After leaving my parents' house, we headed for Zion's Camp for Jared's family reunion. The weather couldn't have been better. Given the ever-changing of Washington, we really were blessed with a beautiful week.
We were able to do many fun things during our time with Jared's family. And since we hadn't seen most of them since we moved to the South, it was wonderful catching up and just spending time together. It was especially fun watching all the little cousins have fun together.
The girls loved swimming. I went swimming one time, but I opted out a few times due to pregnancy-related headaches and exhaustion. Our girls are little fish, so I'm so grateful that Jared took them down to the lake.
Allie, Jared, and Rachel in the lake
Rachel has the personality and is at an age where she really is fearless. She wants to do anything and everything that the big kids do. And there are even times when she leads off doing exciting things. An example is pictured below. Rachel was the first from our group (out of adults and children) to go down this water slide. Jared put water on the slide and was barely able to get into the water fast enough to help her before she splashed in. Her lack of hesitation is also why we have no picture of her going down.
Rachel was first to go down this slide.
After heading back from the water, we caught Grandpa Kauer snoozing. Cute!
There were a lot of different activities that the kids participated in. One of them was walking on tin can stilts. Again, due to a headache, I was not in this little shelter while they did this activity. I could tell from where I was, though, that it was very loud. The kids all loved it. And we were very grateful to aunts and uncles for helping our children with this activity.
Uncle Sterling helping Allie
Aunt Bethany helping Rachel
Rachel going at it by herself
There was a nice field with swings for kids around it. There was also a boat that the girls loved to play in with their cousin Lily. There were rocks and sand inside the boat. Rachel had pockets on her shirt, and the girls all added rocks to each of the pockets.
Just a cute picture of Rachel
Lily, Grandpa Larry, and Rachel on a large swing
Such a sweet picture
Jared and Nikki swinging together
Jared is blessed to have all of his grandparents still living. All of mine have passed on already, so it is neat to have grandparents again, and for our girls to have great grandparents around. It was important to us to be able to see them, and it was a joy to do so. Both sets joined us for our time at Zion's Camp.
Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Gale
Our little family with Great Grandma and Grandpa Gale
Grandpa Larry and Grandma Carren
with
Great Grandpa and Grandma Gale
I thought this one of them holding hands was cute.
Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Kauer
Our little family with Great Grandma and Grandpa Kauer
Grandma Terri and Grandpa Dick
with
Great Grandma and Grandpa Kauer
A picture of almost everyone who was at camp with us.
It was a fun time group.
We did several crafts with the kids. The girls got to make bead necklaces. Both of our girls loved making the necklaces and still love wearing them, too. After making necklaces, the girls also got their nails painted.
Grandma Terri helping Allie with her necklace
Rachel showing off her necklace
Lily and Allie showing off their nails and necklaces
Some other crafts included painting rocks to look like ladybugs and coloring with marker on filter paper, and then spraying it with water.
Painting Rocks
Great Grandma Gale helping Rachel paint
Rachel coloring on her filter paper
Allie and the group coloring on their own filter paper
There were different story times throughout the week. Jared got to read one evening.
Grandpa Larry has done work as a clown and is very good with balloons. The kids loved getting balloon animals and swords. They had a lot of fun having sword fights and ganging up on different aunts.
Allie, Ethan, and Eddie against Aunt Jeni and Isaac, who wasn't always excited about others ganging up on his mommy.
The kiddos ganging up on Aunt Bethany
There was a tree-house near the large play field, too. It was pretty wobbly, and I didn't love it when Allie went up, but she did.
David, Allie, and Ethan on the porch of the tree-house
One night was deemed skit night. Each family was responsible for preparing a skit to present in front of everyone else. Perhaps it is because Jared and I are both scientifically-minded, but we struggled with: 1) being excited for doing a skit and 2) coming up with a good skit that the girls could really be a part of. We did come up with something before the night came, though it definitely wasn't up to the caliber of all the other families.
Grandpa Larry did a song/ditty that the kids followed.
Grandma Terri and Grandpa Dick prepared a little number with all of the cousins over the age of two. Michelle also helped.
Rachel kept staring at Grandpa Dick and the boys.
Cute Hula Rachel
Our Cute Hula Girls Together
We butchered did "Going on a Bear Hunt," and had Grandpa Larry run in and run us off at the part where we saw the bear. Our camera is tricky. It has a separate start and stop button that isn't really labeled for the video recording feature. We forgot to point that out, so we didn't get any video, but here's a picture of us in front.
Allie enjoyed sitting by Grandma Terri during the skits.
After the skits, Jared relaxed on the grass. Isn't he handsome?
I sure love him!
Another favorite activity at the lake was throwing rocks into the water.
Rachel throwing rocks into the water
Eddie, Allie, and Lily throwing rocks into the water
A sweet picture of Allie with Grandpa Larry.
An activity that was a lot of fun was "Jelly Bean Fun Day." The kids had a paper that listed many different tasks they could perform. Examples include doing push-ups, crab-walking, giving a certain number of high fives to people, singing songs, etc. Once they completed everything, they got jelly beans.
Allie with impressive form for a push-up
Rachel joined me on the side for awhile.
Since we all had different bedtime routines following dinner, it was decided that making s'mores would be a better daytime activity. The kids were all excited for roasting marshmallows and s'mores. Really, who wasn't?
All of the cousins together before the roasting began.
Alice, Mira, Rachel, Allie, Lily, Evi, Shyla, Maddie, Rebecca
Eddie, Isaac, Ethan, Benjamin, David
Grandma Terri helped Rachel roast a marshmallow.
Allie watched with Grandma Gale for awhile.
After eating, Rachel found a good spot for sitting. It was on some moss, leaning against a tree. The other little girls got a little jealous of her spot. Allie found a different part of the tree to sit on. Lily and Shyla started putting leaves on Rachel's head. They all ended up having to take turns in the spot. It was kind of funny to watch.
Jared and His Lovely Sisters
Jeni, Wendy, Michelle, Jared, Bethany
Part of me feels like Jared should have done this post, but I am happy to say that we truly enjoyed our time with all of Jared's family. I personally got to know his sisters better, especially Wendy and Bethany. They are wonderful ladies, and I'm grateful that they take me in as part of the family. I know it was a treat for Jared to get to spend time with his sisters, parents, and grandparents, too. It's always hard saying goodbye. We look forward to the next time that we can all get together.
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