"Cousining" and Fresh New Wheels!

We spent the week before last doing some hard core "cousining." Yes, that's a verb that spontaneously surfaced in the White family to describe what the cousins do when they are together. The home base was a cabin up above Heber in the mountain subdivision of Timberlakes. After weeks of heinously hot weather down in the valley, we got the ultimate reprieve with cooler temperatures and daily rain showers. My mom, Kristen, Karen, Mary, and all attendant cousins came up. Newel and Casey were intermittent visitors. There were 5 adults and 18 kids on site all week. It was a lot of fun, but the noise was deafening at times. Did I mention there were 18 kids in one modest-sized cabin? By the end of the week, Lindy was so sleep-deprived. She'd spent the entire week going to bed at 10 pm or later, waking up early, and with maybe 2 daytime naps (total) because of the cousin energy. We had a great time, but I was so relieved to come home to my quiet little house and tone down to the volume of just 4 kids.

We spent Tuesday morning at Deer Creek reservoir. Kristen brought her kayak and Mary brought her canoe for water adventures. I was lounged out on the shore with Lou when the wind picked up and the rain started coming down with a fury. We evacuated to the van in a hurry while Lindy just laughed at the downpour. Cousins Anni, Arden, and Beatrix were stranded out on an island in the middle of the reservoir and had to wait out the storm until someone could paddle out and usher them to safety. Exciting times were had by all.

Zeke at the reservoir.

Mary making lunch on the beach.

Lou eating cherries with Aunt Karen.

We didn't have Zeke's swimming suit, so he just dropped his clothes and headed out in his undies, water-loving boy that he is.

We spent Wednesday visiting the Heber Valley Cheese shop, eating ice cream, and hiking around Cascade Springs above Midway.

Lou taking a selfie at Cascade Springs.

Cascade Springs.

Hallee doing some cousining with Izzy.

Zeke

Soph

Hal

We spent Friday that week at the Wasatch Mountain State Park where the kids did some pedestrian fishing in the stocked pond by the visitor's center.

Lou with Aunt Kristen and Tabitha.

Zeke, loving life at the fishing pond.

After a couple of hours of fun but unfruitful fishing, we moved on to the fancy bakery at the nearby Zermatt Resort.

Lindy, enjoying some gourmet gelato, right before she threw it all up on grandma's leg. :)

While we were up partying in the mountains all week, Casey was down working and sealing the deal on our new wheels--a 2012 Honda Odyssey with a mere 28,000 miles on it. It is the nicest car that I've ever owned and I still feel just a little nervous driving it.

Our old Odyssey, which we loved, had racked up nearly 190,000 miles and the repairs it needed to get the check engine light to stop blinking would cost more than it was worth. Essentially it was totalled. Although I believe in driving cars until they die, I realized that it was here that I needed to draw the line. I had dreams of rallying the old van in the west desert or entering it in a demolition derby, but just today we sold it to a nice family from Tooele.