Cross country trip- Part 2

The first few days of our visit we just hung out and played with all the cousins and such. I think our kids like their freedom a little too much. It's hard to balance their attitudes with it, but they actually handled it pretty well. There were lots of sleepovers, swimming, playing with toys, playing in the sandbox, etc. Then on July 1st we headed to Lake Seneca to a house with everyone for 5 days. It was a great house and it was big enough that we didn't feel like we were all on top of each other. 

The very first few minutes in there I noticed a tick on Elizabeth. That created a little drama and some "operating" from uncle Randy with unconventional tick removing tools. By the next day we had it all out though.

We had a big room with a bathroom  and it fit all of our family with extra space. The first day we just hung around and had a good time. I'm having a hard time remembering if the adults (minus me) went to the temple on Friday night or Saturday. I think it was Friday night. I volunteered to stay behind so that all the original Chudleighs could go together. They had a nice time and I had a fun time with the kiddos. We played games like duck duck goose, and the "eating" game. Then we watched a movie with some popcorn and I had 11 of the 13 kids all asleep before the parents returned. They were nice and brought me back some ice cream. Yum.

Sunday we went to church in Fayette and then went to the Sacred Grove. We had talked a little bit with the kids about why it was so special and GranChud gave a little lesson on it. At one point while we were there Cooper was  down on his knees. He said he wanted to say a prayer. I took pictures of it , of course , and he did it several other times. Such a cutie.

Oh, and it was my birthday, so Brian and the rest did a really good job at helping with the kids and making all the meals so I could relax for the day. They even put me at a table by myself for a bit which was a very calm and uncommon experience!


We had lots of good times at the lake. Charlotte only made 1 or 2 appearances at the lake. This was one of my favorite shots of her.

Elizabeth was a pro at the kayak.She and Sydney would go out on the water all day in either the paddle boat, kayak or canoe. She loved it!

Isabelle was hard to get a picture of. She was mostly a water watcher. She'd climb on the rocks and hop in a boat every once in a while. She mostly walked along the boardwalk and watch everyone.

Kiki was a real water girl. She did the boats but she also swam in the water a lot. She and Emma had a great time looking for rocks and shells.

 

One morning everyone volunteered to clean up the kelp or sea weed stuff that had floated onto the banks of the lake. Caroline was a good helper with that.

 

She was loving it all and was so cute!

Cooper and Jacob were little water buddies and just played played played all day. They didn't do a whole lot in the boats, but they were sure busy finding things to throw and swimming in the lake.

 Brian was enjoying himself as well. It's not often he gets to do this stuff and he loves it, so it was fun to watch him enjoying himself so much.

 

He was also a great kelp remover and helped roast marshmallows for the smores.

 

 

 Elizabeth really enjoyed those!

The Fourth of July was a beautiful day. We had a great sunset and enjoyed some sparklers. The "fireworks", however, well, let's just say we were disappointed. Apparently the big ones were done the night before. The kids were way bummed. Okay, me too. At least we have Pioneer Day fireworks to look forward to. 

 I could go on and on and share several hundred pictures, but I'll just wrap it up here saying we had a wonderful time at the lake house and there wasn't any fighting and hardly any drama with the kids, so it was a perfect get away!