cousin party

Recently, I've been in better contact with my family. I owe it all to blogging. Most of us live in the same general area, but we get busy with our families and life in general and it's hard to keep up. Now, in the middle of the night if I wish, I can pop onto their blogs and read about the latest things one of their kids did. I can even make a wise comment if I so desire. It's been good to catch up.

We finally decided that we should have a mini cousins reunion so our kids could become familiar with one another. We had a pool party. Well, I remember those reunions that my parents would make me go to, and I didn't know anyone. It's kind of the same concept as a junior high dance where all the girls are on one side, and boys on the other. The kids who see each other all the time hung out together on one side of the pool, while the other kids played at the other end. Awkward. It didn't last long though, and eventually, someone would cross the enemy line and mingle. But really, how could they not have a blast in such a great pool?

We're just going to have to make it a tradition to avoid the awkwardness. (Hopefully, we'll see all of you there next time!)

we are family

We traveled to the country this weekend for a family reunion on my dad's side. It was held in his childhood hometown and it also coincided with the Pioneer Days 24th of July celebration.

We got to be in a parade. Grandma was the Grand Marshall. Here she is putting on her best parade wave.

Let me introduce you to my extended family (which includes only my paternal grandmother and grandfather's descendants):

don't forget the other side:

Rumor has it that there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 of us on the back of that truck. Amazing, right? Grandma and Grandpa have 172 descendants with more on the way!

I have something like 42 1st cousins, just on that side. I don't claim to know all of their children's names, in fact, if I even know which cousin they belong to, I'm doing well.

So much fun was had in the 2 days, I'm going to go ahead and break it down into highlights:

• Grand Marshall Grandma on the flat bed, sitting in a lazy boy chair and holding a pink umbrella.
• 50+ people on the float all hurling candy at the spectators simultaneously. Some kids were giving themselves 'bonus points' for a direct hit.
• The fire truck running out of water at the end of the parade, but then hooking up to a hydrant to drench the hot kids who had been waiting for an hour just for the fire truck.
• Spending the day outside, letting the kids run around free.
• Adults not having to worry about their children, because the entire place was fenced in.
• Kids getting roped by Uncle Norman.........until someone got hurt.
• Paige finding a new BFF by the end of the night.
• Games of cards, volleyball, baseball, frisbee football and more.
• Gabriel wrestling with all the big kids. He had more attention from more people than he knew what to do with.
• A nap in the shade.
• Kids playing Red Rover.........until someone got hurt.
• Endearing stories of Grandma and Grandpa told by their children.
• Taylor riding a dirt bike on his own for the first time.

Fun times, Crosbys!