Six Flags Magic Mountain

We left the beach Thursday night and drove to my Mom's house where we finally got nice showers and beds to sleep in. The next morning we got up and got ready to go to Six Flags. Kefford and the kids have never been and Kefford really wanted to take them on this trip. I was sad to leave my family early but agreed to go along with the plan once Kefford promised I could come back down to be with my family at the end of August. 

Six Flags is mostly roller coasters and I thought I would be able to handle them but boy was I wrong. The first ride we went on was the Batman ride and it was fine, no problems while riding. But that was the only ride that did not give me issues, from the next one on I got really sick and my head would start pounding on all of the downward thrusts. I was almost in tears on the few roller coasters I went on after the first one and had to call it quits after about 4 or 5. I was bummed because they looked like fun but it was just too much for me. Kefford went on a couple more with the kids after I quit but then he had to stop as well, we are just getting too old. Never mind that though the kids had a lot of fun and went on every ride they could. I was pleasantly surprised at Avynlea's willingness to go on rides and at how much fun she had. This girl gets really motion sick riding in the car but she did amazing on the rides! I am glad they had so much fun!

 The bumper cars were a safe bet for me to ride on although I did try to get Avynlea, my riding buddy, to stay clear of bumping anyone. I wasn't sure my poor stomach could take anymore jolting.

 It was a pretty hot day and we rode the water ride in the hopes of cooling off just a little. We wanted a little cooling off but what half of us got was water dumped on us. My bottom half got really wet but that was nothing compared to poor Avy and Rylee, they got completely soaked and looked like two little drowned rats at the end of the ride. We had four strangers on the ride with us who did not get touched with the water and were laughing so hard at my two youngest. 

Avynlea took a small break from the roller coasters and while the others went on a ride she and I braved the carousel. It was pretty fun and after the other kids got done with their ride Ryker and Rylee came on the carousel with us for another go around. This time I sat on one of the non moving benches with Avynlea.

We watched one of the shows they have called KWERk. We were not sure what to expect but it was really cool and fun to watch. It was steam punk themed with different dancers and people showing off their acrobatic artistry. We all really loved the show!

The smartest thing we did that day was spend $10 on a refillable drink cup. We got a wrist band which Ryker wore and using that anytime we needed a refill we got a free one. We only had one cup between the 6 of us and Ryker was constantly running off to refill our drink. We must have refilled it at least ten times throughout the day but it was so worth it and helped out a lot with our thirst.

I always enjoy riding the swings

 I love these four silly kids of mine!

We had a good fulfilling day at the park and when the day was done it was time to head home. 

We decided to start the long drive home to Idaho that night by driving about two hours and then stopping at the Motel 6 so everyone but especially Kefford could get some sleep. 

We got to the Motel 6 at about midnight and once Kefford paid we drove around to our room and quickly got ready for bed. At about 1:30 we were woken up by some really loud music that sounded like it was right outside our door. Kefford went to investigate and found a group of people on the bottom floor hanging out outside their room playing their music at top volume. He told them to turn it off which they did and he came back to bed. At about 3:00 we were again woken up but this time it was people right outside our door talking and messing around with a little toddler running back and forth. It was ridiculous. Kefford went outside and went to the lobby to get our money back. Once he did that we left and drove to Bishop, we got there at about 5:30 or 6:00 and Kefford parked behind a gas station so he could sleep for an hour or so. It was the worst night and I never want to live through that again. After Kefford got a little bit of rest he drove us the rest of the way home where it was so nice to get back to our home. 

Family Pictures

Thursday afternoon we took our family pictures down at the beach. We  had to wait until Andrew Brown got to the beach and by the time he did everybody had been swimming and were pretty wet. No matter, we are at the beach! This year we repeated the "I'm a member of the Lutes family" design my Dad created when we were kids and that we used the first time we did shirts at the beach, those were green. This time around we were able to let each individual choose the color shirt they wanted. It made for very colorful pictures! Although most of the group seemed partial to the blue colors. :)

The entire group

Grandma Bonnie and her Grandkids

Mom and Kids

Hugs!

Once we got done with all of the family pictures we did pictures according to color of shirts.

Then we did pictures of different matches. 

RYLEE, in your face!

Rylee and Andrew

Avynlea, Jaylynn and Rylee

Erin and Avynlea

Best Friends Forevvveeeeerrrrrr

Avynlea and Andrew

Kefford and Andrew

Kenedy

Kenedy and Alyssa 

Elizabeth and Heather

Love your guts!

Beach Trip

I am so glad that every year we have the opportunity to have a Lutes family reunion at the beach. I love being at the ocean and I even really like tent camping. Everything about the trip this year once we got to the beach was great. We had a bit of a rocky start but were able to make a comeback and have a great time. I love being with my family and always enjoy the laughter and fun.

The first night that we arrived we were busy putting up tents and getting everything unpacked. Once we were done Rylee and JayLynn asked if they could walk to the ocean lookout. I told them that was fine but they needed to stay at the lookout and not venture down to the beach. The next thing we know We see not just Ryle and JayLynn down frolicking in the ocean but Ryker, Ben, Avynlea, Isabelle and Camryn as well. None of them had permission and none of them had swimsuits on. Once they got back up to our campsites they said they went down just to put their feet in but then ended up going swimming. I thought it was pretty funny and couldn't be too mad although JayLynn and Rylee were told specifically not to go down. Little Stinkers!

We had such a good time playing at the beach. The weather was nice and the water was not too cold. The waves did get a little rough for some people but I never ventured out too far so I was ok. I loved swimming in the ocean with my family and I also loved just sitting back and watching my kids have a good time.

JayLynn and Rylee

Avynlea, Ryker, Ben and Rylee

 I was trying to get Heather to get a picture of me at the top of my cartwheels and kickups and I think we did pretty good. I think this was the best she could get because this was the best I could get up to. Not a problem I always enjoy a little room for improvement.

I was taking Senior pictures of Kenedy and Alyssa one afternoon on the beach and Alec tried to get in on the fun. I kept telling him that I was gathering ideas for his turn next year but he claimed to not want Senior pictures taken. 

Ryker and Ben

Mom's BFF MaryBeth came for a night at the beach and it was fun to visit with her. The tide was really aggressive this year and despite trying to sit back away from the water line kept sneaking up and getting us. Mom, Erin, MaryBeth, Heather and I stayed down at the beach longer after everyone else had gone up. We were just visiting and laughing and trying to move back from the water when we finally had to give up because there was really no where left to back up to and we were getting wet along with all of our stuff. Luckily no possessions were snatched by the waves and pulled into the ocean though we did have some almost disappear. 

Grandma and Amos

Baby Amos ready for bed

Heather, Mom, Kenedy and Elizabeth

One thing I never knew about Anita was that she never graduated from High School. She decided this last year to get her High School diploma but she did not tell anyone because she wanted to make sure she could do it first. JayLynn was the one to spill the beans about her Mom getting her diploma and we were really happy and excited for her accomplishment. Emily and Matt bought a cake from Costco so that the graduate could be recognized and celebrated.

Heather

Elizabeth

Avynlea

I braided a lot of hair on this beach trip which was a lot of fun. It became the thing to do and after the week was up I braided Moms, Heathers, Avynlea's, Rylee's, JayLynns, Anitas, Emily's, Kenedy's and none own. Emily and Kenedy braided hair as well and it was a lot of fun. Emily and I tried to get Camryn to let us braid her hair but she would have nothing to do with it. It was fun to tease her a little about us braiding her hair. She had to desire or interest at all!

Kenedy and Alyssa

Elizabeth and Jeremy

We needed to draw names for our Lutes Family Christmas gift exchange and this year Ashleigh did them. We have always had the names typed out or written down and each of us draws a slip of paper and that is who we but a gift for at Christmas. Ashleigh took it to an entirely new level by making everybody into a chocolate frog trading card. She had all of our picture cards in individual boxes with marshmallow filled chocolate fronts inside. Each of us picked a box and the card inside told us who we had for Christmas. She did such a good job and it was so fun for this Harry Potter loving family to have these cards. I vote we do this every year!

My family left Thursday night so we could go and do some other fun things while the rest of the Lutes family staying through Saturday night. I hated leaving because I know I am missing out on more bonding time with my family. Not being able to see them through the year makes me sad to leave knowing I don't get the time spent with them that I need. I am glad we were able to go for the time that we did and I hope that I can get more opportunities in the future to see them.