We had an awesome time this year at Island Park! I can't say I hope these trips are stacked on top of each other next year, but I can say it was a great time nonetheless! Stephen got in some great fishing in his very favorite area with his brothers, and my sisters-in-law never fail to have fun ideas and tons of energy.
I sure felt like I did terrible taking pictures this trip- I desperately needed my smaller camera! Several of these pictures I borrowed from our friend Jodie's Facebook album!
We went to Big Springs to see some large fish- the boys loves looking over the bridge for them. We also went through Johnny Sacks Cabin while we were there- wouldn't it be awesome if a person could still just stake a piece of ground and go to work making his own little paradise?! Here the kids are sitting along some stairs just outside the cabin.
Here's what the Tree Mail pockets looked like- the kids loved this again! It's a nice way to give them something to do. Most everyone got really into the ticket game we tried- Cooper was beyond thrilled whenever he got a ticket! My sweet niece Chelsea won the big prize with 12 tickets in the end! I'll definitely remember to do this again in the future.
This year Stephen, Ryan, Marvin and Cannon all had pontoon boats to fish in- they put them to great use for sure! When we all floated down the river near our camp, Stephen just tied our little raft onto the back and rowed us along behind him- nice time to relax! After the rafting, all the kids piled into the back of the truck and tried to get trucks passing by to honk- how could any driver resist? ;)
One morning we hiked down to Sheep Falls, near Mesa Falls. Taron and Keaton kept trying to give their Dad and heart attack sitting so close to the edge! It was neat to see and just neat to get out and all be together.
My in-laws and their families- they take care to the girl quota and we got the boys! ;) I love all of my little nieces- they are each fun and happy to be around :)
That night we went to a show at the Macks Inn Playhouse. It was a comedy called "HOME School Musical"- pure cheese, but super fun and funny to watch! I love musicals :) The funnest part of the whole thing was when my brother-in-law Marvin got brought up on stage as an audience participant! He had to hula hoop up there and dang was he good at it! The highlight of the show for all of us :) Our group of Buffats was something like 28 people and the guy up on stage kept referring to us some way or another- a super fun night for sure! This is the teenagers all enjoying the show together- I love these kids! I think we saw Taron and Keaton for something like 45 minutes this whole trip- otherwise, they were tearing up trails and goofing around as a group somewhere :)
One afternoon we also went down to Island Park Reservoir for some beach fun. This was a unique addition to a Buffat trip as far as I've known them- I loved having the beach/ water be part of the trip! Stephen and his brothers all jumped off the dock and that started everyone in on jumping :)
That night Jodie ...I should mention- Cannon and Jodie Corrington are friends and we truly think of them like part of the family.... anyhow, she put together this candy tape ball game. You created a ball of candy by sticking the candies to a wide strip of tape and then wrapping it all up together- see it in Keaton's hands above? Then someone rolls the dice while the player with the candy ball tries to un-roll the tape and get as many pieces as they can. Their turn at candy hunting ends when the player rolling the dice gets a double! Then both the ball and the dice go to the next players- super fun idea! It ended up being harder than you would think to get the candies out!
As we were packing up camp, Ryder found the water spicket! I love these pics of him :) Wow, were both he and Cooper dirty by this time!But it was an awesome time- my in-laws are fun and comfortable to be around and I'm grateful for all of them! We are blessed... again... still :)
