Dame Reunion

Sunday we watched our ward on zoom then headed toward the Denver airport where we sent Greg on his way to the East Coast.  We explored the Rocky Mountain Artillery Park where we saw lots of bison and praire dogs then drove to Becca Pike's house where we chatted with she and the girls for a few hours.  We were all sad to leave but it was late- so we headed to Mel's where the cousin fun was about to begin.

I woke at 5:20 to catch a hot yoga class with Mel.  We also made an epic Costco trip with Keely and arrived home to Laura and her kids - the party was on!

It has been six years since we were all together for more than a few hours. So we were all pretty excited to gather in Colorado for a week of fun. 

Our first night was filled with getting everyone settled, exploring the awesome accommodations, and feeding all of us.

Then Tuesday we set out on a hike - all together.  It was about 1.5 miles up, but it really was up.  Mom had to stop not to far in but most of us trudged on.

And the view from the top was well worth it.

I spent most of the way up catching up with Holly while all the kids ebbed and flowed around us on the trail. 

On the way back down Lily partnered up with Grandpa and loved the one on one time.

In the afternoon we worked on our service project, 50 backpacks filled with school supplies for a local foster program.  The kids took turns going around and around stuffing the backpacks full.  The youngest ones really got into it.  The kids also all brought new stuffed animals to donate as well.

Within seconds of our arrival on Monday Emma had attached herself to Kate, rarely to be separated.  It was so sweet to watch.

We had a harried hour of everyone getting feed and clean in time for family pictures.  My hair was still wet (not my best look) but we were all there.  Seriously, that is a huge accomplishment.  We stood on a bike/walking path with all 40 some of us and took pics a bit haphazardly.  People didn’t love us blocking the path and we were pretty crowded in the photos.  I wasn’t very optimistic that they would be any good.  So, I was pleasantly surprised by these.  We did one of all of us, just grandkids with grandparents, siblings, and a few family groups.  We were starting to line up some other family groups when the rain came pouring down.  It was such a blessing that we got the most important shots in before the rain ruined all chance of success. 

After the rain stopped and dinner was over Sharee led the women in patio yoga- a great way to end the night. 

 The place we stayed was amazing.  There were two houses, one smaller one where Iversons, Castletons, and Myra & James stayed, and the much larger house where everyone else and all the middle age kids stayed.  Or you could say the quiet house and the loud party house.  The basement in the big house had a huge room with 7 queen beds (six in bunks) where all the kids from Andrew through Emmy stayed.  It is safe to say they didn’t get much sleep down there.

Wednesday we had to rise early to drive 90 minutes to our rafting adventure.  We then hoped on a bus for a 30 drive to where we got on the boats.  Our guides filled the time with cheesy puns and jokes.  Eventually, we were loaded on our rafts.  I was loving my raft mates with both my brothers and Dad, Kenzie, Lily, Jared, David, and Michelle.  It was chilly outside; I don’t think anyone was very eager to get wet. The little kids started out nervous but warmed up to the steady and occasionally bumpy ride.  Our guide declared McKenzie captain, which helped alleviate the last of her nerves.  The older kids were underwhelmed but I think we nailed the needs of the most nervous littles.  To create some excitement, the raft with all the teens deliberately got stuck on a big rock.  We laughed as we passed them marooned on their boulder.

Everyone went their own ways when we got home: naps, basketball, racquetball, tennis, video games, board games, meal prep, reading, walks, smiling at Winston or just enjoying cousin time.  Kenzie enjoyed chasing Andrew around and calling him dad – we were all mystified as to why?  Mark and Michelle made amazing homemade pizza with such incredible crust – wow!  Seriously, that was a lot of pizza to make in a kitchen that wasn’t yours; we were very impressed.  To top it off they had brownie sundaes which probably makes this night the kids favorite meal.

Spencer brought his Nintendo switch and a new game, Boomerang Fu, which apparently every kid could play and every kid wanted to play.  Andrew and some of the kids created a bracket for a Boomerang Fu Battle.  This turned out to be an awesome way for all the kids to hang out together, cheer each other on and have fun.

 That night after everyone had found their way to their own beds, I went to the basement to say goodnight and found Owen on one of the top bunk queen beds surrounded by all the girls from Kate though Emily giggling and laughing at everything he said.  Owen puts up a finicky front, but he was a crowd favorite with the girls.

Thursday morning, we let the kids sleep in while Holly led us in morning yoga.  Then most of us loaded up for a hike.  We picked a more moderate one this time so mom could join as well.  The littles spent the hike picking up sparkly rocks and the little boys chased each other with sticks.  My big boys went on a longer hike with James, Myra, and Isaac.

 

For our afternoon activity we went to a hot spring.  The place had over 10 different pools all a varying degrees.  The smell was strong, and the water was pretty gross, but everyone still had a lot of fun.  One pool was even devoted to playing murder, which really cracked me up.

That night we had a sing along: Sweet Violets, America, Bear in Tennis Shoes, Instrument Song, and Don Gato with a dramatic presentation by my kids and the Wilfords.  Jared held out the last note of Don Gato with bravado and a dramatic pose.  It got everyone laughing.  Mom and Dad told us stories about when they met and then Dad told everyone about Charlie’s accident when he was little.

 

We got the kids in bed and the adults did some late-night chatting.  Some of my favorite parts of reunions.

Friday we enjoyed our last morning yoga then headed to Winter Park Resort for the day- mini golf, the gondola, a climbing wall, ropes course, and everyone’s favorite, the alpine slide.  Well, everyone except Luke who used his legs as breaks and ended up with some seriously painful road rash.  The rest of the kids went over and over again.

 

Lily also loved this ropes course; it wasn’t very exciting for kids older than 10 but the little guys loved it.  The zipline at the end was a hit though.  There was music in the background all day and at some point, they played “I Believe I Can Fly”. Owen took that opportunity to ride the zipline singing and making dramatic hand motions.  It cracked me up.

 

I loved the view from the top of the mountain and would have loved to do some hiking, but I didn’t have any takers, so we just went up, ate lunch, and came back down.

Some of the kids were ready to leave early so I took them home and started working on dinner.  Emily stayed and partied longer with the Castletons and Lily played with Grandma and Grandpa.  They stayed till it closed, enjoying every moment.

Kate and Rachel baby sat Winston so his parents could got play tennis and he cried a lot.  The girls were glad they had each other to tag team it.  While they fought the baby, Laura and I made taco/taco salad bar complete with sweet pork and cilantro ranch dressing.  Yum.  As we were making dinner, we realized we had tons of whipped cream left so we sent someone to buy a pack of Oreos and created a dessert activity for after dinner.

 

We had everyone sit at the table with one Oreo on a plate.  The Oreo was then covered with whipped cream and the kids had to eat it with their faces.   Most of the kids loved it although a few like Kenzie, weren’t so sure this was a good idea.  Once the kids were done Spencer set up a competition no barriers to entry – only Grandpa, Val, Spencer, and Anna joined.  They had to eat all the cream and Oreo fastest to win.  It was a close call – technically Val finished first but did use her hands to tilt her plate, so Spencer took the win.  Such a fun way to end the reunion.  We sent everyone out to gather, pack and start clean up.  After the kids settled down (no illusions that they were asleep) the adults played more games.  Scattegories was hilarious.  I loved my time with everyone and was grateful to end on a high note.  No one was too irritated or dying to go home yet – as Greg always desires, we left before the party stopped being fun.  

I woke early, packed everything I could, then woke the kids and we were off by 8:00.  It was a good thing we left when we did because Emily woke up with a cold and was miserable the whole way home (unfortunately, the germs had already spread – luckily it wasn’t Covid, but the cold did make its round in the families).  We had such a great time the kids were asking when we are doing it again.