Wyss Vacation 37

Week of weeks... version 37.  Except it was just a long weekend. :)  Rita hosted this year, so we packed all our stuff and headed to Leo on Thursday. 
Perrin doesn't mind traveling- there are always snacks and french fries.

 

We listened to some Hank the Cow Dog and some Adventures in Odyssey and they mostly all were pretty content little travelers.  It helps that we were going to one of their favorite places.  We got to FW right as a storm was rolling through... we drove through some crazy rain, and then just as we got to Rita's the sirens started sounding.  The kids were headed for the basement playroom anyway, so... (the storm went south of us, no worries.)

They wanted to swim so badly and we finally let them after supper. 

Even when Grandma and Aunt Pearline aren't there the breakfasts are amazing.  😋 (Of course, when you've been lazy all summer and pretty much only eaten cold cereal, anything else is pretty great.)

Perrin figured out how to climb the ladder in the playroom.

There was a dress up fashion show on a cloudy morning.

Perrin loved the balls and the bikes out in the barn.

How does Rita host 74 people for the weekend? (Out of a possible 108! 😜) Well, they park campers by the barn.

Set up tents by the river.

Put the "old" people in the house.

And their renters move out of their old house for the week.  😝 We stayed at the old house... it's so funny to be at Rita's house, but it's not Rita's stuff. 
The toys are plentiful at the Klopfenstein Resort.  Perrin loves anything with wheels and the long hallway was soooo fun.  

There was a pickle ball tournament.  Somehow I didn't end up on a team, and I wasn't too sad about that. 

The kids pretty much swam constantly.  There was one scary moment- somehow Gideon and Cadence got pushed into the deep end without life jackets and neither one is confident without them.  Heather (PTL) heard someone say they couldn't swim and then saw them both holding on to each other and sinking. She jumped in so fast with her clothes on and got them.  I was at the other end of the pool and didn't even see it until after it was all over- it was fast!  They were a little bit shook up, but not even coughing.  They took a break but were back in the water again after supper.   

We were introduced to using water color colored pencils as face paints this year at lake day.  So we brought some along.  The kids loved them!  They kept asking for drawings/drawing on themselves and then going in the water and washing it off and coming back for more.  :)  I don't know if any of them let the paint dry.  😋

Cecily, Emmy, and Cadence got to go tubing. 

Emmy really wanted me to take her to an antique store, so Mom and I took her and Miri and Perrin to Grabill.  There was a train set!  We also went to the candy store because we were right there.

Even Grandpa likes Aunt Rita's riding toys... 😂

Perrin is right in between Krew and Kade and they built and knocked down many towers.

Afternoon swim break to play some Switch. 

There were lots of babies this year... I'm so glad mine is a year and a half and sleeping all night... hehe.

Afternoon movie break- Robin Hood is a favorite.

Bedtime snack at Ritasoldhouse.

So, last time we had vacation here Bob and Nathan won the pickle ball tournament.  This time, Bob and Kray won the pickle ball tournament.  😆  I don't think Bob has played pickle ball at all in between the two. 

Sully and Perrin, playing with the cones.

This door knob kept falling off, and 3 or four different people tried to fix it. 

Suppers were all catered this year, and the wood fired pizza oven might have been my favorite. 

Ah yes, the annual milling about before taking the annual picture.

They had one of the pizza makers come take the picture, and the guys started singing the star spangled banner and I about died laughing, so this must have been taken right before.  😂

"Car!"

We all went to church Sunday morning, and managed to be on time!  The girls all went to Sunday School again.... then Perrin was a grouch all afternoon, and Cecily was crying because her ear started to hurt. huzzah.  

Cadence's SS teacher told her she looks just like Rita, so we had to get a picture.  😄  I don't know if she actually does all that much (I see Clayton when she gives me her orneriest grin), but it's nice to hear that they might have a little bit of me in them instead of only ever hearing Koch or Beutel at home.  

I took the younger four to the splash park after church.  Perrin loved it.

Miri just wanted to walk on the rocks.

Emmy and Cadence decided they were bored pretty quickly... 😜

And Perrin didn't want to leave. 

While we were gone, Cecily went to watch the older 'kids' jump off a bridge... and was slightly worried because Michelle told her it was illegal.  😆 She's such a rule follower... 
Her ear didn't get any better with swim-ear drops, so I asked Dr. Randy if he'd happened to have brought his otoscope along.  Silly question, of course he did.  (probably also brought an ice cream bucket of meds and hair clippers too.)  His diagnosis was "Acute Otitus Media" and he called in antibiotics and we had them a half an hour later.  So handy. 

There were gator rides.

More swimming.  Miri even jumped off the diving board!

And snacks.  So many snacks. Perrin was in heaven.

We left for home Monday after breakfast. (I had to document how much breakfast Miri ate- english muffin sandwich, cinnamon roll, fruit, mini donut... 😜😂)

But not before leaving a note on the calendar, 'twas a read letter day!

We made it home safely, without incident, and after much Odyssey.  The last episode we listened to was an imagination station about the crucifixion/resurrection.   Miri:  Mom! Mom! God is ALIVE in Odyssey!! 
This was the verse of the day after we tore off the calendar pages from when we were gone- Grandpa Wyss often quoted parts of this verse to us and it was fitting for the last day of vacation. 

But after the good times, we have to come back to reality. *sigh*  Back to drains that gurgle but we can't reach with the snake....  and then when he tried to snake it from the bathroom sink trap, one of the couplings broke and we had to call Tim.  woot.

I was supposed to take a pie to the Sunday school meeting and I was just.not.feeling.it (post-vacation laziness) so I *gasp* bought a pie.  I know. I know.  I, too, am ashamed of myself.

Emmy however, helped Mom make two peach pies when we went to do corn.

Why is the corn always ready on the hottest, humidest day of the year?  Dad called it a three shirt day.  The heat index was one hundred and something and I was sweating buckets shucking corn on the porch... some of the kids swam in the cow tank, one baked, and Miri helped a little bit.

We brought it home to cut off and cook and even in the air conditioning I needed an extra fan.  😜  So hot.  But sweet corn is so good. 

Blessings.