Smith Reunion 2011

On Memorial Day, we had a big Smith Reunion from my grandparents down. This is a tradition we all look forward to, and as you see, a lot of kids were there! Most of these are my nieces and nephews and kids, but several are cousins or cousins' children (my 1st cousins once removed, my kids' second cousins).

Because of the unusually cold and rainy spring, we had the festivities in a church instead of the traditional park. We played volleyball and elimination and had a blast. Here are just a couple pictures.

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The next day we went to the park with just Robin's parents and their descendants.

Buster and Abel on the swings

Several of the bigger cousins climbing

We went up the canyon for lunch.

One of the cars was gone buying stuff, so we packed our van full of cute little blonde girls and Abel.

Lunch up the canyon

Mr. M zonked

Cousins!

Hiking up the very muddy hill

Abel fell asleep very soon after we got in the car. Buster fell asleep just a few minutes after this picture.

Smith Reunion

We left last Wednesday morning for the Smith Family Reunion in Oregon and Washington. We had a lot of fun!

We spent 2 nights at cabins at Emigrant Springs in Oregon. They were very basic, but they were clean and comfortable. The cousins had a lovely time running around in the woods and picking as many huckleberries as they could eat!

Buster "playing tennis" with his uncles

On Friday, we drove a little more to stay 2 nights at my brother's house in Kennewick, Washington. We spent one afternoon at an aquatic center and the next at a small lake/pond that's part of the Columbia River.

Ben and Buster at the Hermiston Aquatic Center

Kandy and Buster at the pond

Missy

Sunny found tons of tiny shells!

Because of our car troubles, we rented a minivan for the trip. It was nice to have automatic sliding doors and stowing space! I'm amazed how much stuff we fit into that van. Upon arriving home, we unloaded the van as fast as possible to return it to the rental location. Ben turned on our blue van to follow me there. The starter did start, but it kept going! It burned up (the motor--not the van). We were planning on getting rid of it anyway. It was kind of annoying, but more of an "oh, well" experience. The most annoying part is that rather than having a less-than-perfect car for a couple of weeks while finding a new car, we have no family car while looking.

Wild Family Weekend!

Phew! For once, I think I'm glad it's Monday. Not that the weekend wasn't fun, but I need some time to recover!

For starters, both Ben and I each had an out-of-town sibling arrive toward the end of last week. We spent Thursday evening at my parents' house visiting and playing with my brother's family. We got home a little late, but not too bad because I knew the next day was crazy.

Friday was a total blast! We went to This is The Place State Park with Ben's sister and her daughters. Her oldest daughter works there, so she showed us around in the morning. She also has a teenage daughter who was tons of help. The three younger girls and our three girls had lots of fun together. They are almost the same ages! Buster even managed to get a short nap in his stroller, but not enough for a boy who usually naps for 3-5 hours a day in 2 naps.

Saturday was a Kendrick Family Reunion. We went to a stake center with a great pavilion. They had rented blow-up bouncy things for the kids, including a traditional bouncy castle, a velcro jumping wall, and a bungee-running sort of thing. There was also a blow-up water slide, which our kids enjoyed immensely. It was fun to see family. Unfortunately, we were plagued with little injuries all day. It's a good thing we had refilled our diaper bag first aid kit!!! I think we used at least 5 adhesive bandages that day. Luckily nothing was serious, but it was kind of stressful.

Yesterday was Sunday. I got to teach the 12 and 13 year old class for the first time (my new calling). Their behavior was not worse than expected, but I got through my material way too fast and had to kill time for at least 30 minutes. Oops. Well, now I know. After church, we had a quiet afternoon, although Ben had a bad headache and spent most of it sleeping. We went to my parents' house for dinner. One of my nieces was there. After my parents went to a fireside, we took my niece to her other grandparents' house. We spent a while talking to my brother in the driveway until another niece invited the kids to come play. We all trooped inside and crashed their family gathering. They were very gracious, and we had a nice time visiting. I hadn't seen some of them in about 7 years.

Following 3 days of one nap each, Buster's sleep patterns were so disturbed that he thought he should get out of bed at 3am today. Rather than fight with him, I turned on a movie and dozed on the couch for an hour, then put him back to bed.

So it was a fun, wild, crazy, family-filled weekend. Today I am back to the domestic joys of dishes and laundry and trying to recover from all the fun. And it's not even a holiday weekend! I wonder how I'm going to hold up over the 4th of July???