While I was away with Lydia and Grandpa fishing, through a strange course of events that I still don't fully understand, the cousins wound up founding their own nation/kingdom. They had speeches campaigning, held a vote, and everything. The vote wound up tied between Courtney and Karina; so they determined they would alternate days being in charge. I went down during one of their court meetings to document the proceedings.
I reluctantly take credit for introducing them to what became the Royal Oath - it came from a Simpsons episode about Homer becoming involved with a cult. It crossed my mind as I was watching Courtney who seemed to be enjoying her power a little too much... I also proudly take credit for expanding their vocabulary and introducing them to the word defenestration (the act of throwing something or someone out a window) which became their royal word.
Apparently some of the younger cousins took this royal court a little too seriously and thought they had actually created their own country and no longer had to submit to the parental powers or something, so they eventually had to tone it down, though the royal court did still feature throughout the visit.
A local dentist office (I think) was having a huge block party and included in the entertainment was a traveling reptile exhibit with lots of snakes and other reptiles, so of course we had to go and let Derek get his fill of seeing all the snakes. I think this big one is a reticulated python.
They also had crocodiles, monitor lizards, and these tortoises.
I was fascinated by this albino diamondback rattlesnake. I have never seen a rattlesnake in the wild before, and when the handlers very carefully pulled this one out of its dark travel box to go into this terrarium, the snake was not happy at all and was rattling like crazy. I didn't realize their rattles were so loud! The rattles were continuing once it was safely in the terrarium.
Derek got to pet some of the snakes as well - I think this one was a corn snake.
And here he is petting the python (with a dirty face from eating an ice cream sandwich).
We took a trip up toward Rexburg to float down the Warm Slough (a tributary of the Henry's Fork Snake River). I wish we had known about this activity when I was younger and lived in Idaho - it was a lot of fun! Karina and Derek floated down in this inflatable raft.
Lydia took a kid's kayak down alone.
Here's Aaron and Max riding together on a tube.
Courtney had a kayak.
Some other pictures from the float.
Derek and Max enjoyed playing together. Here they are bonding over a shared love of Legos.
We went bowling. At one point, I was chatting with Tanja that I was losing to some of the kids and commented that we had bumper lanes to prevent gutter balls. She thought that I was on a normal lane and that is why I was losing...nope. I'm not much of a bowler, but I still think it is fun to do sometimes.
Grant, Courtney, Russell, and Miles
Lillian was content to just hang out with Kellie and let the big kids deal with knocking the pins down.
Karina, Tessa, me, and Lydia
Logan, Dallin, Grandpa, Derek
Max, Grandma, Brenna, Ethan
We went to my old high school that evening to let the kids hit some balls around with pickleball paddles and tennis rackets. It was kind of fun since the marching band was practicing marching around the parking lot in preparation for the 4th of July parade so we had live music and I could reminisce with the kids about my time in band doing the same thing. They liked my story of the year I was drum major marching backwards while conducting the music and I stepped in horse poop from the horses that were a few slots ahead of us in the parade because I couldn't see where I was walking. My white marching shoes were a little less white that day, but the show had to go on.
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