Fun Times With the Andersons

Last weekend we had a fun visit from the Andersons. They were only here for about 24 hrs. but, somehow, we were able to fit in SO MUCH FUN!!!
Shortly after they arrived, Adam and Macey (age 13) decided to make Deviled eggs. It was hilarious because they kept deciding to add new ingredients.  By the time they were finished with them, I think every spice and herb in the house had been added to their concoction. And boy, did they look appetizing! NOT!

The famous deviled eggs! Notice how they were cut in half the wrong way! Heather and I  could not stop laughing at the sight of them!

I refused to try them...I don't even care for "normal" deviled eggs. They got a few of the kids to taste them but after a bite they would pucker up their faces and claim that they were too salty! Luckily we have an endless supply of eggs around here so it was no big loss. In any case, we all got a good laugh out of it.
While Adam and Macey were busy in the kitchen, Heather helped me make my girls some Easter dresses. It was a fairly easy project.... Just a couple yards of fabric and a t-shirt. Heather made the flowers for the bodice as well as some sweet hair bows that matched. The girls loved them!

While Adam and Macey were busy in the kitchen, and Heather and I were busy making dresses, Caleb and Braunsen were busy trying to burn down the house.

Let me explain...Caleb and Braunsen share a love of all things mechanical, and electrical. Caleb's room looks more like a mad Scientist's lab than a bedroom. It's filled with pieces of broken appliances, small motors, batteries, wires, tin foil, and.... model rocket parts!  Which brings us to our story.

One eye witness described hearing a high pitched  "whooshing" sound and then saw Caleb and Braunsen run out of the room pale faced with their eyes as big as saucers. Smoke starts billowing out of Caleb's room and Adam ran in, then ran out with a smoldering model rocket engine on an old baby blanket. The  smoke alarms all started going off  which sends the rest of the kids all running outside, where Braunsen explains that he "accidentally dropped" a 9 volt battery on some wires that just happened to to be connected the the rocket engine.

It was really hard to reprimand the boys because their story was so dumb and their faces were so funny that we had to keep trying not to laugh while telling them how dangerous those rockets can be.

We do feel VERY blessed that neither of them were hurt and the only damage was to the blanket.

I hope they learned their lesson. We'll See....

On Saturday morning, some of the kids decorated Easter eggs. They had fun and the eggs turned out really cute.

At around noon we packed a picnic lunch and rode the buggy  to "Knuckle Butt Canyon".

It was a perfect day for being outdoors. 

Laughing and singing all the way!

Sorry I caught you on the down chew Heather.

Eliza and Jewelanna found a secluded spot to enjoy their lunch.

When we got to our favorite climbing tree, Adam and Heather's sibling rivalry kicked into high gear and each wanted to out-climb the other. Even amidst cries from their worried children below, higher and higher they went. Heather was eventually thwarted by an attacking ant colony, and Adam was the victorious climber.

It's hard to tell, but Adam is about 30 feet up in the tree. YIKES!

When we got home it was time to say goodbye. We hope we they can come play again soon.

We had a blast!