Family Reunion 2013

For that last 3 years now we've had a small family reunion with James' parents and siblings and their families.  So small is a relative term.  It's still a lot of people, about 20, but probably small compared to most family reunions.  

The nice thing about it being a "small" family reunion is that we all get to stay in the same house.  This is actually lots of fun.  The kids are together every possible minute and we get to hang out easily and eat all our meals together.  


This year we went to the coast instead of to the mountains.  Pretty much everyone else has been having record heat.  So it was nice to get to cooler temperatures.  

They probably weren't expecting such cooler weather though.  It was a bit foggy most of the time.  

This reunion is something we all look forward to, especially the kids.  They love being with their cousins, who range in age this year, from 15 down to 2 years old.  

 The kids spent as much time as possible down on the beach despite the weather and temperature.

 Logan carved his own name in the sand hill. 

Taylor's coat was in the wash from the day before, so I lent her mine.  It's just a bit big for her. 

It's a good thing the beach was just a 2 minute walk down the hill, the kids were always so anxious to get there. 

These two were attached at the hip the entire week and here's the picture to prove it. 

 Building sandcastles. 

 When the kids had to be indoors, they were usually able to come up with something to do, like play pool. 

The pool table was pretty much in constant use when we were home.  Grandpa's a great pool player.  Turns out he played a lot in his college days.

 It was fun to watch all these little ones try to handle the long pool sticks.  Some could barely see over the table. 

I can still hear the clinking of the balls in my head. 

 There was also a theater room, 

a hot tub and

a piano.  Taylor loved watching and learning as others practiced the piano.

She really wants piano lessons now.

 We also had puzzles to work on and

 paracord bracelet making projects. 

All of the cousins and most of the adults ended up with one.  

 And then of course there was the mealtimes.  We'd descend on the kitchen like a swarm of hornets, okay, it wasn't that bad.  Each family took on a day of meals.  It worked out really well that way. 

 I took a few pictures of the house before we all "moved in."  This is a view from the entry way.  To the left is an enormous dining room table that seats about 12.  Straight ahead is the front room and a smaller dining room table and the kitchen is blocked by the boat.  There's also the stairs to the downstairs on the other side of that half wall with the boat on it.  

 A view of the kitchen, without all the people and food in it yet.

 This is the bedroom we stayed in.  The hot tub is on the other side of the sliding glass doors.

Our second, smaller bedroom, which was attached to our other bedroom/bathroom.  I think it used to be the deck and they enclosed it.  It was very close to the beach.  The sound of the surf was a prominent feature of the room, as well as an outdoor water faucet on the wall, pointing toward the bed.  No one was allowed to touch that one.  

It was such an enjoyable week with family.  A week to hang out and relax and not think about all we need to do this week.  We're moving this week and I really need to get busy.  I'll have to finish up about our family reunion tomorrow, hopefully.