Crab Pickin'

We bought a bunch of crabs to eat for the last night of the family reunion…. tradition.  Abric decided to try them for the first time.  He didn't like eating them, but he sure loved banging the crap out of their legs with the tiny wooden mallet.

Wild!

Abric sporting some red hair!  Amy brought some temporary red and blue hair dye for all the little cousins to try out.

Talent Show

Aunt Teresa brought her flaming baton to twirl for us at the family reunion.  It was so much fun to watch her twirl, toss it in the air, and twist to catch it.  Cindy said she was always so proud of her older sister when she would perform at half-time during the football games.  Teresa would twirl two batons at a time back then!

Leishman Reunion - Bear Lake

Saturday was the big Leishman Reunion on my Dad's side of the family. It was my grandma's turn to host it. She had 4 brothers and 3 sisters. Multiply that by all the posterity and you have a 200+ person reunion on your hands.

(The pictures are on my dad's camera, so these are the only ones I had for now.)

Here is Bear Lake.

After the reunion and the fun and games were over and we were done visiting, we stopped at La Beau's for a world famous raspberry shake. Nothin' better!

BLT Reunion Day 3

Sunday was much warmer (in the morning), so we took advantage of the sunshine until the next storm came in.
Dainty Miss Morgan is all girl! I wish I had a video, but this was exactly how she walked on the sand. She is such a cutie.
After the beach, lunch, and some power naps, we decided to take a nice relaxing walk on the boardwalk. We found a playground, in the sand of course, and decided to let the kids play. I think that saying that Abric loved the slide would be an understatement.
The cousins played in the sand, dug deep holes, and buried each other. I cannot count the number of showers and loads of laundry we did this weekend.
Walking on the boardwalk on an over cast day. Andy packed the boys scooters last minute-- it was an ingenious idea.
There were a lot of sculptures along the boardwalk. We took 1 minute to take a picture with this fish and you would have thought it was the end of the world for Harrison. He was ready to go home. (As for our opinion, he was ready for a nice long nap!!!)
Ewan's turtle. The wind was really starting to pick up.
It was a busy, busy, busy weekend. I think Abric pretty much summed up how we all felt after dinner on Sunday evening.
Being at the big BLT Family Reunion means:

• getting to know Andy's side of the family
• listening to funny stories when Andy and his cousins were kids
• laughing until we can't laugh any more
• playing games
• getting haircuts (Amy is a rock star!)
• eating like kings and queens
• playing at the beach

But my favorite part of all is

• watching the cousins play and build lasting relationships and memories.

You can't put a price on something like that. We are already counting down until next year!

BLT Reunion Day 2

The second day was much colder and windier.

Andy and I were able to run 6 miles on the boardwalk. It was a nice 1-hour date. After the run, we went to the beach and Andy was able to 'ice' his knee in the water. (I'm telling you, the water was freezing! We don't know how the boys were able to stand it yesterday.)

This was the first year we remembered to bring a kite. The fun lasted about 20 minutes…. the boys would much rather dig in the sand and chase the waves.
We had to threaten Harrison and Zane within an inch of their lives to not get wet. Here they are running from the waves with their cousins.
Ewan decided to stay far away from the water today. Notice how all my boys have touristy 'Virginia Beach' sweatshirts? They better last for a while since we had to use part of their college fund to get them. (kidding)
Abric just wandered and enjoyed his new-found freedom.

Decorative mailbox.

BLT Reunion Day 1

The time had come for our annual family reunion in Virginia Beach. The boys had been counting down for months!!! They could not wait to see their cousins and to stay at the beach house. Andy and I had been counting down those days as well. We were in much need of a vacation after a stressful 3 months. The day before we left, the furnace went out in one of the rental properties and we had to replace it. (Dislike.) That didn't even put a damper on our spirits. We were just so happy to be able to get away!

We were able to do a test run on our roof carrier. We bought it for the trek out west, but decided it would be better to try it on the 6-hour drive instead of the 30-hour drive. We call it the Silver Bullet. We barely even noticed a difference in our gas mileage, it was so slick.
First order of business after hours of sitting inside a van: head directly to the beach, even if it is only 64 degrees outside! (Note to self. Next time, pack jackets for your kids so you don't have to buy them at an expensive tourist town.)

These boys were ready to hit the waves and soak up some sun!

Abric wasn't too sure about the whole sand and water thing. It was his first official time at the beach.
We had a hard time restraining Harrison and Zane from getting too wet. Here is the H-man catching some air.
Zane caught some pretty sweet air himself. Andy and I decided that maybe it is true that kids can't feel temperature. We were freezing and we weren't even wet.

Ewan ate it. 'nuff said.

Rule #23 on raising boys: When they fall down, just cheer and give them 'five' and they will forget that anything even happened. (Just do a quick visual for blood or protruding bones first.)

See what I mean? Hunky Dory.

Abric decided the sand wasn't all that bad.

But he didn't want any part of that water. I don't blame him, it was ice cold!
The beach house was a little less-crowded this year because we were missing a couple families. They were deeply missed! But the happiest news of the day was learning that Landon Michael finally arrived. Harrison and Zane are so excited to have another boy cousin on the east coast!

Annual "BLT" Reunion

Once a year, we get together with Cindy's siblings and their kids for the annual B.L.T. Reunion. (Brenda, Lucinda, and Teresa) For the past couple years, we have met at Virginia Beach. With it being the off-season, the weather is always a little questionable. This year, it was great! Friday and Saturday gave us a taste of what summer will be like, without the oppressive humidity thank goodness! Sunday was chilly with a little rain, but we all still had a good time. Here is the monster-house we rent for the weekend in order to for us to be together. (That is Harrison in the bottom-right corner.)

I was curious how Ewan would react to the beach with this being his first year as a walker. He only tried to eat the sand once, but had a ball digging in it with his feet and hands. He wasn't too sure about the waves at first, but gradually got more brave.

Zane's head fell off and he tried really hard to pull it up out of the sand. (The boys laughed so hard when they saw this picture. When we buried Zane to have Harrison try to grab his head, they thought we were crazy.)
This was the first year that Zane didn't have to gradually warm up to the ocean waves. We had to keep a close eye on him this year because he was a little too brave in the water.
I'm telling you, Zane is my ocean boy. He just could not get enough of it.
Andy and Michael dug a tunnel in the sand. The kids helped as best as they could.
Harrison had so much fun getting to know his cousin Taylor. Although he was three years older than Harrison, they both had a blast together. They were inseperable. Taylor introduced Harrison to the wonderful world of Pokeman cards.
Harrison jumping the waves.
We found a crab buried in the sand on our walk on Sunday morning. Harrison wanted to keep him as a pet.
Here are all the kid cousins with the funny face shot. Back row, l to r: Ashely, Kyle, Taylor, Harrison, Stevie Mae, Alexandra, Zane. Front row, l to r: Julia, Elana, Derek, Morgan, Isabel, Ewan, Charlize. (Missing we Emile and Brie--we'll see you guys next year!)
Cindy's neice Lori brought her beautiful dog, Bodie. Ewan loves all dogs, but he really fell in love with Bodie. I had to make up Bodie songs to sing at night when I put Ewan to bed.
Seriously, Zane could not get enough of the beach. Even when it was chilly on Sunday, he still wanted to play.
We left this morning for the trip home. The boys watched "Hoodwinked", then we stopped for lunch at a McD's. Michael and Sarah met us there. We all ate while the kids played in the playland. We bought their lunch on the way out the door. After they got their wiggles out and had full tummies, the boys actually asked for their pillows. Even Ewan asked for his "night-night" blanket. They all fell asleep at the same time. Could we have asked for anything better? Except for the rain, it was a GREAT drive home!