Unexpected family reunion

Right after Dallin's birthday party, my dad called to tell me my grandpa Wight died. We knew he didn't have much time left on earth, but it was still a shock. The following week was a big family reunion. All of my siblings were able to come (minus a couple of spouses and cousins), as well as lots of extended family. Even my great uncle Juan drove in from southern Utah with a couple of his sons. It was so good to spend time with all these wonderful people. We met at various parks to play and eat together.

We didn't think we'd get to hang out in Morro Bay with the Smalleys so soon. What a treat!

Here's my cousin Teri's little guy, Zachary. What a cute, happy baby! We enjoyed having her family stay with us one night.

Her daughter Katie is such a mother hen. Whenever I didn't know where Levi was, I'd find her retrieving him.

The recycled tires at Cuesta park turned everyone's hands and feet black.

Ben used his summer camp leadership skills to organize some fun games of tag with a twist.

There were bunches of kids playing, and they had such a great time.

Even Levi got into it.

They did rock/scissors/paper whenever they tagged each other at the same time.

Maryruth's family drove here from Idaho and arrived right after the funeral. But we were glad we got to see them for a couple days and meet cute little Makayla.

A bunch of the boys cought frogs in the creek at Sinsheimer park.

Super Dallin

Dallin had a superhero friend birthday party a few weeks ago. He's not so much into the usual superheros (Superman, Batman, etc.), but he loves to play Super Dallin. So we went with a generic superhero theme.

I loved how the cake turned out. Dallin had a very specific idea of what he wanted it to look. He wanted it to be the actual shape of a flying superhero. I searched and searched online to find a good one to copy. I finally found one he liked, but it didn't have any instructions. So I baked a small round cake for the head and a square cake to cut up into the shape of a body, using the scraps for the hands and feet. It turned out way cuter than I thought it would, and Dallin was thrilled.

When the guests first arrived, they decorated t-shirts by spraying bleach onto a card stock stencil of the first letter in their name. We put grocery bags inside so the bleach wouldn't bleed through. I made them with my boys earlier this summer, and they love them.

Kristen's family went to Fresno for the weekend, but Peter stayed behind and spent the night with us so he could come to the party (yay!).

Then we played sumo wrestling and catching pillows at the bottom of the steps (back by popular demand), saying something about how they needed super strength and quick reflexes to become superheros. Once again, the games were a big hit.

Before the party Dave asked if this activity would be too rough for the girls. But no, not these girls. They are both really tough, and they totally got into it.

It turned into a big pillow fight, and I couldn't believe it when I saw Mason getting into it - he's usually so quiet and shy.

Then we ate pizza, cake and ice cream.

And opened presents.

As things were winding down, I said, "Okay, time for treat bags," then proceeded to look for them. But I couldn't find them anywhere, and the kids all looked worried. Then out popped Tyler, dressed as a masked villain. He told everyone that he hid the treat bags and that they'd need to use their superhero powers to follow the clues and find them. Then he laughed his evil laugh and ran away. He planned this for 2 days, and the execution was fabulous. The clues were things like, "Superheroes may have super strength, but they can still get the common cold. Where do they go to get cough medicine?" and "When danger strikes, superheroes are ready to swing into action."

The shirts were dry by the end, so they were able to wear them home.

The next day we had a family party at Kristen's house. Dallin loves his journal and spy pen from grandma & grandpa.

Last visit

A few weeks ago we went down to SLO for dentist appointments. I figured as long as we were down there we should do something fun. First we went to Cuesta park for a picnic lunch. But when we got there I realized that I forgot to pack the peanut butter (I didn't have time to make the sandwiches before we left), so we went to my parents' house to borrow theirs. I'm so glad we did. We ended up staying and visiting with them for a couple hours. We got to see my grandpa Wight while he ate his lunch. He was alert and really happy to see the boys, as usual. Two days later he passed away. I'm grateful we were able to have that last visit with him.

After we left their house we went over to Cal Poly to see the horses. We hadn't done that in years. We even thought to pack baby carrots to feed them.

We wanted to see more animals, so we drove over to Avila Barn for all the usual activities - we played with toys, ate samples, saw animals and bought a yummy snack for the way home.

We left around dinner time and started to head home when we saw big electronic signs reporting an accident on the grade. So we went home the long way and met Dave in Morro Bay for fish & chips. It was a fun but exhausting day. I could barely keep my eyes open those last few miles. I collapsed on the couch and slept for 2 hours.

The lost wetsuit

Spencer went kayaking with the 11 year old scouts last month and accidently left his wetsuit at the beach. Actually we were borrowing it from his cousins, and he was really upset about having to pay for it. So we went there early the next morning, and lo and behold, it was still there. Yay! Then we spent the day at the beach and Cambria.

It was still pretty chilly there, so we didn't play in the water. But there were lots of other things to do.

Dallin and Brennan played in the eucalyptus trees, and Spencer and Tyler made a fort on a cliff above the water.

I just followed Levi around and tried to keep him out of the water.

Here's his picture-taking face these days.

Then they discovered this super fun place where the roots from the trees are all exposed. They climbed the awesome trees above and played in the roots down below.

Tyler's poor poison-oak covered face. This is after 3 days of oral prednisone, which cleared it up in just a week. That's a lot better than last time, when it lasted a full 3 weeks.

Afterwards we drove over to Cambria and had a picnic lunch. Then we walked around the shops, where Dallin bought a cookbook at the fun cooking store for his birthday. You should have seen the faces on the store owners as we entered each store. They were a tad nervous about 5 little boys, especially the crystal and fossil store. But they did great, and we had a really fun time. Before we left, we ate super yummy cinnamon rolls at a French bakery.

Rock climbing at Cabrillo

Dave and Nathan took 7 of the boys (our 3 oldest and their 4 middle ones) rock climbing a few weeks ago. I sent my old camera along with them. Here's Dallin. Apparently he zipped right up the rock.

I think Alec and Braden took most of the pictures. There were lots of close-ups of Braden's face.


Tyler loves repelling. We just found out that a picture of him from an earlier rock-climbing trip will be on the front cover of an electronic guide about Cabrillo. Pretty cool.

I wonder how they got some of these angles.


It's always super helpful to have another adult there to help get harnesses on and off as well as belay and encourage the climbers.

Everyone got to do 2 different climbs - one was easier and everyone was able to get to the top. The other was trickier, and only a couple made it all the way up. They were gone ALL day. They came home filthy dirty and super happy.

Until the next day when Tyler (and Spencer, but mostly Tyler) developed a severe case of poison oak. Apparently the frequent warnings to stay out of the brush were completely ignored. His eye was so swollen we could barely recognize his face. Pictures to follow.