I love family reunions. Twice a year, over the 4th of July and over either Thanksgiving or Christmas, my sisters, parents and all our families get together for a reunion. I wouldn't miss it for the world. 
My mom is the lucky one whose birthday is always during our reunion. We love getting to celebrate her birthday together. 
This year the girls got to enjoy sparklers for the first time. They still haven't stayed up late enough to see their first fireworks though. Maybe next year =) 
Tons of time was spent outside this year. From jumping on the trampoline to playing in the playhouse to playing games like the bean bag toss and the ladder game, outside was the place to be.As we sat on the deck one night enjoying the cool Iowan evenings, Brent and I looked at each other and decided we could definitely get used to the weather in the North! It was so enjoyable to be able to play outside all day long!
I think this reunion was my favorite one since having kids. Mostly because I've changed some since Avery was born. I used to think that she was the only kid who didn't sleep on vacation. I used to think I was the only one exhausted. I used to think I was the only one who was going to be miserable for the 2 weeks after vacation as I tried to get my kid back on some sort of schedule. I guess I've realized in the past 3 1/2 years that I'm not the only one who experiences these things, but I am the one who determines how fun the vacation is for our family. I've realized that I need to let go of my fears about what life will be like when we return home and just have fun. I've realized that I have a choice to either be exhausted and sit on the couch or to be exhausted, push through it, and have a blast with life. Yes, this year was a blast and I'm looking forward to it only getting better from here!
To see the rest of the pictures from our vacation, click here
1 comment:
I totally hear you on the end of your post. We just did about 5 days with my family and it was PACKED with stuff. Our kids weren't getting to bed until 9pm and still up at 6. But it was worth it to just keep pushing through so we could all say we'd had fun and so that I knew everyone got their needs met doing things with my kids and us. It was fun, but I'm tired now! Our kids did sparklers for the first time too and liked them. I think its funny you had a picture of Ladder golf. We are going this morning to buy some balls for it to take back and then we'll build the ladders out of PVC pipe there. We haven't played it in 4 years or so but we think its a great game to get back and use there!
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