The Invasion from St. George

So the last few days have been utterly crazy busy with fun visitors from St. George. Last Thursday my brother, Ed, and his family came in town from St. George. We hooked up and went to the zoo in the morning, then swimming at my mom's in the afternoon, and later on had a family get-together dinner. It was such a long day but so much fun.
My sister, Steph, joined us at the zoo with her girls. They headed home afterwards because it was my sister's anniversary and she and her husband had a hot date planned. We had a great time at the zoo and got to see the usual animals along with an awesome bird show. That morning, Skylar wasn't really excited about going to the zoo because we really have been going a lot lately but quickly changed her mind and afterwards said, " Mom, I guess there's always something new to see at the zoo." Having a different group there also adds to it. I can't believe how big of a group we ended up with when you just put half of the siblings together with their kids-there was 11 (and 1/2!) kids. We had to keep counting to keep track. Crazy, but fun.
That afternoon was officially our first swimming of the summer (besides our backyard). It was an absolutely perfect day for swimming and the pool felt awesome. Skylar was swimming great since she had her little floaty things on her arms, Nick totally had fun having Grandpa help him, and Kade just wanted to jump from the side of the pool the entire time. He definitely was not too happy being stuck in his tube. The kid has no fear and doesn't even mind going under the water!
Later on Ben, my brothers, Al, and Jerry's family came and we had dinner and celebrated Ed & Al's 40th birthday. Crazy that they are that old!! Of course, they still act like teenagers, so that's good!? We had some good grub and then the kids put on an "awesome" talent show. After that, we headed outside where Jerry led the kids in a game of not getting wet in the sprinklers. I was proud of my kids because they made it to the top 3 finalists! Perfect for a nice dry ride home!!
My niece, Cassidy, came home with us that night so that Skylar and she could have their traditional sleepover. This was the first time at our house and the first time for two nights. Cass just slept in Sky & Nick's room because Nick was not about to be left out. Both nights they were a little too excited to get right to sleep but eventually they did and they had a lot of fun. Ely, Cassidy's brother who is Nick's age, and Nick have already started planning how they can get in on these sleepovers next year. They've decided that 5 is a good age for them. We'll see how they really feel about that next year. We don't see them too often so I'm glad they got to spend some extra time together.
Ben had a camp out on Friday night with the Scouts-he is now working with the 11 year old scouts in the Spanish Ward in our stake. The kids and I just played at the park all night. On Saturday, our ward had a big summer party. Ben arrived home in the middle of it and was able to help the kids on the giant waterslide on the hill. They had so much fun, except for poor Nicky, who fell back on his head after his first run and decided he was done for the day. Needless to say, by Sunday we were exhausted and after church, everyone but Skylar took a 2-3 hour nap. So long, but so needed!
Today my friend, Lisa, was in town, who is also from St. George. We went out to lunch with her mom and sister and then headed to Thanksgiving Point to the dinosaur museum. We had so much fun! That place is so cool because it's so hands-on. I honestly think Lisa had as much fun playing as any of her kids! It was fun to get to spend time with them. Lisa and I always have so much fun together. I love it when she comes in town!