A 4th of July to Remember

We had a FANTASTIC holiday weekend. It is always great fun to spend time with my family and we love going to Modoc... so doing both at the same time is a double the fun. And however much fun I had, Kahlil's fun level was a least three time greater.

The roster - My whole family was there... all 13 of us - Morgan brought a few friends (Ross, Tracy, Damian, & Marty) - Janet and Jason came up - Timberlin and her family were there (visiting Modoc for the first time) - Vanessa and her friend, Cassey - and then there were all the locals. We had people in the house, in campers, and in tents. It was quite the group at Grandma's place.

The activities - Of course we went to the parade and picnic - it wouldn't be the 4th without doing that. And we spent lots of time socializing over drinks and guitars. And we spent some amount of time in ponds fishing and swimming. But there was also the horseback and quad riding. And a railroad tour of Bakerland - Modoc's own Old West Town, Botanical Garden, and Wildlife Preserve. Oh, and fireworks. Did I mention the BBQs?

The kids - I think Kahlil had the most fun of all. With Dean and Timberlin's kids, he had a blast running around like a wild boy. The kids had water fights almost every day. Kahlil loved riding the horses CR and Scotter and sitting on the quads (although he did fall of the parked quad and scrapped up his arm). And he got to sleep in a tent which he really liked. Langston, on the other hand, didn't have a very good trip. He seemed to be working on pushing through some teeth the first few days and was pretty miserable and clingy. Poor Jay spent a lot of time with Langston on his back. But by the end of the trip he was feeling better and enjoyed the last morning we were there.

Here are some of the photos from the weekend. Check out the rotating images at the left for all the other shots.

Water fights with Kahlil, Colin, and Aidan

Kahlil on CR... as soon as one person yawns, everybody yawns!

The intrepid pond fishermen -

Two of the cutest kids in the world! Cousins Langston and Helena -

What do you do when you need to get a lot of people to the Davis Creek BBQ? Load up the horse trailer of course!

Papa playing some tunes with Colin on drums and Kahlil on kazoo -

Kahlil helping the firefighters at the picnic -

Great father/son shot.

This is the dragonfly Janet saved from a watery grave -

Timberlin's family (Chris, Tyler, and Garrett), along with Auntie Valerie, Grandma Lana, and Great Grandma Grump (aka Pat) -

Kahlil and Aidan are ready for some serious quad sitting!

On the train at Bakerland -

Ettie and David's family of Lucky 13 -