Pineview 2023

 

We got ONE family trip to Pineview summer of 2023, but everyone attended, and everyone (including Cooper and Jen) got in the water. The family trip was August 13, and it was a pretty perfect day. It got a little windy in the afternoon (see the picture in the bottom corner of the collage of Keaton and Gray holding the shade structure in place so it didn't blow away). 

With an early start to the day, we didn't hit a backlog entering the reservoir, and with all the rains and snow from the year, the water level was quite high. Lots of helping hands got everything transported from the cars/truck (Gray/Landon/Colton had gone in the truck hauling the waverunners, Keaton drove the Tesla, taking Jen and Cooper, and Cal&Kate drove up separately). We have an inflatable paddleboard (easier for transport and storage) and we rented a second one for the day, as paddleboarding is as popular as Roxy and Susie, the waverunners.

Funny story ... last year we had our one full family trip to Pineview (it never got an individual post) and brought the paddleboard, but forgot the paddle ... you really need a paddle. A couple years ago we'd lost the original paddle and had to buy a replacement one, you just can't use the board much without the paddle. So, Gray rented a paddle (came with a board  *Ü*) for the 2022 excursion (there's a shop there for rentals and such). Not long after, playing in the water, Keaton bumped into something buried in the sand and pulled it out. It was a paddle! I looked like the paddle we'd lost (in about the same spot) a couple years ago! So we had two paddles and two boards (Grayson went and bought a pool noodle at the shop, and added it to the "lost&found" paddle which didn't have a floatation device attached ... thus how it had been lost in the first place). This whole thing showed us that having TWO paddleboards still got plenty of use, and that fun events, like paddleboard jousting and racing, could now happen. We have yet to purchase a second one though ...

Landon paddleboarded all the way across the lake and back. Even Coop and I got in the water (often we pass on the sexy swimsuit scene and stick to the sand and shade) and tried our balance. Cooper did fine, but I couldn't get my balance. I know I have in years past - not sure if it has anything to do with the recent health issues, or if it's just weight/getting older, etc. After a few failed attempts at standing I just spent some time floating in a sitting position. There was the usual tossing of a football and frisbee (on sand and on the water).  Skipping rocks, feeding seagulls ... feeding ourselves. The waverunners got used. Kate got thrown. Coop hasn't seen much sun on his skin, but was good with sunscreen ... except for his feet, which got burned. My shoulders got more sun than I'd anticipated, pretty red, but didn't blister or peel. Gray, per usual, doesn't apply any sunscreen.  It was a good day.

Here's a little LIVE ACTION look ...

https://youtu.be/WhOlDXP-swM?si=ZkiEYHUBZmcqFPZv

Grayson had an early August date planned to take Colton and friends to the lake ... unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate (cold and rainy), and then schedules/school made rescheduling it impossible. 

Gray had made it to the lake a few times in July  ... He and Keaton made a quick trip up after work on July 10, mainly just to put the machines in the water and work out any kinks. They didn't stay out too long, even though it was a perfect night. 

... Grayson then had a few work-buddy&kids lake excursions. With Cole and kids on July 17, with Jon and his boys on July 20, and with Corbin and wife/kids on July 26. It made me remember how our family was introduced to waverunner fun ...

... back in 2000, some friends/neighbors introduced our little family to lake days and waverunners. Ralph and Sherry Burton lived up the road on Mapleleaf and had some waverunners for several years. Some years later (in 2013) we got Roxy and Susie. Not sure that would have happened without this early introduction. 

Little Landon, cute Callahan and Grayson ... with hair!

Over the years, there have been MANY trips to the lake (usually Pineview). Not all managed to make it into individual blog posts (mentioned in monthly recaps, annual reviews). There are many memories and pictures. Here's a peek at some previous Pineview posts ... 

• Pineview2007
• Summer2009
• WaveRunners! 2013
• Summer2014
• Pineview&ParkCity2015.

Water Wars and Balloon Blasts

Water balloons are a Blackham staple every summer. In part, because Grayson has made the most awesome water balloon filler. Not every family has one of these if you can believe that. I makes creating an arsenal of balloon bombs easy and fun ... and a little wet. Crazy Blackham boys! Here they are in action!

July 2017 - Westra Group Gatherings

This will be backdated to mid-July 2017

Shane and Alicia had come from California for a visit, and Wendy and her three littles stopped in to connect while they were here (Rick and the older kids were booked with EFY and such). As those two families had traveled so far, I figured the Blackham Bunch could come out, all the way from West Jordan.

The family festivities actually started on Sunday July 16. Chris had been in the hospital for surgery on his colon (then complications, Grayson made a "semi-colon" joke) but managed to make it. Gray prepped pulled pork, and that was turned into tacos. No pictures from that activity, but I caught this video of the crazy Blackham Boys jumping over Grandma's front flowerbed ...

On Tuesday, Wendy and Alicia came out to my Zumba class!

Then on Thursday, the girls got together for lunch at Red Robin. Yum!

While all the cousins were in town, we all gathered at the neighborhood pool (collage at the top) for some swimming. Then we made plans to hit the parade preview (Days of 47) but I took my boys out to lunch first. Even got Landon and Callahan to join us! The family had been talking up JCWs, so we went there, but we weren't that impressed by it. Then, it was on to the expo center ...

The "Parade Preview" has been going on for a number of years now. All the floats prepared for the Days of 47 parade are showcased at the expo center in the days before the state holiday. It's a great way to see them up close and in air-conditioned comfort. And it's free!

Having the family in town was a good incentive to get everyone together a few times during the week! Summer days, cute cousins, fun with family!

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Backed-up Blog post alert.

Summer 2015!

Keaton was looking for THIS photo ...

I suggested he look on the blog, labels of Summer or WaterFun ... but it wasn't there. He did find my end of year (2015) post and I realized this was one of those topics I'd never gotten around to getting up. Bad mommy! So, better late than never?

Our old "water balloon fillers" had taken a beating over the years and Grayson decided to build a new one. Industrial strength! It wasn't cheap with all the parts, but it should last a while. The kids sure enjoyed it.

The "garbage can" dunk is a remnant activity from my childhood ... 

We also went bowling several times this summer.

Taking advantage of the 'Kids Bowl Free" program.

It's not really free. The kids get two free games a day. You still have to pay for shoes, and of course the kids want food (which I only splurged on once) and to play in the arcade after.

Sometimes I'd just drop the kids off. Occasionally I'd stay and play a game too. 

I have my own bowling shoes! 

I think it was "Ckeetin" who came up with the creative spellings here.

Look at me (Mumm) - Top score. Over 100!

I may have had bumpers on ...

What else did we do in the summertime?

We bought the boys passes to the nearby Rec Center for the summer ... and they used them! Almost every day, I'd drop them off and they would play basketball for a few hours. The pass also included swimming, but they never got around to doing that. Too busy ballin! I don't know that they ever complained of being bored ...

Jacob was a constant companion to the Blackham boys all summer long.

This happened too ...
They were playing baseball.

Five active boys,
and only one broken window in all these years.
Not too bad, right?

Summer Fun

On my JenBsJourney blog do hit some family stuff as well as just fitness topics. One of the  Link-Ups I'll participate in is a Friday Five one ... spotlighting five things each Friday. I went ahead and showed what we had been up to this past summer! Here on the family blog, I'll expound a bit more (and include additional photos!)

The main activities for Summer 2014 were bouncing and bowling! I signed the kids up for the KidsBowlFree summer service (two games per day, you do still need to pay for shoes). I actually have my OWN pair of bowling shoes, as this is something we've done for many summers (and my feet don't continue to grow like the kid's feet do ... we do have a men's size 9 that started out at Landon's, then was Callahan's, and now Keaton fit into them this summer). We'd hit the bowling alley fairly often. I was such a mean mom, and said we were there to BOWL, not to buy food or play the arcade games. I went ahead and splurged on a couple of trips though.

Keaton took the 1st game seriously, the 2nd game was silly!

A video posted by JenB (@jenblackham) on Jun 24, 2014 at 12:19pm PDT

Jump N Bouce is another Blackham tradition. 

I bought a family pass (good for a month) and we went there many times over the summer. I ended up buying a second pass when the first expired because we had been using it so much. In the past, we'd gone with our friends the DiFran family. We moms would chat while the kids played. They have since moved, so on my own I moved to the upper level and would generally walk around reading while the kids played. Often I could get 5000+ steps (although the kids would generally get more with all their running around!)

As the picture collage above shows ... we did to other things in addition to the bouncing and bowling. We went miniature golfing once (Callahan and his friends  did the full fledged golfing a couple of times) and went to a local sprinkler park. This was a relatively new one to the west. It was really nice. The water portion was fun, and before that, the kids played on the other fixtures before they got wet.

There was also the summer vacation to Seattle, for waverunning, swimming, sight-seeing and jumping off "the tree" on Orcas Island. At home, the waverunners were put to quite a bit of use as well. I myself am NOT a big wave runner fan. The little boys do enjoy playing on the beach and riding the waves, but also opted to stay home several times if that was an option. Often, it was just Gray and the older boys hitting Pineview for a day. It would always wear everyone right out!

The ride home ...

We finally did make it out all together as a family

... including Maga, Ana and her boys!

We didn't always have to head out to the beach to have water fun ...

We had a celebration at Uncle Clay's house ...

and Landon threw Callahan into the pool.

Callahan was NOT very happy about that!

At home, there was a lot of water fun as well. The usual stuff, water guns, water balloons, filling up the big garbage cans full of water and getting inside (they haven't been used for garbage, they are strictly for water fun). We bought some new sponges for "dodge sponge" although we never really had as many games as we had previous summers (so many kids have moved away).

There was also basketball, soccer, handball, badminton, volleyball, tetherball, frisbee, etc. Callahan and his buddies were using wiffle balls for baseball, and going through a lot of them (a few cracks with the bat and they would break). He asked me to pick up some (to donate to the cause) and I found a bunch at Kmart on clearance for $.49 (usually $5 or so). A great deal, especially as I had Fitstudio points to spend anyway. Not all of them made it to Callahan's friend's though, as the little boys decided to engage in a little baseball as well.

It was SO nice to have a full summer with all the kids (since moving the little boys to Terra Linda and a traditional schedule, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten out of school until July!). What did you do on your summer vacation?

Lake Powell

 ... I am a little slow getting this post up. It actually happened over the UEA weekend. Gray really wanted to get the wave runners out for a final ride, but most of the reservoirs around here were too low. A work buddy was going to Lake Powell, and the government had just opened up the national parks again, so Gray and the the older boys decided to give it a try. Keaton was originally going to go too, but when Daddy said they were going to get fitted for wetsuits, that intimidated him right out of the trip.  Colton might have been interested, but it wouldn't have been very fun for him with his cast on. 

The weather was nice ... a little cool (the did want the wetsuits). They even had a boat and a houseboat. All three boys came home with some nice color, although Callahan peeled pretty quickly after.  Maybe next year we can make it a family affair.

Catching Up With Cousins

 It hadn't been very long since the Blackham Bunch went to Washington to visit the cousins there. Now the Washington cousins came to Utah for more family fun. We met a Cowabunga Bay for some fun in the sun ... we couldn't get a complete shot as some of the kids were still in the water (Keaton and Ana's boys).  Afterward we headed to Clay and Courtney's house for more visiting and eating.

Saturday, the extended Blackham Bunch hit the lake with the waver runners. Colton did NOT want to go, so I stayed home with him. Unfortunately it was a windy day and they had to cut the trip short. Looks like there was enough activity to wear out some of the Blackham boys!

Monday (Labor Day) we me the extended Blackham's at Kneaders for breakfast, then went back to the house for more visiting (and haircuts!) Little Amare sure has everyone wrapped around his finger, he's almost always the center of attention.

Lots of fun with cousins!

WaveRunners

 

There's a new addition to the family ... actually TWO of them. Susie and Roxy. With the boys getting older, Grayson thought now would be a good time to add some zing to our summer family fun. We got a pass to Pineview Reservoir and have made several trips up this summer. Sometimes just Daddy and the older boys, sometimes the whole family, and we even got some extended family to join us once.

The older three boys took an online safety course, so they can all ride solo (without this license, there are age restrictions). Daddy and Landon take out the little ones and let them drive. There is fun on the shore too ...

 The infamous "corner of the photo" shot 

 We can pull this tube behind one of the waver runners ...

Or just play with it in the water!

 A raft and an inner tub ...

We have a yellow theme going!

 This picture of Callahan and Amare is SO cute.

The boys were happy to have their cousins come play too.

Classic Waterpark

Sometime last year I had purchased a Groupon deal for Classic Waterpark. Just $20 for four people, plus pizza and pop. A pretty good deal! We'd gone and had fun a couple times before and enjoyed it. Well, the July 31 expiration date was rapidly approaching, so I figured we'd better go. 

Landon was working, and Callahan wanted to spend the day playing basketball with friends at Gene Fullmer, so it was just the three little boys... until we thought to invite Jacob and Travis, and I think the addition really made it more fun for everyone.

There are the four classic waterslides ... the kids had fun racing, going backwards,  launching themselves off at the end ... up and down, up and down many many times. Then there are the huge inflatable slides. Up and down those too ... with a little bounce at times. 

There were a couple new items this year ...

 Cliffjumping

... and the BUBBLE pit!

Of course pizza and snowcones are always a hit as well ...

The kids lasted a little longer than I thought they would. 

A full day of fun in the sun.

The Heat is On

We've been hit with a heatwave! Temperatures over 100° several days in a row. Of course our air conditioning decided this would be a perfect time to die. It was over 90° in the house too. After a couple miserable days, we got it fixed, but I did encourage the boys to play in the water outside to cool down.

The boys love filling a big garbage can (purchased just for this purpose ... we haven't ever used it for trash) and dunking themselves in it. We have some big sponges Gray bought for an activity a while back, and the boys love soaking them in water and then throwing them at each other.

Water balloons are also always a big hit. We have the awesome water balloon filler (you can see it there in the background, five spigots so everyone can keep busy) and we don't only use the small water balloons. We also use the BIG ones, and the long, twisty ones too.

I'm sure there will be a lot more water fun to come!