Weiler Family Reunion

Every 3 years there is a Weiler family reunion.  We’ve been doing these since I was 4.  I love getting together with all my cousins and aunts and uncles.  We have such a fun time together.  This year it was in Lava Hot Springs, ID.

The first evening there we played some great Olympic inspired games – you know, things like “figure skating” – person with the smallest waist won or “Shot Put” – person who could spit a goldfish the furthest won.

The next day we went rafting down the river.  I thought it was going to be like floating down the Provo River, but it was much more intense than that.  That being said, we took Hannah down once so it wasn’t THAT crazy.  Most everyone walked away with a few scratches though.

That night we played some more fun “Minute to Win It” games.  That night was followed with a movie tribute I made for my grandparents.  They’ve been so awesome in putting on these reunions for the past 24 years that I thought it was high time a video of pictures from all the reunions be put to music for everyone to enjoy.  It was a big hit.

Next was a trip to the water park.  Everything in this little town is so close that it was so nice to be able to walk back and forth from our motel and the pool, ideal for naps.  And my grandpa, 84 years old, tackled the body slides.  He’s pretty awesome. 

I’m sad that these reunions have come to an end – but am so grateful for all the awesome reunions we’ve had.

Baby Boy and Big Girl

With the arrival of a baby boy, I needed to redecorate my little girl nursery and move my baby girl into a big girl room.  With Hannah’s new room, I knew I wanted to go neutral because Hannah and Jackson will someday share a room – and I didn’t want to have to start over in 2 years.  So, I got inspired and got to work.  We bought bunk beds so in just a few years Jackson can join Hannah.  I’ve added a few “girl” touches for now since Hannah is the only one in there but my goal was to have a bright, happy, colorful, play room feel.

Jackson’s room became a jungle

We moved Hannah to her big girl bed about 2 weeks before Jackson was born.  We wanted to get her settled in her new room before the big transition of having a new baby in our house.  She did a fabulous job.  The first time she slept in her bed was for a nap.  She played for 2 hours, then we found her like this -

She got the hang of it pretty quickly – we don’t think she ever fell out – and never looked back.  She never was sad that someone new was going to be sleeping her crib.

Jackson feels OK about his room too.

Festivius ‘12

This summer for the annual Snow Family Reunion we went to Arkansas.  Each year they take turns which sibling gets to plan the reunion and this year Stephanie planned it.  They live in Tennessee, so naturally we all headed south.  Personally, I was excited to go some where I’ve never been before – Eureka Springs, AR – but I was not overly thrilled to drive there with a 2 year old and a 2 month old.  I made sure I was plenty prepared though and we headed out early Sunday morning.  Googlemaps said it was 21 hours to Eureka.  Our goal was to make it to Lincoln, NE – 14 hours away, but were prepared to stop sooner if needed. 

We left at 3 AM.  Our vision was both Hannah and Jackson would sleep for the first 5 hours and not even know they had been in the car.  That didn’t work.  Hannah woke up when we put her in the car and stayed awake until 5:15.  Good thing we had to stop at 5:30 to feed Jackson.  I think her staying awake may have played to our advantage though.  She was so tired that she was in a daze the whole time.  From 3 AM to 5 PM (when I offered to put on a movie for her) she was perfectly content to look out the window and find trains and cows.  In that time I gave her some animal crackers and juice, but other than that she pretty much was entertained by the good ol’ countryside. 

We stayed the night in Lincoln, NE which was so fun for Hannah to have a sleepover in a sleeping bag. 

The next afternoon we made it to Eureka with yet another reminder that apparently Hannah gets car sick while driving to Snow Family Reunions.

The rest of the week was spent with typical family reunion festivities that include
(but are not limited to)…

Hiking in 108 degree temperatures with crazy humidity…

Cooling off in a lake after hiking in crazy hot temperatures.

 

Visiting a cave - which we got left in.  That’s right, the quality tour guide we had shut of the lights and closed the entrance while 9 of us were still in there.  Note to self – don’t ask a 6 year old if they are the last one out.

Jonathan took Jackson on the “adventure trail” part of the cave.  He came out crying and dirty.  Jonathan said he probably shouldn’t have taken him. 

A historic tram ride of Eureka

A visit to the 2nd largest statue of Christ.

 

Snake world.  Yes – a true taste of Arkansas character.  Basically a dude’s collection of all things creepy and crawly in a double wide trailer with $6 admission.  Hannah loved it.  Note – also very hot.  Her hair is wet with sweat, no water.

Traditional game of rubbers.

And it wouldn’t be a family reunion without a whole bunch of ridiculous and embarrassing games.

My favorite part of these reunions is cousin bonding time.  Hannah and Jackson so rarely get to see their Snow cousins.  I loved seeing how cute Hannah’s older cousins were with her. 

We are so lucky to have such a great, big family.  Wish we got to see them more.

On our way home, we decided to take a little bit more time.  We stopped in Kolby Kansas where I left my wallet at the motel.  The next day we visited a children’s museum in Denver.  A perfect activity for Hannah.

And then the whole thing was capped with one more fun night in a motel.