Salina Festivities

Even though I'm sitting here hanging out with my brother in Los Angeles, I have to finish the post I started yesterday or else it will forever go unfinished. I just want to share a few pictures from our visit to Salina over Memorial Day weekend. Chad and I originally planned this quick trip when we found out Chad's cousin Steve was going to be in town for the holiday. Steve and his wife Paula and their two boys live in the DFW area and we don't get to see them often, so we try to take advantage of their visits to Kansas whenever possible.

A while after we'd made our Salina plans, Chad's brother called and asked if we'd be able to watch our nephews on the Saturday of the holiday weekend. Initially we said we couldn't since we were going to Salina, but then Chad realized we could just as easily take the boys to Salina with us to see our family as well. Mark was a little worried that this would be more adventure than we could handle, but Chad eventually convinced him that we would enjoy the challenge.

Honestly, it didn't turn out to be much of a challenge for us as all. The boys were very well behaved and we had a great time with them. There was so much to do at the farm (we still call it the farm even though Chad's parents don't actually farm any of the acreage) that the boys stayed very busy and had a terrific time.

The drive there was fairly relaxing, as the boys entertained themselves with movies and Nintendo DS. We arrived in Salina and stopped at Quizno's for lunch (where Miles ate like a champ; Quinn, not so much) before heading over to Grandma Decker's. There we visited with Chad's Uncle Jerry and his wife Anne, cousin (once removed) Patty, and Grandma Decker. Steve and Paula soon arrived with their boys John and Will, and the kids played for a while before we all headed out to the farm where Chad's parents Mark and Ginny were firing up the grill.

Out at the farm we ate some more grub (even though we'd just eaten lunch a couple of hours before), and the boys played with their cousins on the gravel pile for a while before we all headed down to the big pond for some fishing. Chad and Jerry both caught some great fish, and even though neither of the nephews caught anything, they both had a fun time reeling in "moss fish" over and over. The boys had tons of fun acting out Indiana Jones scenes on the gravel pile "island" and the truck bead "boat" and climbing all around in the old VW camper. Quinn and I spent some time "golfing" while everyone else hung out at the pond, and later in the evening Quinn and Miles and I hiked about a mile back down to the pond when they got bored up at the house (which was a great walk except for that part where Quinn fell into cow manure). I was so amazed by their endurance--they played so hard for so long that day! I thought they'd fall asleep so easily at bedtime, but they stayed up even later than normal giggling and being silly during their slumber party at Chad's parents!

We had such a fun time seeing family, but also just spending time with our little nephews. They are pretty cute little guys, as you can see from all the pictures I took during the trip. We definitely need to hang out with them more often!