Each year Nels's family gets together for their annual reunion. Each sibling + the parents are taking turns being in charge. This year was our year. We were geared up and ready to go . . . . then Kendall called us and said that she was just dying to do it this year --- so we graciously consented. :) (Next year was her turn and she was worried about her husband being deployed and therefore needing to do it all herself.) Nels's oldest nephew graduated from high school this year. (So crazy! I could swear that he was still 10.) So we'd been planning on heading up to Colfax, WA for the big event. Apparently the rest of the siblings had been planning the same, so to save on cost (and also to free up another of our precious summer weekends) Kendall decided that we should just combine the events.
We decided to make a vacation of the trip and packed our van to the brim, heading out bright and early Thursday morning. Our sweet little children are the best travelers ever and we made the seven or so hours to Coeur d'Alene in high spirits. No DVDs, they didn't even listen to their iPods. Give those sweet girls some coloring books, crayons, notebooks, and stencils and they had themselves a grand old time! Violet even decided to sleep most of the time. Blessed child. As did Nels. - Okay, only half of the time. :) It was a beautiful sunny morning, interspersed with just enough sprinkles to give us some spectacular rainbows through the mountains and valleys of Montana.
After hauling four little ragamuffins and a duffle bag into the C. d'A. visitor's information center and reemerging as real people we had some fun. We got there with enough time to walk the boardwalk,
enjoy the frigid water at the beach,
and play at the castle park - which Elsie insisted was her new princess home. (Why on earth do we not have any cool park like this in Idaho Falls???)
The girls were ecstatic to eat at Denny's that night, so we tracked one down before checking into our hotel for the night.
The girls had been looking forward to swimming in the hotel pool all day, so as soon as we got there, off we went. Lilie took the first plunge . . . plunging straight into the middle of the hot tub . . . which is about the same depth as she is tall. All I could see was her little head bobbing up and down as she jumped off the bottom to get breaths! Darn child. Scared the begeezes out of me as I rushed to get her to the side. And poor Elsie. Wanted so badly to swim, but when you're only about 27 pounds, extreme temperatures are hard on a little body. The big pool was too cold for her to want to stay in and the hot tub was too hot for me to let her stay in for more than a few minutes at a time. Her little body would get all flushed and sweaty . . . . I finally convinced her to come back to the room and swim with Violet in the big bath tub while Nels and the big girls stayed at the pool.
What could be more exciting than staying in a hotel? You get to swim for as long as you want, watch tv in bed, and eat as much as you want, of anything you want, at the hotel buffet in the morning. They even had a cool machine - that looked like a copier - that would make fresh pancakes for you! :) I didn't have to make any beds or wash any of the tramillion towels we used. We all had a wonderful time. :)
After checking out, we headed down to Tracy's in Colfax. Tracy (Nels's oldest sister) and Tom have an amazing old farmhouse, set in the middle of beautiful rolling wheat fields - that are all green and gorgeous this time of year, several acres of lovely mowed lawn, a little stream running through the property, and a great big old, red barn decked out with a game room on the ground level and a basketball court above. Needless to say, the children were in heaven! Happy, filthy heaven - with lots of filthy cousins. :)
Tracy was gracious enough to house us all within the walls of her home - which is not only a testament to the awesome space she has, but of also her sweet hospitality. Thank you, Tracy! It was so nice to have a bed for the weekend. I'm sure getting all the sheets and towels washed and your house put back together was quite the chore. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Aside from the graduation (which made me all nostalgic-like) the weekend was spent with bonfires around the fire pit, Cribbage, Settlers, and horseshoe games, and lots and lots of good food and better company. All three of Nels' grandparents were able to make it - I always love spending time with them - as well as all of his siblings and their children, minus Katie (as she just had a new baby a couple weeks before and wasn't feeling well enough to make it).
Somehow or another, we didn't seem to wind up with any pictures of the entire weekend. I don't know how that happened, considering the fact that Nels was toting around his camera the whole time . . . . oh yeah, it's because he's a videographer not a photo-grapher. :) Oh well, I'm sure that he's got some great interviews. :)
- Plus, Kendall, Melyni, and Tracy caught a few, which I'm happy to steal. :)
Good ol' Keaton. What a great sport he is . . . LOL!
The kids had egg hunts, tug-o-wars, and sack races. Have you watched children attempt three-legged races? You should. It's good fun.
We headed out Monday morning, stopping in Coeur d'Alene to again play at the castle before our long, long drive home (why is the drive home always longer than the one there??). Elsie and Violet, in particular, had a rough time. Vi didn't think being strapped in to her seat, during the part of the day when she's typically very awake, was much fun and Elsie was just D-O-N-E.
About an hour from home, amid the "how-much-longers" and "I'm-hungries" we were graced with a few more beautiful rainbows, followed by an amazing thunderstorm.
It was such a great little vacation - with lots and lots of fun family time. I love Nels's family so much. I'm so thankful to have them in my life. Thank you - all of you - for being so incredible!
