Eusterzelischror: Springtime Edition

For the past five years we've spent a week or so over the summer with two of our closest friend-families, the Eustermans and the Stamschrors. It's always a highlight of our summer, especially since the Eustermans have only lived in the same state as the rest of us for two of the five years we've been doing this. Next month they will be moving on to Texas, so we decided to get together before they leave. On our sixth "Eusterzelischror Vacation" we headed east of the mountains to Zillah, where the Stamschrors let us take over their home for the weekend. It was a lovely time, as usual, though shorter than in the past, and we didn't take nearly as many pictures.

 The three littlest boys playing the fishing game.

 Daniel and Noah were a great match for each other at checkers. (And, it was really interesting for us to see them play, as they are both the oldest and not used to a game being a real competition...there was some real tension there for awhile. They ended up each winning one game, though Daniel said he wished one of them had won both games because that way there would've been a clear winner.)

 Mr. Casey keeps the rest of the kiddos happy with their own game.

 One day we packed up after breakfast and headed into Yakima to play at a park.

 Cecilia and Matthew loved the tire swing.

 All nine kids, oldest to youngest.

And, the parents, too. :)

 We had a lot of fun inside with obstacle courses and pillow fights.

And the dads tried to lower the population of sage rats on the property.

This year we tried a new way of getting some quality adult-conversation time in (without it being really late at night). We fed the kids dinner, then put on a movie for them in the other room while we sat and enjoyed a [mostly] kid-free dinner. It was really nice to be able to eat leisurely and enjoy the company of these wonderful friends. We're not sure when we'll all get a chance to spend significant time together again, but we're already scheming ways to make it work!

Eusterzelishcror V

Two days after Chris got home from his school/work trips, we packed up and headed down to Olympia for our annual Eusterzelischror vacation: four days with some of our closest friends and their kids. This was our fifth year getting together for a bit of summer vacation together. When we started, each family only had one kid and now there are nine! We had lots of fun adventures together...

 Dinner the first night: pizza party at Dirty Dave's in Olympia!

The boys definitely outnumber the girls in this group. Here, Chris chats with the youngest three.

 We made a trip to the Olympia farmer's market, then walked along the waterfront to...

the Heritage Park fountain...

 where Aaron kept a safe distance from the water.

Lunch Break!

After lunch, the fountain was turned off for awhile but these kids were still suspicious.

The "big" kids watching The Sound of Music.

 A morning trip to Burfoot park to hike and play on the beach.

 Of course, no trip to the beach is complete without throwing rocks in the water. 

 Aaron and Daddy take some time to check out one of Aaron's owies,

 while Noah and Daniel worked on a rafting scheme.

The raft did not float with three kids on it.

 Playing "train."

The obligatory kid photo. All nine of them. What a fun time we had...can't wait till next year!

Eusterzelischror 2012

Our annual vacation with the awesome Eusterman and Stamschror families was last week.  What once was a 3-kid vacation has now blossomed into a 9-kid vacation (including babies in the tummy!).  We've come a long way since college:)

Daniel, Matthew, Aaron, Elizabeth, Cecilia, Noah, and Maximilian have become great friends, just like their Mommies and Daddies.  Thanks for hosting, Stamschror Family, and thanks for another year of great memories!

 Eusterzelischror 2012: The kids sure have grown up over the years!

 Living in Zillah comes with many benefits: lots of playing outside on large concrete pads, huge dirt fields, shooting (see later), fires, and more!

Traffic got a little heavy on the concrete pad.

Aaron loved being outside in his new Ergo Baby carrier.

Inevitably, all play moves to dirt after a while.

The three amigos 2012: Ellie, Daniel, and Noah. 

Casey has many skills.  One is as a giant horsey ride for nearly all the kids.  What a sport.

Matthew.

Huge rocks.  Kids.  Kids sitting on huge rocks.

However, chairs are usually more comfortable.

The small patch of grass in the back was great for "Ready, Set, Go".  Matthew likes to get a head start.

Casey asked for our help ridding his land of an infestation: Sage Rats.  Don't be fooled, these furry little things are a real menace to fields, and when there are 40+ ravaging your property, you need to take serious action. Here, Chris and Matt help spot targets for Casey.

All kidding aside, they really are a menace to land owners.  So much so you can hire exterminators that specialize in getting rid of them.  You can also get rid of them yourself the old fashioned way.

Sometimes it's hard to wait for your turn to use the .22

"Enemy at 11 o'clock moving SW behind the grass!"  Spotters always help.

Even the ladies had fun trying out the guns.

Cutest picture ever.  The men were so proud.

Daniel had plenty of chances to use his sunglasses in the Eastern Washington sun.

 MS Windows Desktop background submission idea.

"Daniel, please smile for the picture."

"Daniel, I'll give you candy if you smile."

Once Daniel heard we were going to build a fire he went into action.  Needless to say, we had plenty of wood.

 Fire and camp songs!

EUSTERZELISCHROR 2012!

See you in 2013!