And we went there. Yee-haw.
It was the Brighton Family Reunion (Heather's maternal side of the family), and we went to Bluebell, Utah, to spend the night at the country home of Heather's Uncle Ben and Aunt Sherry. The wimpier group stayed in the house with the little kids, while the real troopers camped outside. Here's our awesome tent:
Among other things, we played some mad croquet. Nathan (Heather's brother) and I, of course, were the most skilled "croquetians." Don't we look like naturals?
Croquet wasn't the only game we played. Some of you may recognize this masterpiece of a game: Zooloretto. It's a specialty game (you'd find Zooloretto at the same store as Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride). In essence, you load trucks with different animals to try and fill the enclosures of your zoo and attract the most visitors. For those of you who are thinking "lame," I challenge you to a game of Zooloretto, I'll challenge you any old day, and you'll find that building a zoo is a little more strategic than you thought.
The main event of the trip, however, was not our fast-paced, grueling games of croquet or Zooloretto, but actually Nathan's wife Anna riding in the Altamont Rodeo. Unfortunately, we realized that we didn't take any pictures of any cowboys or cowgirls riding horses, so the only picture we have is of us sitting in the stands:
Anna rode in the Barrel Racing event, which is when they have these 3 barrels out in the rodeo arena, and you have to ride circles around them in a certain order and then run back to the gate. She didn't win, but it was still awesome.
I got to practice my parenting skills the next morning. Heather's cousin Ellie just didn't have a good night, and 2 year olds that don't have a good night aren't usually the most amiable people in the world.
But even a wild-child like Ellie was no challenge for Master Child-Handler, Steve the Great. I took Ellie, totally wore her out in the sun (chasing bubbles is exhausting for a tired kid!), and then lulled her to sleep in the chair (I even fell asleep...I'm just that good--my tricks even worked on myself).
On a more serious note, Ellie's dad--David--mentioned how fulfilling it can be to have a child fall asleep in your lap. He said, "It gives you a sense that you've accomplished something." I agree. Kids are awesome.
Croquet wasn't the only game we played. Some of you may recognize this masterpiece of a game: Zooloretto. It's a specialty game (you'd find Zooloretto at the same store as Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride). In essence, you load trucks with different animals to try and fill the enclosures of your zoo and attract the most visitors. For those of you who are thinking "lame," I challenge you to a game of Zooloretto, I'll challenge you any old day, and you'll find that building a zoo is a little more strategic than you thought.
The main event of the trip, however, was not our fast-paced, grueling games of croquet or Zooloretto, but actually Nathan's wife Anna riding in the Altamont Rodeo. Unfortunately, we realized that we didn't take any pictures of any cowboys or cowgirls riding horses, so the only picture we have is of us sitting in the stands:
Anna rode in the Barrel Racing event, which is when they have these 3 barrels out in the rodeo arena, and you have to ride circles around them in a certain order and then run back to the gate. She didn't win, but it was still awesome.
I got to practice my parenting skills the next morning. Heather's cousin Ellie just didn't have a good night, and 2 year olds that don't have a good night aren't usually the most amiable people in the world.
But even a wild-child like Ellie was no challenge for Master Child-Handler, Steve the Great. I took Ellie, totally wore her out in the sun (chasing bubbles is exhausting for a tired kid!), and then lulled her to sleep in the chair (I even fell asleep...I'm just that good--my tricks even worked on myself).
On a more serious note, Ellie's dad--David--mentioned how fulfilling it can be to have a child fall asleep in your lap. He said, "It gives you a sense that you've accomplished something." I agree. Kids are awesome.
So how was our trip to Bluebell? Awesome.
1 comment:
We should do a board game night sometime. There's this other game I've fallen in love with that I need to get... it's pseudo-strategic... or at least I like to think so since I'm un-defeated in the 10 times I've played. :)
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