boil. I had it one time when I was younger at a church function and never forgot how yummy and different it was. So for my moms 54th birthday we decided to give it a try. We borrowed a picnic table from my in-laws and covered it with freezer paper. Some of you may be asking what exactly is a shrimp boil? Well first of all it usually consists of crawdads instead of shrimp but because we don't live near where we can get fresh crawdads and also cause they look a little scary we did shrimp instead. So you take all your stuff and cook it in a big pot and when its done you pour it out over your table. It was so good and I can't wait until next summer to do it again!!

Before:

The kiddy table! They were so excited and ate almost everything on their table!!
After:

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Ross Park

On a Saturday in July some of us from playgroup and a few others went to Ross Park in Pocatello,Id. It was again a little overcast but still pretty warm so it ended up not being too bad of a day. I don't know really what I was expecting from this place but I think I thought it would be a little bit bigger but oh well. It was actually quite an adventure to say the least. Poor Sam stood in line with Payton for the big water slide but then when they got to the top found out that he couldn't go down with Payton and so they stood up there for like 20 minutes trying to get him to go down. At one point the lifeguard asked Sam if he wanted her to push him down? Needless to say they ended up walking down the stairs. The rest of the day was not as crazy and so we were able to enjoy the lazy river and the kiddie play pool.

Look at that face. I don't remember why she was doing this but it sure is funny to look at the picture now!

Silly girl:)

Mom, Marvin and the grand kids minus Payton!

Qwest Family Night at Tautphaus Park and Zoo

So every year Qwest does an employee family night activity. This year they had it at Tautphaus Park, Zoo and Fun Land where they fed us and gave us tickets to ride rides and see the animals.

Here Parker and I are after eating our hot dogs and chips. Can you figure out what kind of chips she had lol?!

The kids taking a picture in front of the big snake.

Playing in the water. What kid doesn't right?

Payton in with the goats and sheep. This was actually the first time he has ever been able to do this. Every other time we have been to the zoo the goats where already in their little house.

We weren't sure at first how Parker was going to react when we put her in with her brother but she loved it. And actually she almost got knocked over a few times and she didn't cry at all.

I just had to take a picture of this parrot. He was just hanging up side down like it was nothing.

Payton and Sam on th e Ferris Wheel. Payton was actually scaring Sam on this ride. He kept looking over and wouldn't hold on. That kid has no fear!!

Here they are on the spinning ride( I forgot what its called).

After we were done seeing the animals and riding the rides we took the kids over to the park and let them play for a bit. We had so much fun doing all these things and spending time as a family. We may complain about Qwest sometimes but I have to say, it was pretty cool what they did paying for us to do all those things.

4th of July

Our 4th of July was pretty productive. I was a little worried how the day was going to go because we stayed out so late the night before at Rigby Lake but the kids surprised us and did pretty good.

We started out the day getting up early and going over to grandma and grandpas for early morning breakfast. We had pancakes, sausage, eggs, hashbrown and juice. It was super yummy and a great way to start out a day. Then we headed to Rexburg to watch their parade. I couldn't believe how many people were there. Poor Payton and Avery didn't have a chance when they were throwing the candy to the kids. The streets were crowded with children and some were actually pretty aggressive and was pushing to get candy. I don't think we will be going to that parade again next year. After that we took the kids home for a little nap and then we were off to Idaho Falls downtown to see what they had going on!! We didn't stay for the fireworks show even though we've been told it is the best around. We figured since the kids got to see fireworks the night before they wouldn't know the difference if they had missed this one. So we headed home to do our own fireworks with my family.

Parker at the Parade in Rexburg

The big Broulims cart!

Payton in the bounce house in downtown Idaho Falls.

Sam, Teyah and Kyran

Teyah with her eyes closed little stinker.

Say "CHEESE"!!!

3rd of July Celebration at Rigby Lake!

So for the 3rd of July we decided to check out the Celebration of Liberty at Rigby Lake! It was a little cloudy out but warm so we packed up all the kids and went to the lake! They had all kinds of fun things to do there and lots of yummy food which I'm pretty sure we tried all of it lol. It did end up raining on us so we just took the kids to the car and waited it out. After it cleared up we went back out and played some more until the fireworks show started. I really think it would have been a nice night if not for the rain. It ended up being pretty cold so we all cuddled under some blankets for the show which was pretty amazing!! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the show but here are some of the stuff we did during the day.

The kids waiting in line for the National Guard thing. Payton looks a little nervous, but I think he was just tired!

Mason going through.

Sam helping Payton get up!

Look at him climb! He did such a great job.

.....And he WON!!! Payton ended up beating the other kid. After this he didn't want to do anything else but. I have to say it did look pretty fun and if I could I would have done it myself:)