Family Reunion

We had such a fantastic time at our family reunion!  We headed out at about 3:00 on Thursday and were very happy to arrive at Moyie Lake, BC.  We'd hoped to leave as soon as Ben got back from a birthday party, but last minute things took a little longer than we planned.  Oh well... 

Once we got to the park, Lennard dropped the kids and me off at the campsite with everyone else while he went to fill the trailer up with water.  We then attempted to get everything set up so that we could make dinner!  The kids were only concerned about getting their bikes out.  They were SO excited to get to play with their cousins and it was nice to be able to let them!  Our campsites were super close to the playground and bike park so it was great to let them roam.

 Mindy, Roger and Melissa's families were across the road from Rachel and us.  We were all on double sites, so it was great to have us all close together.

 Shauna & Matt had planned to go hiking in Waterton since their kids were all off at a camp, but all the back country trails ended up being closed because of the fire hazard.  They surprised us and came to visit for the one night!  Mike & Melissa didn't come until Friday night, so they used the tent and stayed the night.

 The kids played so well together and everyone loved taking turns in the hammock!

 There was so much dust everywhere that there wasn't a chance of staying clean... yuck!  The kids didn't care though, they just had fun.

 We had a yummy dinner of ribs and potatoes with mom and dad and then we played cards and visited for quite a while.

 Friday we played!  The kids rode bikes, we walked down to the lake, they played on the playground, etc.  It was such a beautiful day!

 Everyone hung out and watched the kids going back and forth and then I pulled out a big container of sidewalk chalk!

 The kids had a blast drawing outlines of themselves, etc.

 Emma and Lauren were best buddies during the entire time we were there.

 Dad enjoyed one of our chairs and, in between reading his book, took a few well deserved naps.

 Shauna and Matt enjoyed Roger's huge Costco chair for a while before they had to head home.

In the afternoon we headed over to the lake.  It was a bit windy and not as warm as we would have loved, but it didn't matter to the kids!  They were off and playing immediately!

 We had so many toys, floaties, boats, kayaks, etc for everyone to play with that everyone was entertained.

 Mike & Melissa arrived that evening and we had a big potluck dinner with hot dogs on the bbq.

 A bunch of us went on a short walk afterwards.  It was such a beautiful night!

 I loved seeing Roger and my mom as we walked.  He may tower over her, but he's still her baby boy.

 Saturday morning, mom put on a huge pancake breakfast for everyone.  We had pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, etc.  Yum!

 Most of the family went down the the lake in the morning to play again.  It was a perfectly calm morning and they had a great time.  We had a big lunch of taco salad... Roger was kind enough to help me out by cleaning up one of the bowls. LOL

 I pulled out some paints and let the kids go to town painting rocks.  They all got into it and made some interesting creations.

We had another big dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread and caesar salad.  Everyone was so full from all the food!  We then pulled out our propane fire pit (since there is a fire ban on this is the only way we could have a fire!) and let the kids roast marshmallows and make s'mores.

 Sunday we all got cleaned up and went in to church at Rachel & Cub's ward in Cranbrook.  When we got back, everyone snacked on whatever they'd brought until we were ready to do our big meal - corn on the cob, potatoes, salads, etc.  It was also Liam's 2nd birthday!  We had fun singing to him and having DQ ice cream treats.

 Mindy made a bunch of popcorn and Lucas thought it was all for him.  ha! ha!

We all had so much fun visiting around the fire pit after we got most of the kids to bed.  We played Speak Out and we all laughed so much it hurt. I'm sure the people camping near us were glad when we finally went to bed!  It was almost 11:30pm.

Monday morning was a whirlwind of packing up and getting everything cleaned up.  We were on the road mid-morning. The kids were sad to leave but we distracted them with the idea of the solar eclipse!