Annual Family Reunion

We missed the reunion last year because we are in Utah spending the week at the mountain house.  What a great vacation that was. We still talk about it and cannot wait to go back.

Collin and I loaded up early in the morning so we could spend most of the day at the reunion.  It takes 2 hours to get there so we needed to stay at least 5 hours.  That's the rule I have had for a long time.  I like to stay at least 30 minutes to an hour longer than the total drive time.

We arrived at 9am while the family that spent the night at Mema's house was still eating breakfast.  Collin wanted to know where the kids were.  Only Sam was there because she lives there.  Instead of playing with Sam, he was fascinated with the new fish tank.  He really liked one of the fish that swam from plant to plant.  The fish would stop and hide, then swim to the other fish really fast.  Because the way the fish was acting and swimming really fast, we called him "Collin".  Then, we started to name the other fish.  Next, he and Sam played with the cats before other people started to arrive.  Collin and I made up a game of guessing how many kids each car had in it as the car pulled up.  He would guess based on how big or small the car was...and did really good.  He stopped playing with Sam when Evan arrived.  Then, more boy cousins arrived.  Collin was having a great time playing with all of his cousins. 

The kids got hot, so then went swimming for two hours before it was time for lunch.  Because of how much he was playing and swimming, I knew Collin would be hungry.  He ate 6 slices of ham and two pieces of bread which is a lot for him.

Evan "photo bombing" behind Colling

Annual picture....smallest group in a long time

After lunch, the kids and some of the younger adults participated in the annual water balloon fight. Collin was right there in the middle throwing balloons at the kids.  Last time, he got run over by the older kids.  This time, he did great and lasted until the end.  Since the kids were wet from the fight, they got back in the pool for another hour. 

 

Most of the day, the adults sat around outside on the porch catching up and trying to keep cool.  Here are some pictures after lunch.

Stephen.  He does not like his picture taken so I had to sneak up on him.

Joeen, Gary, Diana, Marjorie and Les

Bree's boyfriend and Bree signing for us after lunch

Amy on the table, Mark, Gary, Wayne and Darlene

Mema and Jason, Mitzi's husband

Lynn (in the back), Diana, Gary and Joeen

As we were packing up and saying our good-byes, someone decided it would be fun to pour ice cold water from the ice chests over someone's head.  Jared volunteered first and sat there like it was warm water.  Then, we waited for another volunteer.  Collin said he wanted to do it.  I just knew he would change his mind but he didn't.  He sat there and took it just like Jared did.  I was really proud of him.  He selected another cousin to do it but he was not as willing.  Brycen jumped up as soon as the first pour of cold water landed on his head.  Another two people did it and then Collin wanted to do it again. 

 

We needed to get going because we still had a two hour drive home...and I was hungry.  Being a vegetarian at a family reunion does not work well.  I had chips and salsa and salad.  That was not enough and I needed to eat something more substantial soon.  I also wanted to get home before it was dark and spend some time with Daddy.