Labor Day

Every Labor Day it seems like my parents have some task for us to do.  Very fitting to put us to labor on Labor Day  Last year we helped paint the trim on their house and this year the task was to take down a dead tree.  This is not the first time we have taken down trees in their yard!.  What we did not know was how much fun we would have once the tree was down.

 

This is Bjorn.  He is my cross-eyed cat that I got when I lived in California who has been living with my parents ever since I moved back.

Elsa, Gwen and Sonja waiting for the tree to come down.

The dead tree

Waiting for the chainsaw to start working so Matt and Sonja took a little baseball break.

Spider and his web

Ok, chainsaw is working, let's do this!

"Timber!"

Cam climbing the stump

A log throwing contest started with the stump and using the down tree as the measurement of how far you could throw it.

Matt's up

Of course I had to try when I came outside and saw what they were doing.  That thing was heavy!  I am proud to say that I had the farthest distance for the ladies though Linnea was just behind me.

Cam's turn

Intense face!  The facial expressions from Cam and Matt were by far the best part.

Scott's turn

Scott put so much into it that he had to roll after he let got of the log

My dad trying a new way of throwing it

My mom's turn

Linnea's attempt.  Look at that form!

And....my mom again.

Eric's turn

Caroline in front and Addison in back
The kids liked using the tree as a balance beam

Elsa and Lucia

Elsa doing a cartwheel

We made S'mores after dinner.  Here is Scott and Caroline.

Lucia going "nigh night" on a bunny stuffed animal in the swing

Caroline eating her first S'more....she did not take any more bites which I was ok with since they can be so messy!  Don't worry though, she had plenty of plain marshmallows.

Me and Addison making her first S'more

Addison did not eat any more of it past this bite either.  Who are these girls!

We had leftover sparklers from our wedding that I kept forgetting to use which was almost 5 years ago!  Finally, I remembered to use them!  Here is Addison with her first sparkler.  She was a bit timid at first but enjoyed them!

I love Caroline's expression in the background.  Caroline liked the sparklers too!

All the kids liked them but some of the parents were getting nervous.

We closed the fun day sitting around the fire.  What a great day spent with those I love!  I am so grateful for my family and the time we spend together!