The Tatum Family: The Last First

Fourth of July is something Tim and I look forward to because it marks the beginning of summer for us and we enjoy our yearly tradition in Bishop. We have gone every year but 2012 which was the surgery year. But the fourth 2014 has come and gone and that marks the last first holiday for Jack. Next stop...1 year Birthday! We just got home today so I should be unpacking, doing piles of laundry, etc, but it was such a fun trip I couldn't wait to see all the photos on the computer. I'm not really sure where to start as we were gone 8 days so there are many activities and memories to write about. I will try to hit the highlights. We enjoyed hanging out by the pool, swimming, relaxing, chatting, and eating most days with special activities sprinkled in. One of my favorite things is watching Hannah play with her cousins. Tim kept saying how he felt like Hannah didn't even talk to him for a week because she just has so much fun running off and playing with the boys. I know the kids will be bonded forever. They all love playing in the giant play house which has recently been turned into Z Bar (you can tell who the oldest is here I think) where you are free to come and place an order for food/drinks. They have dining both in doors and out and the service is 5 stars. The kids also loved making water balloons, millions of water balloons. We had a water balloon toss that Uncle Jeff and Katie completely dominated. Auntie Laura was busy making rainbow loom bracelets which was a big hit. Every family member sported a red/white and blue bracelet and of course the kids requested many color varieties. The cutest part of the rainbow looms was that Zane, Weston and Hannah decided they were power bracelets and when they combined their powers they became the "Mighty Cousins!" They made up their own little chant and super powers, so cute. Hannah was Rainbow Power, Zane was Lava Power and Weston was Lighting Power. We did fun fourth of July art projects and Auntie Laura was Hannah's personal hair stylist the whole trip. Hannah wouldn't even let me touch her hair. On the fourth we had a couples round robin bean bag challenge. Tim and I took 2nd place, not bad considering Tim completely carried our team. Every year, we come up with a new 'theme' if you will for the fourth. In the past we have had talent show, carnival and this year it was a salsa competition. Everyone entered a homemade salsa and then the taste test began. I took third place and Tim took 1st!!! (we worked together on both recipes so it was a proud moment) which made up for my pitiful performance in the bags tournament. Laura was nice enough to remember my Granny's tradition of painting on the windows and ran to the store so the kids could cover every square inch of Nana's windows in paint. We had fireworks on the 3rd and 4th. On the 3rd, we all walk down the street and sit in the back of Gramps' truck with popcorn. Hannah loves this and is so expressive about the beautiful colors. Even Jack Jack made it out and stayed up til 10. On the fourth we drive to the airport and listen to patriotic music while the fireworks go off. This is followed by Nana's homemade ice cream. We got up to the lake for fishing and picnic and with a little help from Uncle Jeff, Hannah caught her first fish. She was so excited and said it was her "lucky day." We also went on a little hike in Mammoth and did a nature scavenger hunt for the kids where they had to find objects like pinecone, acorn, pink flower, etc. This year we had a new fun activity on the xbox1 Just Dance where the family took turns dueling in dance offs. The kids were so cute and the adults were hilarious. So fun and quite the workout. There are so many more things that I'm sure I'm missing like feeding the ducks, playing at the park, walking in the stream, Bachelorette night, games, etc. Hannah says her favorite part of the trip was going to the farm and feeding the donkey and goats, especially the goat they named Sweetie Pie. It's so cool watching Hannah because as Nana puts it she is so girly, loves princesses, purple, jewelry, etc., but can also get dirty, feed animals, walk in streams, kick dirt, touch fish etc. My Sweet Jack would probably say his favorite part was getting lots of attention from all the people, playing trucks, eating, climbing the stairs, emptying out the cupboard, and chasing his cousins. His speech completely took off this trip. He officially consistently says in context the following words: 1. Dada, 2. Bubble, 3. Mama, 4. Baba 5. Nana (Hannah) and 6. Ball So proud of you little man. He is so sweet and such a good sport. As you know our family does our daily peaks and pits at dinner each day. I shared Hannah and Jack's peaks so now its only fair to share the pits. While swimming on one of the first few days Hannah got stung by a wasp and was then afraid to go in the pool the remainder of the trip. She is such a good swimmer and loves the water so I really hope this fear doesn't last long. Jack's pit was the car ride. We go at nap time so he sleeps for some, but poor little guy does not like being in the seat that long. Overall so much fun and we can't wait until our next trip. Lots of pictures, I tried to pick my favorites, enjoy.