Family Reunion

   This 4th of July was spent at Birch Bay State Park with all of Jake's family.  I had been over 3 years since we had seen some of them, and I hadn't even met some of my nieces and nephews.  It was so nice to spend time with family.  The trip was nothing short of adventurous, and everyone managed to keep a good attitude through all the excitement.

Our first day in Snohomish we all donned our family reunion shirts and headed to the park for family pictures.  Trying to get 10 kids to hold still for a picture is practically impossible, but hopefully we got some good shots in.  I love this little family picture.  Except Jaxon had to stick his hands in his face.  Oh well, it adds character.

 

The first night of the campout was cold, too cold,  and after dinner was over and we were sitting around the campfire we heard a faint rumble in the distance.  That was easy enough to pretend you didn't hear, but then the flash of lightning sealed the deal.  It was going to rain.  And rain it did!  I counted 3 separate thunderstorm that night.  It was actually very cool.  I kept thinking of the line in the hymn How Great Thou Art, "I hear the rolling thunder".  It would literally roll across the sky.  Somehow the kids managed to sleep through the whole thing, which might have been a good thing, except that Jaxon was able to sleep through peeing all over our sleeping bags and air mattress as well.  When I woke up and felt that it was wet, I just prayed that we were all really sweaty.  I ended up not sleeping much at all that night, as you can imagine.

When we woke up, we found out that my nephew, Luke, had thrown up in his tent.  Pee didn't seem as bad at that point.  I spent my morning at a laundromat, where I spent $12 just to wash our sleeping bags.  Unfortunately is was raining pretty hard, and our plan for that day had been to go to a waterpark.  I was  bummed, because I was looking forward to it.  Jake and I found a flyer for a little family fun place and thought that might be a fun option. 

When I got back from the laundromat, this is what I saw. 

My fun sister in law Jessica set this all up.  You have to follow your color string to find a prize.  Very cute.

We then headed out to the family fun park, which was great.  Even in the rain everyone was excited and having a good time.  That's a pretty amazing family, if you ask me!  My family would not have been so cheerful.

This is on the creepy train ride.

I told you it was creepy.  This was one of the displays we passed.

Getting ready to kick some go-cart butt!

This just might be my favorite picture ever.  It's just too cute.

What a poser

 

We didn't let the rain or cold weather stop us, that's for sure.  The next thing we did was head down to the bay and let the kids play in the smelly, crab filled water.  Blech!

That night we played BINGO!  I won 3 dollars and a Twix.  Woohoo!

This is the gorgeous sunset we watched that night.  It told of better days ahead and was beautiful!

The next day, which was the 4th, started with a drizzle, but as soon as the sun popped out from behind the clouds we raced to the waterpark.  It was in no way warm when we got there, and all the kids really wanted to do was sit in the hot tub, but eventually the sun broke through all the clouds and it turned out to be a perfect day for a waterpark.

But first, I have to mention our special Olympics .  I'll just give some picture highlights.

 

That's my brother-in-law Jarom.  He's cute and he's single.  I'll give you his number if your interested! : )

These in-laws of mine sure know how to throw a party!  Okay, now some waterpark photos.  (who thinks I add too many pictures to my blog raise your hand.  No one?  That's what I thought!)

 

It was shaping up to be a fabulous independence day.  We headed back to the campground and Jaxon and I took a good long nap.  It was very much needed.  I woke up to a delicious dinner, cooked my Joe, and more games!  We played the candy bar game, which is the one where you roll the dice to see who get's a 6 and then you start unwrapping a candy bar and then eating it with a knife and fork.  Well, I rolled a LOT of sixes, and I have never eaten so much chocolate without a second thought.  Usually I put myself through a whole guilt trip, but not this time.  I just shoveled it in as fast as I could.  It was awesome.  Eventually I started sharing with all the little kids who looked enviously upon me!

 

That's my brother-in-law Jarom.  He's cute and he's single and he likes chocolate.  I'll give you his number if your interested! : )

 

 

 

 

The night was spent getting caught lighting off fireworks, and then watching others perform awesome shows around the bay.  Sage fell asleep in Jake's arms before it was over and after most had gone to sleep, there was great conversation around the campfire.  There is something magical about campfires that let's everyone be comfortable to say whatever they want.  I love campfires.

Jake and I headed out the next morning after another great breakfast, and were ready to get home and do some laundry.  Thanks Christensen's for the fun reunion.  We really did make memories to last a lifetime!

 

Cute group hug of all the siblings.