Annual Family Get-Together

We spent nearly four days up north last week for our annual summer big family get-together.  There were 15 grand-children, 8 "mamas and daddies", 2 grandparents, and 1 almost-fiance.  All staying in one house.  And by the grace of God, we all still liked each other at the end and were sad to see the week end.  It really was a good time, and unfortunately, I hardly took any pictures.  Partly because my camera seems to be acting funny and mostly because I don't have the extra hands and occasionally because I kept leaving my camera in the room when I was already outside, but really I took just a handful of photos.  And most of them were of just my kids alone, really, mostly just Ruthie standing up. 

I did get this great photo.  I love Cousin Megan.  It is a delight being her auntie, having known her since she was a baby.  She was 9 months old at our wedding and now our girls wear the dress she wore then.  But that's another post.  She is always very kind to my kids and they (the girls especially) really look up to her.  And I like this photo because I can totally see the family resemblance.  Can you?

It was colder than normal, so we didn't spend as much time in the water.  But there were lots of other things to do.  Watering Grandma's flowers is always a highlight for my little ones.

Here is one of the many I got of Ruthie standing up.  I love her hammy silly face expression, especially when she sticks out her tongue!

Of course basketball is included in the family activities.  The driveway looked like a parking lot with each family's mini-van, one family's extra truck. and Grandma's car parked outside since the boat was in the garage (for repair work).  This is one of two shots I got of basketball playing.

Sophia and Nolan were such buddies.  At one point, they were putting on "The Sophie and Nolan Dance Show" for Nathan, Emily, and Megan.  I would have liked to see it.  It was wonderful meeting Nathan's girlfriend Emily.  She was very sweet and kind, especially with my kids.  We would count it an honor to have her join our family any time.  She fit right in.

The other shot here is of Nathan being a good cousin to help out the younger cousins with their shot.  You should have seen how excited they were to have their turn with him.  Even one-year old Samuel visibly enjoyed it (though that is Nolan in the photo below).  Nathan was very gracious about the whole thing, which is good since he was one of the only people who could lift kids that high.  I can't.

Some of the girls bumped around a volleyball for awhile.  Lydia was trying to get Ruthie involved in the fun. 

And true to her nature, Lydia found more things to line up.

(These were balls from a game called Ladderball.  Two balls were attached by a rope.)

Ruthie standing up again, watching all the action.  I love when she stands up.  She looks so much like a little person.

This isn't a great picture, but it will help us remember that Joshy and Justy spent one night in a tent outside.  The picture is of Grandpa getting the tent set up.  They think the last time it was set up was when Eric and I used it for our first anniversary camping trip to the Apostle Islands...11 years ago!  They had a great time camping out, even if there was a scary moment when Uncle Mark scared them (really just Joshy as Justy was asleep already) by pretending to be a wild animal.  It was a good memory.

Over the course of the week, the kids caught numerous turtles, somewhere between 7 and 9 (there are disputes about the actual number).  However, no parent was willing to assume care over any of these turtles, so we had to let them go at the end of the week.  Rather than just canoeing over to the other side of the bay where they got them and letting them go, Auntie Heidi suggested a turtle race.  It was a grand idea!  I videoed the whole thing, but the file it too big to upload.  This is a pre-race picture instead.

The funniest part of it was that Joshy's turtle wouldn't leave him.  It kept going away from the water towards his boot.  He had to "shepherd" the turtle to the water.  It's odd, but this isn't the first time he's tried to release an animal only to have it not leave.  Many a butterfly he has let go only to have it fly up, circle back, and land on his head.

One bad thing about Ruthie being such a mama's girl is that she cries when others try to love on her.  She would burst into tears when certain people (usually men) tried to hold her and would become visibly nervous if others (women) tried to hold her.  So it was especially sweet to me that by the end Grandpa finally got a chance to hold her without her screaming, even if she did have to be sound asleep to pull it off.

And I like this photo of Ruthie and Grandma, too.  They didn't plan on coordinating colors, but it sure turned out well.

 Sweet baby was so tired, as were we all; tired, but with fat souls full of good memories and family love.  We are already looking forward to the next big family get-together.