Palisades 2016

The end of July means Palisades! This is the third year we have gone with neighbors and we are loving the tradition! 

With full disclosure, the drive there and back is a full on RACE. Last year we got home first and parked in the Abrams' driveway to gloat. This year they left before us and Mike could hardly stand it. For some reason they had to turn back and we ended up following about 30 seconds behind them on the freeway. Erin sent us her location to stay in sync, but Mike wouldn't send his back (he said it would use up his battery). We had to stop and get gas in Nephi and knew we blew it. 

We met at Miller's Drive-In for doughnuts and ice cream. When we pulled up we saw their boys watching for us in the window, which blew their cover because they parked behind the block so we wouldn't know they beat us! So funny.

These two have become inseparable. Mike named them Shake & Bake (Jake & Blake).

Then we headed up the road to the Manti Temple, a favorite stop together.

We like to take a family picture in front of the temple to see how much has changed from year to year. Of course we have added another member!

Kate was almost tall enough to touch the spire. Daddy and Kate are good at this trick.

The kids beg to go to the big hill every year to roll down, and run around the field.

They have great trees for climbing.

Then we met up at the campsite at Palisades State Park. This year a bunch more friends joined us and it was a partay!

Little Eve, becoming one with Nature.

Our spots were right on the lake, which was fun for the kids and scary for the mom's.

They discovered the marshy banks were teeming with baby frogs, and then collected them in buckets.

There was a bit of a storm that blew through as we were setting up camp, but then the sun came back out and the sky and lake were gorgeous.

We had tin foil dinners, smore's and dutch oven peach cobbler and chocolate cake for dinner.

These two babies are destined to be best friends, and these girls below already have been for 4 years!

The next day was lake day! We rented and borrowed paddle boats and they are always a huge hit.

The kids (and dad's) also spent a lot of time jumping off the dock.

Again it stormed a little, but blew over quickly and got hot again.

Our friends brought a new inflatable kayak and let us all take turns.

The most entertaining part of the day was when Kim set up a couple's competition to see who could jump in the kayak, row around the dock, and pull it back ashore the fastest. It was hilarious... and of course Kim and Matt won. They are fierce competitors!

What a great time we had together. On the way home we all stopped at Roy's in Ephraim for delicious pizza. And then the race was on to get home.... there are two ways to get home, and Erin heard the Spanish Fork way had had a fatality crash earlier in the day, so she decided to go the Nephi way. Most of us followed, except the Wilson's who took the scenic route through Spanish. Sadly, we all came upon a terrible crash the other way, which closed the highway. There were tons of emergency vehicles, and as we sat waiting to hear if we would need to turn around we saw a life flight come overhead and land nearby. We learned later that an off-duty sheriff's deputy drifted into oncoming traffic and crashed in to a black SUV.  He was killed, and the dad and 4 year old daughter in the other car were life-flighted. The mom and two other kids were taken to the hospital. It was all so tragic, and made me hug my family tighter.

So it turns out we had to turn around and go the other way, 1.5 hours behind the Wilson's! We also had to stop for a potty break, and the gas station we chose had 1 toilet for all of us. We got home and Wilson's kids were in bed and they had already mowed their lawn, haha! We figured the Abrams beat us bad too, but didn't see them... until we opened the garage and their van was parked in our spot! Ben and Tyler backed up laughing and Erin and the rest of the kids ran over clapping for getting us so good. They had waited 30 minutes for us slowpokes, and Ben didn't let them turn on any lights or start unpacking just so they could surprise us. It was hilarious. Might be hard to figure out how to trump that next year!