Family Reunion 2014

It is truly a shame that in this modern age of interstates and automobiles, our little family of four only makes the pilgrimage to trod the hallowed lands of Michigan but twice a year. However, in our modern reality of one parent who works Monday through Friday and the second parent who works on Sundays, the ability to find any semblance of extended time off, seems rather elusive. In recent years, my dad's side of the family has put together an annual family reunion––a time to gather as group outside of the holidays, when everyone is being pulled in so many different directions and large group gatherings are near impossible.

We meet at campground that has everything you could ask for: fishing, a swimming hole, a playground, open spaces for games, shade, and relatively impressive bathrooms.

Food was consumed... (But who really wants their picture taken whilst eating? NONE persons does! However, this girl and her Papper relating over hydration, are altogether too much "warm-hearting" to not share!)

(Then there is this gem of my love eating––again there are no good pictures of humans eating––its not a pretty sight. Though, seeing this man eating in a wheelchair, channeling his inner grandpa, seemed necessary to share.)

Games were played, by young and young-ish...

I'm sorry, but this picture is pure amazing. Two little old men...

Laughter was plentiful...

So much laughter follows this little lady around!

His face may be a bit blurry, but seriously we all know this feeling of pure, mouth-open-excited swinging! It makes me chuckle just looking at him!

She claimed irritation at the notion of her love carrying her out to sea, but there was a lot of smiling/laughing greatness... magic!

Fish were caught...

and not caught...

and still not caught...

Children became fish...

even flying fish! 

Is she walking on water?? Jesus fish? 

And whats a reunion without a mythical creature? MERMAID!

Deep conversations in the lake!

Water ballet, obviously.

And water karate, because... duh!

and adults became shade seeking, vampire-esque creatures...

... all things that make a family reunion MAGIC!

The Rendezvous 2014

It was very early in our relationship, and one of the first few visits to his parents' house that we found ourselves traveling to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin to partake in something they referred to as "The Rendezvous." What?! I had no idea? In fact, I still don't know exactly what it is... but I LOVE it! The best I can do is that it is a camp/faux settlement where the public walks through on-going demonstrations at individual camps such as blacksmithing, pottery, weaving, storytelling, etc. At times there are competitions like the Black Powder Competition at the rifle range, or Knife and Hawk Competition... why we missed these things... I'll give you TWO blonde-haired guesses.

Here is what I know, the first time I was there my innocent eyes were exposed to more than they were accustomed. Now-a-days, I have made my Rendezvous goal a butt-check sighting. Well, this year we brought the kids to The Rendezvous. There were ups: I sighted butt-checks before we even parked the car. There were downs: we forgot the stroller and therefore our kids touched EVERYTHING in the entire "settlement."

Prepare for an overload of pictures... of my sweet fur-babies!!

This boy found every type of weapon and tried it out!

This girl asked her Grandpa to take her into this tent so she could "look at all these pretty things." Grandpa was a good sport!

Checking out the inside of a real teepee.

Learning how to make glass beads.  This was really quite interesting!!

Then there were the animal skin hats... oh the hats!

The various faces of MAK:

Finally, just right...the Goldilocks of animal skin hats.

I'll give you hint... she was bossing him around! He cared very little!

 Did I mention that we forgot the stroller...

Magic!

Just Warming Up

Our little family of four lives for summer! Summer is our favorite season for one very specific reason... for we do not like hot weather, we do not like clothes that stick to us, we do not like to sweat or be at the beach for hours and hours in the hot, hot sun. We love summer purely for the lack of S.C.H.O.O.L! That's right, this teacher is training her spawn in they way they should go!

This was their reaction to the first day of summer!

Summer allows us to focus on our favorite hobby...staying home! For it is at home that we do a lot of honing our skills of imagination. Mostly due to our level of thrift, or frugality, or just plain cheapness, our kids have few toys, and most of the toys they do have are from their early days on this earth. When we play outside they fill up their little kiddy pool and they have two cups, a truck, and boat that won't float. This can amount to hours of fun with a commitment to imagination!

Then there is my boy who soon tires of being the subject of pictures! You may have some difficulty interpreting his feelings, so I thought I would go ahead and clear them up for you.