Universal Studios

After the Keeler reunion in Utah we drove on down to LA to visit Disneyland and Universal Studios.  First stop: Universal Studios.  Scott and I like Harry Potter and Scott is a big movie buff so we enjoy going there.  It was pretty warm the days we were there but we still had fun.

Hogwarts!!

Everyone is pretty much tall enough for everything now so even Emma was able to ride this.

In Hogsmeade

I like the Studio Tour, the Jurassic Park ride and the new Secret Life of Pets ride is pretty cute.  Scott usually takes care of the ride mental planning while I take care of the where/what are we going to eat.  Also staying cool and hydrated was an issue since it was mid 90s while we were there.  And of course we need a few fun snacks.  Churros!!  I didn't get a lot of pictures at Universal but we had a good time.

We had fun swimming at our hotel in Burbank

Here we are at dinner our last night at Margaritaville - a Jimmy Buffett restaurant.  It was nice to get out of the heat and we got to sit at the boat table.

Emma got a "boat drink"

It's fun there if you like listening to Jimmy Buffett songs on repeat.  

We had a good time at Universal.

Bear Lake

We went to a family reunion at Bear Lake in northern Utah.  We went there because they have a lot of large vacation rentals there - large enough for our family.  We stopped one night to stay with Scott's sister in Boise on the way there.

She surprised us with some birthday treats for the birthday kids.  It was so sweet!!

For Anna

and John

It was nice to see them!!

We did make it to Bear Lake and met up with the whole Keeler clan

These pictures are all mixed up but here they are

Emma and our nephew, Adam at the beach

The kids loved the water!

We kayaked and just played

One day my brother rented a pontoon boat and everyone had so much fun going out on it

Swimming in the super clear water out in the middle of the lake

I didn't get a lot of pictures on the boat but everyone got a chance to go out - some went out many times and even the little kids had so much fun swimming out in the middle of the lake.  We spent two days out on the lake.

Our crew

We had to get raspberry shakes - a Bear Lake specialty

yum!

hanging out back at the rental

Scott and I played a hilarious game of "Snake Oil" with my brother Will and his wife, Courtney and my brother-in-law Dana.  They are all so funny!!  We laughed and laughed.  All my siblings are funny, but weren't all free to play with us that time, sadly.  This picture is during a game of Princess Bride I think.

All the Keeler cousins

Kate

Matthew, Anna, Grant, John and Emma

Aiden

Whitney, Rachel, Megan, Adam and Hannah

and 

Magnus, Gideon, Axel and Enoch

Does that make 16 grandkids?

And all the Keelers!!  It's quite a feat getting us all together!

And our little family

Scott and I with Bear Lake behind us - a nice view from the rental

It was a fun trip - I hope we can get together again soon

And after our reunion we headed down to BYU for a college tour.  We got to ride around on the golf carts and Matthew and Anna got a special tour of some of the major buildings they are interested in.  We stayed at another of Scott's sister's houses - but sadly they weren't there - but kindly let us stay anyway.   We had fun visiting BYU though.  Go Cougs!!

Birthdays

and a few other things

We had some fun birthday activities in August - but first a few random things.  John and Emma and I did a bunch of summer crafts - like a lot!    Here is one of them - Statue of Liberty crowns.

Emma takes over my office daily to craft and then leaves a big mess.  

We're working on cleaning up after ourselves.

My mom helped Anna improve her knitting repertoire.

More fun days at the river

followed by smoothies

I took the younger three kids to the mall to buy shoes.  We had so much fun - but our car was broken down on the side of the road (with Scott waiting for a tow) while we were there.  I was in the working car so was able to take the kids home and then go out and wait with Scott.  The car trouble was a huge hassle but at least it happened before our big road trip.  And the mall was fun.

We like checking out the Lego store (Bricks and Minifigs), we got a pretzel and of course the new shoes.

The kids were back at home being watched by Matthew and Anna while Scott waited in the super heat.  I waited with him for a little bit and eventually the tow truck came to take our car to get fixed.

Getting our tow...and the car eventually got fixed.  It was the alternator.

Another day going to a pool party courtesy of Matthew's orthodontist.

Lots of fun!

Now for some birthday fun!!

Anna and a few friends (and I) did an escape room.  We actually escaped and it was really fun!!

Then a fun family dinner

And a Clue themed birthday for Anna!

Cake

We solved a little murder mystery (that for some reason involved a pinata)

The pinata had a clue inside!!

We had a lot of birthday fun.  Happy 14th Birthday Anna!!

14?!?  What!!!

For John's birthday we had lunch at Olive Garden

played Laser Tag and glow in the dark golf

We had Sonic themed cake

and some Sonic themed activities

John (as Sonic) defeated the Sonic big boss (played by Matthew) in the end

Poor Dr. Robotnik

Happy 10th Birthday John!!