Weekend Getaway Part 5: Wrap Up

It was a busy weekend. The reunion, the Grand Canyon, and a stop on Route 66. We also did a lot of dining al fresco. We worked our little camp stove pretty hard all weekend. Camp fires were restricted so we didn't count on them for cooking meals. We were able to have them in the evening with a wink from the KOA and a promise to keep them small with water nearby.

First Breakfast

Last Dinner

Yum!

The campground offered a "hayride" on weekend evenings. We just went around the campground once on a flat bed trailer pulled by a tractor. The young lady sitting next to us really loved our shirts. She said she'd seen so many throughout the campground!

The best part of the hayride was waving to our family members as we went by. Cousin Tom caught this one of us being silly...

There were a few games of horseshoe. Jerry and I also played a few rounds of Shut Box one night. Jerry's family is known for playing cards but we didn't manage to squeeze any card playing in this time.

Annabeth and the boys got in some games of the electronic sort. Actually, I don't even know what she is doing here. She just likes to tap apps on the iPad. It was past her bedtime and I was stalling until the boys got back to the cabin to get in their jammies. I didn't want to put her to bed and them have them come "home" and wake her up.

Late at night

First thing in the morning

Annabeth was good for most of the adventure, but she didn't much care for sleeping in the Pack N Play in a one room cabin with the rest of us. The first night she cried a good long while before dosing off. She finally fell asleep only to wake up crying again halfway through the night. I ended up bringing her to bed with us which meant she slept great but Jerry and I didn't. The second night was better, probably because she was just so exhausted. The third night was similar to the first. We were all glad to be back home as far as sleeping was concerned!

When we woke up Monday morning we found two horses had moved in behind our cabin. That explained the noise that sounded like someone going to the bathroom outside my window in the middle of the night! I thought our new neighbors didn't feel like walking to the bathroom! The woman who owns the horses was very nice and shared some information about them with the kids.

A few more minutes to play with cousins while mom and dad packed up the van. Then it was time to head back home.

We stopped at a Pizza Hut in Anthem for the lunch buffet. Then got back in the van to make it home in time for Annabeth to take a much needed nap in her own bed.

The worst part about taking a little vacation is getting everything put away when you get home. It took me several days to work through the laundry and get rid of the piles of stuff that needed to be put away. I will say... it sure takes a lot more stuff to go camping with eight people than it does three! But we would like to do it more. We had a lot of fun and there are plenty of places to explore!

Weekend Getaway Part 3: The Reunion

The reason we went up north was for a family reunion. Jerry's mom's side of the family does a good job of getting together on a regular basis. I know we missed a couple reunions when we were back in WI, but we were there for the one in 1998. We also saw everyone when we came back for Jerry's grandpa's 80th birthday party in 2006.

A campground is a great place to have a family reunion. You can spend more time visiting with everyone than if you just have an afternoon picnic. Most of the family stayed the whole weekend, but the big festivities were on Saturday.

The hit of the reunion, in my opinion, was the shirts! A different color for each branch of the family. Our (Grandpa Joe) branch had royal blue for our color. The color coding was especially helpful for people like me who don't know everyone. It was so much easier to figure out who was who!

The morning started with an art project (marble painting) and some games for the kids.

I had one little cousin argue with me that Annabeth was a boy since she was in a blue shirt. I promised him I was her mom and I was SURE she was a girl.

There was plenty of time to just hang out and visit too. My boys hung out with their 3rd cousin John aka Chopper. They had all kinds of boy fun and were a filthy mess by the end of the day.

Lucky for Annabeth, Chopper has a sister who is just a bit older than her. Annabelle and Annabeth enjoyed some girl chats while the boys were busy.

We had a potluck meal together and visited all afternoon.

Annabeth and I took a short break for her (much needed) nap but headed back over as soon as she woke up.

Here's our family...

And here's the whole blue crew...

We were missing a few people. Unfortunately, both Great Grandpa Joe and Grandma Joddy weren't feeling well so they weren't able to make it.

Here are some of the other family groups...

The fun lasted well into the evening... hanging out around the fire, roasting marshmallows, and chatting.

After we went back to our cabin and the kids were in bed, Jerry and I sat and talked for awhile. We couldn't help but think about the possibility of some future reunion where each group of our grandkids and great grandkids are wearing a different color shirts representing each one of our seven kids! Just think of the fun! It's really too bad more people don't have big families these days. The Bible truly says it best... children are a heritage and a reward! (Psalm 127:3) 

*Special thanks to Cousin Tom for some of the photos in this post! You can tell which ones are his... they are much better quality and more artistic! 

Fun Photo Edit

As I mentioned in my reunion post, one of Jerry's cousin-in-law took lots of great photos of the reunion. Tom has a nice camera and a very artistic eye for great photos! Here is one of Annabeth that he took.

He said he couldn't help but edit it...

Great photo! Beautiful baby!

Weekend Away Part 2: Seven Natural Wonders

While we were up in Williams for the reunion we took a day to go to the Grand Canyon. Jerry and the three older boys were just there last month with 4-H. I hadn't been there since 1997. The rest of the gang had never seen it. It really is amazing! It doesn't even look real. I told the kids it's like a reverse mountain. The ground is flat and the mountain goes down instead of up. The colors are pretty much indescribable. It really is something you have to see in person.

And lot of people from all over the world DO come to see it every year. It was pretty packed when we were there. Despite the beautiful scenery to look at, pretty much everyone we walked by took time out to stare at us. Some even counted out loud as we walked by. One Italian couple (with one child) exclaimed when they sat across from us waiting for the bus. The woman said something and Jerry answered. One of the boys was surprised Dad understood Italian. Jerry said, "Are they all yours?" sounds the same in any language. She was even more surprised when I said "Seven!".

There were a few times it was down right ridiculous the way people were staring. When we stopped on some benches in the shade to eat lunch it was like we became an exhibit. One lady just had to say something (and we get this one A LOT now that Roz usually isn't with us) about us "finally getting a girl". People are always surprised to hear our oldest is a girl too. Then you can almost see their minds spinning... if they weren't trying for a girl why in the world did they have all these kids?

So there we were at the Grand Canyon, THE GRAND CANYON and people were staring at us. I said to Jerry, "Here we are at one of THE seven wonders of the world and these people are looking at us! They need to turn around!" He said something about having seven natural wonders of our own and told me that would make a good title for this blog post.

I guess we have gotten a bit spoiled living in the Valley of the Sun. Not too many people stare at us when we walk in somewhere. There seems to be more big families here than the Green Bay area. We see lots of 12 or 15 passenger vans with families driving around. Just the other day we were in McDonalds and saw a family with 8 kids. I just met one of the neighbor kids, he is the youngest of six and homeschooled too! I guess I kind of forgot just how rare big families are!

Okay, on to the photos!

There were some spots along the edge that made me nervous with all the kids! I much preferred the spots where there was a wall or fencing to keep people from plummeting.

What are the chances of running into people you know at the Grand Canyon? Pretty good if your up that way for a family reunion! We ran into three groups of the Gillaspy family: Uncle Lou and Aunt Karen with their gang, Great Uncle Roy, and Cousin Chopper with his family. Fun!

In the above photo you can just barely see the Colorado River. It's the greenish spot in the middle.

Wesley took this one of Jerry and I. Thanks, Wesley! Good job!

Here we are with six of our seven natural wonders!

Footnote: We almost didn't have any photos to share for this post. I brought the wrong camera battery charger along on the trip. My old camera has a similar battery but they are not interchangeable. I was ready to stop at the store and buy a disposable camera. I couldn't go to the Grand Canyon and not take pictures! But on a whim I said a quick prayer and jammed the new battery into the old charger. The light went on so I was hopeful. Right before we left I put the battery in the camera and it worked! I had enough battery power to last the rest of the camping trip. Just as a little experiment I tried to do it again when we got home. No matter what I did the light wouldn't go on and the battery would not charge. How's that for an answered prayer?! :)