I’ve got two brothers and my parents who live in Idaho, a brother who lives in Utah and a sister in North Carolina and because we don’t live close, we make an effort every summer to gather as an entire family. It’s nothing fancy and if I outlined the last several years, you would see a pattern – we go hard for several days with every sport/physical activity imaginable and we all leave exhausted and sore.
This year we gathered in North Logan Utah area.
We got a few rounds of tennis and pickleball in and that activity alone is enough to wipe us out for a day. We found a recreation center close to our VRBO and we spent hours there one day playing all the sports – my family is classic for making up games and then making up a few more!
We found parks to play spike ball, volleyball, gaga ball and Kuub.
We enjoyed the waterpark and cooled off from the record breaking heat the area was experiencing. Us desert rats were used to it, but everyone else had troubles adjusting.
As luck would have it, our waterpark day coincided with 7/11 free slurpee day.
I wish I had more pictures of the older boys because they know how to entertain themselves and they came up with all sorts of fun – they just love being together.
They did love their evening airsoft wars when it was finally cool enough to put on sweatshirts for protection.
I never did try the VR but I think it may be more fun watching other people play than to actually play myself.
We found some interesting field trips in the area around our VRBO and it was a nice change of pace from all the physical activities. We found a Pepperidge Farms food outlet – which seemed like a strange visit but if you want some highly discounted gold fish and cookies – this place is for you. We were hoping there would be a factory tour but it really was just an outlet store. Some stocked up more than others!
Because we were searching for factory tours, we came across the Aggie Chocolate Factory at Utah State University and it was enlightening. This is a student run factory as part of their food science department and we had a great tour from one of the students and their process of making chocolate – including samples. I always appreciate hands-on learning.
Its fun to gather. Our kids love being together and they look forward to it every year. We have built some strong relationships (in spite of living far away from each other) due to this annual reunion and I’m grateful for the time. I’m also grateful we’re all physically healthy to be able to play so hard and as we slow down, our kids are picking up the pace!
