Back 2 Back Family Reunions

First there was my family shin-dig.  Not our usual group of chaos, but we seemed to manage enough of that regardless.  It started out with Friday night and traditional consumption of homemade scones.  Oh dear.  The memory of such a divine edible creation has caused my mouth to water with hunger.  Quick!  Get me something fried and sugary.  STAT!  I love those things and I nearly missed it due to my need to figure out the calories.

Luckily, my adorable hubbs grabbed me the last one.  Did I ever tell ya how I love him?

Next morning we put on our annual Breakfast feast.  We take our food very seriously, you understand.

This was my portion of the feast.  This is what calorie counting will get you.  Actually, I was pretty full after this guy. 

The rest of the day was filled to the brim of chatting and socializing.  The littlin's took to the water in my parents pond like fish to water.  Ha ha.  Get it?  I'm so danged clever.

Alright, now every year I do this.  Either one reunion or the other suffers from my lack of picture taking.  

That's right.  Essentially, the happiness and joy that fills the hearts of my relatives during this time is solely based on my volume of picture taking.  ; )  

And it seems to always swap, never the same reunion in a row.  This year it was the Justesen's turn.  However, I did manage to grab this.

 Ugh.  I swoon over this cuteness!  Granted, I also know that he was teething at the time and the cuteness did not affect me as greatly then.  However, NOW.  Pictures of this boy = Me swooning.  I miss him.  I miss his cuteness.  I also miss his brother, sister, and cousins.  And equally their cuteness.

Moving on to just a mere three days later, the Robbins Reunion.

How did this happen to me?  Somehow, before either reunion occurred, I had this blissfully ignorant dream that I had more time to prep for the second reunion.  Then each day quickly crept upon me without warning and soon it was the day before and I had food to prepare, packing to accomplish, and an attempt at getting my home clean before we left.  One of these things did not become fully realized.  I think you know what I'm talking about.  However, it all was worth it in the end to share yummy food with family and to see everyone all together again.

First full day was our first boating day.

We ended up finding a little island for us to claim as our own and really enjoyed ourselves.

Deeper and further into the water, you could feel branches tickling and scratching at your feet and legs.  Our niece, Kiki, ended up pulling this monster outta the water.  HOLY BIG BRANCHES BATMAN!

We came home and had a great dinner and then soon realized that some of the kids were pretty burned.  Particularly, our beautiful little red headed niece, Hailey, was pretty crispy.  Poor girl was so red!  We sat them in front of fans and continued to spray them with water to keep the skin hydrated.  (Also, lightly dabbing of vinegar can be used.)

The next day, we had some activities planned, but it seemed like (MOSTLY) everyone was comfortable lounging and wallowing in our sunburned, mosquito/horse-fly bitten misery.
Grandma Robbins (my FIL's mommy) was lovely enough to buy us pizza and burgers/sandwiches from Time Out Pizza.  She's so cute and I love to give her teases.

I've been told little Miss Eliza is walking on her own now.  Her parents are in soooooooo much trouble. 

Later on, we decided to have a Kids Pie Eating contest with mini Jell-O pudding pies.  You know, we just felt like they didn't have enough sugar in their lives and we swiftly took action.  That's just the kind of loving and responsible adults we are.

I wanted to get a picture of all the kids, but they finished so danged fast I didn't have enough time.
 C'mon guys this is isn't a competition.

.....Oh.

From these pictures it looks like Kiki is the champ.  However, after reviewing the video, it turns out Hunter (the one in the plaid shorts) has the biggest mouth fastest chops.  I have to hand it to the kiddo.  He never once made any comment or complaint about how he was the true winner.  If he did I certainly never heard it.

The kiddos were quite warm so we cooled them off by bringing out the inflatable slip and slide.  It is the One slide to rule them ALL.

Later that evening we had a talent show for all the kids.

Hayden, felt it was his duty to share with us his hidden talent.  After all, it seemed to look so easy.

Then, of course, we need an appearance from big sister Ellie.

We ended with 5 of the 6 boys singing a hymn with Cheryl accompanying them on the piano.

Josh decided to share his talent of "Rocket Science".

I wish I could have gotten a video or something of this display, because it truly was cool.  It would shoot up so high that my measly eyes couldn't catch it until the last second.

Ty (and I, but mostly Ty) showed everyone what happens when you put different objects into a microwave.
A Clue:  AWESOMENESS.
Ty making it a somewhat educational experience as well and explaining what happens in a microwave. 

Note:  This bag used to be a snack-sized bag.  Now it is a Barbie-sized bag.  Not that Barbie would ever eat chips.

The pictures really don't do the experience justice.  Everybody really enjoyed it and were all very excited to see things explode light on fire.

There was a second boating day on Saturday for those still wanting a little more water time.  However, it was foiled by wind, rain, hail, thunder, and lightning.  It seemed Mother Nature had other plans for the Robbins Family.  That night the kids enjoyed a movie after earning "tickets" by cleaning up.  Meanwhile, the adults played a game.  Really, I don't remember much of this night.  I ended up falling into a drug-induced sleep.  Remember that little island we went to the first boating day?  Well, it turns out some of the natives were out for blood.  And apparently, toe blood is the newest delicacy.  In fact, I think the little jerks bit me twice.  By that night, my toe was already starting to swell.  By itself, it didn't look all that bad, but then you put it next to the other foot and BAM!

Oh and was it itchy.  Amazingly, I was able to abstain, but the temptation to scratch grew increasingly greater.  I took some Benadryl and it had an ever-so powerful effect on my consciousness, albeit not so much on the actual symptom.

The last day, Sunday, we attended church together and came home to relax, eat, and enjoy each others company before everyone started to dissipate. 

We had a great time with both families and miss those we don't see often.

Come back soon ya'll.  Ya hear.