Lava Hot Springs- Day 3

I got up early and made a pretty dang good breakfast burrito buffet for everyone.  Cameron and Bree, Kara, Grandma and Grandpa all showed up at the house a little after 9:00 and we all chowed down.

We had originally tried to schedule a time when all six grown children and their families would be in Lava and overlap each other.  Long story short, it ALMOST happened but didn't quite.  But knowing that there would be a morning when all eleven grandkids would be together, we decided to do a photo shoot of just the grandkids and grandparents.  I put my photog skills to use and out of 147 shots and lots of test lighting, this was the best one.  Shhhh....don't tell tell but we are blowing it up and framing it and giving it to Jane and Allan for their anniversary in September.  And thanks to Lance, we got all the kids laughing in a lot of the pictures.  In some of them, the kids were laughing TOO much.  I'm not sure what he was doing behind me, but he got them all smiling so I don't care!  After the shoot I grabbed each of our kids individually and snapped some of them because our formal living room photo wall needs a little updating.

Garrett 2 years old

Devin 3 1/2 years old

Lauren 6 years old (next month)

Hailey 7 1/2 years old

Ethan 9 1/2 years old

After playing all morning and then eating sandwiches and leftovers for lunch, everyone wanted to head down to the park for a water balloon launching war.  Several years ago Lance made these incredible water balloon launchers and we have used them quite a bit over the years.  So the guys spent the morning filling water balloons for a mid-day attack.  Since Garrett hadn't had a nap the day before and because my allergies were KILLING me, I opted to stay behind and let him sleep.  I ended up lying down with him for a couple of hours and staying inside made me feel a little better.  I hated to miss out on the fun, bu Cody took the camera and took some great pictures. 

At 3:00 Cameron and Bree had to hit the road to make the trek back to Colorado Springs.  Soon after they left, Megan and Tyler showed up.  Megan drove all the way from Indiana with her trusty dog Max (whom the girls fell madly in love with) and was touring all over Idaho while on break from being a professor.  Tyler had been called out a couple of days before to fight a wildfire and we weren't getting out hopes up that he'd make it at all.  But make it he did, and it was so good to see them.  It's just too bad that everyone wasn't there at the same time. 

We decided to go tube the Portneuf River before coming back for a late dinner.  Yup, Cody and I took all five kids down the river and it was soooo fun.  I miss doing that kind of thing in Texas!  And thanks to my trusty Samsung waterproof camera, I was able to catch some of the action while we went down the rapids.  Garrett tubed like a boss on the first ride down, but on the second ride down he was too cold and wasn't as happy.  He never cried, just kept yelling "Me get off!!!" 

It was almost an incident free activity, but halfway down the second river run Grandma flipped out of her tube on a very steep/sharp rapid drop and cut her head really bad on a rock beneath the surface.  It bled PROFUSELY and poor Carson saw the whole thing and then saw his grandma draped over her tube as she tried to get her marbles straight again, all while blood poured all over her and the tube and into the river.  Hailey, Garrett, and I didn't see it happen because we were quite a ways down the river already, but thanks to the help of several other tubers (to of which happened to be EMTs) they got her to the banks and someone called for an ambulance.  Because it was a head wound and so much blood, it was hard to tell the extent of the injury.  But the paramedics cleaned her up and treated her and the Grandpa drove her the thirty miles to Pocatello to get stitched up at the ER.  She had a CT scan and a concussion was ruled out, so several hours later we had her back at the house with us.

Being shuttled back up the hill to tube the river AGAIN!!

I swear I should compete in the Baby Holding Olympics.  It's amazing what all I can do while holding a baby, including walking up muddy banks with a baby and giant double tube in tow.

After Jane and Allan left for the hospital, Megan, Tyler, me and the kids walked about a mile to a part of the river where the warm spring met with the cold rover water.  It was fun to ump in and play in, although the kids were a little leery of the fast moving water.  I broke my shoe when I jumped in, but that's what I get for wearing flip flops.  I absolutely love swimming in naturally fed water.  I think that's why Schlitterbahn is my favorite water park above all others.!!

Aunt Megan sharing her shaved ice with Garrett.

When we finally made it back to the house, Lance and Courtnee put the final touches in DELICIOUS slow cooked, pulled bbq pork sandwiches.  They were amazing!!  Every played, made 'smores, and Tyler and Cody taught the kids some new card games.  It's just a matter of time before they teach them poker.  That seems to be an Andrew right of passage!  Jane and Allan finally made it back at 10:00 and we all stayed outside and sat by the fire for another half hour before we decided it's been a long day and everyone was exhausted.