Bathroom humor (Consider yourself warned) + a travelogue

This one might be TMI, but it was just too funny not to write about. Paige is still just a little too young to wipe herself when in the bathroom...this we know from experience.  At any rate, last night, Joel went to help her out, and in true crass Hallberg nature, complimented her on the size of her deposit, and then asked her where she learned to do that.  Without batting an eye, she looked at Joel and said "Dixie."

Apparently, the dog has taught her more than a thing or two.  Ew, I know, but seriously, where does she come up with these things??? :)

At any rate, summer is speeding by as usual.  We got to spend 9 days in Idaho, which still wasn't nearly enough time to do everything we wanted.  :)  We got to see every single sibling and cousin on both sides, which rarely happens, so I'm considering it a success!  The boys (Joel and Haddon) went on a 4-day hike with BIL Dennis and his dad Harvey, and 4 of their llamas. Which is a story in itself...but that left the girls 4 days to play with the Thueson clan.

Our first day, Wednesday, after getting in @ 1am, we dropped the boys off @7am, and went back home to bed. ;) Then we went to visit dear old friends and see the new park in Meridian.  Crazy growth in that part of town!  Then we went shopping with Grandma, and home to celebrate Grandpa T. and baby Lara's b-days.  The cousins played in grandpa's awesome playhouse, and picked raspberries 'til they were sick, and in Amelia's case, bathed in the raspberries.  :)

Thursday we zoo-ed it up with all of the Thueson women and every single cousin (except Haddon of course).  It was a blast to see all of the kids interact like they were best friends even though they only see each other a few times a year.  After, we picnicked in Julia Davis park, took tons of pics, and the kids collapsed at home afterward from exhaustion.

Friday we shopped, picked cherries, and visited Great-Grandpa & Grandma Thueson.  It's so good to see family when it's been too long!  They might be getting older and more frail, but they're still the same people I grew up with and adore!  Afterwards, Grandpa took us girls for ice cream and some 'just-him' time. :)

Saturday, Grandma T and all of us girls headed out to Kuna for Annie's baby shower.  We got Sonic on the way home for lunch, and then headed over to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma Hartley.  We went swimming in their pool, and enjoyed visiting with them.  It was great to see them after too long of a break, but I will admit, I was startled by how far Grandma's dementia had taken her from us.  She asked me when I was saying goodbye if she gets to keep me.  !??!  "Yep, Grandma, thankfully we'll be together for eternity!"   "Good, then maybe I'll remember you then."  Gulp.   :(  After a quick cry and recovery from our visit, the girls went home and had a pizza/movie party with G&G T. while I snuck away to the Cheesecake Factory.  I met up with the Hallberg clan to celebrate G&G H.'s 35th anniversary.  It was leisurely to not have any kids with us while we all caught up.  Just as I got home, the boys got back from their adventure, so we celebrated their safe return by making them de-stink, and putting polka-dot calamine on Haddon's 50+ bug bites.  Poor kid!
Sunday, we attended the 11th ward.  It was great to see all of our old friends, which of course still makes us a bit homesick for Eldorado and Boise!  Somewhere amid all of our activities, Grandma T spoiled the girls with new crafts in their craft-pizza boxes, and they managed to invade every corner of her house.  Thanks Grandma!  After lunch, it was time to make the switch over to G&G H's house for family reunion 2012. :)  We got out there in time to enjoy dinner and games with all the family.

Monday, we dragged ourselves and a ton of food, toys, and towels to Eagle Island where we did more bonding with cousins over picnic lunch, watermelon, swimming, and enjoying each others company.  We finally left in late afternoon, got some Frosty refreshment, and headed home to another loud, fun dinner with the fam.

Tuesday, we made a big breakfast and then headed out to Settler's park to play in the splash pad and picnic it up again.  The funny thing was that all of the cousins ended up playing a game of baseball rather than splashing in the water, but fun was had by all anyway.  The men made and served dinner to the kids, while the SIL's snuck away to Plato's closet for some shopping.  (I actually found clothes @ a non-maternity shop! Wahoo!)  When we got back, dinner was almost cleaned up, and it was time for movie night in the backyard.  The whole fam piled onto blankets and watched the new Muppets movie, and got the kids to bed around midnight...only for me to wake up with Sydney throwing up at 2:30am...we got little rest since it recurred about every 45 minutes until 10 the next morning.  Poor girl...

Wednesday was the 4th of July, and the Hallberg's had invited the entire neighborhood for a pancake breakfast in their front yard.  So Syd and I stayed quarantined in our room all morning to recover while the party went on without us.  Apparently, it was a success, with tons of people showing up.  The party kind of broke up tho when the neighbor boy fell out of a tree and broke his arm.  Ouch.  After breakfast ended, a few more cousins fell ill, and the other fam spent most of the afternoon staying away or prepping for the big BBQ that night.  Unfortunately, they had invited 5 or 6 families to the BBQ, and just as people were showing up on the doorstep, G&G H started feeling ill, as well as Haddon and Paige.  It was too late to cancel, so we made sure all well people stayed outside and all ill stayed inside in their rooms.  (ACK!)  It seemed to go well despite Joel having to step in as the host, and we ended the night with a giant fireworks show on the front lawn.  Syd was doing well by that point, so she got to enjoy from outside, but Paige slept through most of it, and Haddon and I popped out the screen on the upstairs window, and dangled our legs out the window and over the roof to watch the show.  It definitely was a memorable way to celebrate the 4th, at any rate. ;)

Thursday, it was time to pack up and head home.  The kids seemed to be doing well enough to travel, so we loaded up, took some final all-cousin photos, said our goodbyes, and headed out for home with Uncle Adam in tow.  We had left a few things at my parents house, so we stopped there to pick them up, and Joel realized there was no way he'd be able to travel yet...because he was now feeling ill.  (ACK, again!)  We stayed there for a few hours while he waited for it to become manageable.  Poor guy.  We finally left around 4:30pm, and I drove the entire way home while he slept it off...not so much fun when you're 7 months preggo!  We arrived home around 11...yeah, do the math, it was a loooong trip, but all survived.  Little Amelia, despite being exhausted, ran all around the house jabbering and excitedly showing us that we were home.  :)

Thankfully, no one else here fell ill, so we spent the next couple of days enjoying Adam and recuperating from sickness and lack of sleep...and 9 days worth of laundry. I'm just now beginning to feel like we're back to normal...and Dixie has NOT yet taught Paige any new tricks, that I know of! ;)