Lewis Family Reunion

We had a reunion with Nick's mom's immediate side of the family. They do a weekend reunion every summer and this year it was right here in Cache Valley. It was kind of nice not having to drive to a far off location and getting to sleep in our own beds.

Friday evening we met at Susan's house in Mendon (Raylene's sister) and had a "weenie roast". There was really yummy food, a trampoline, an above ground swimming pool, horseback riding, and a talent show. Then to finish off the night they lit a fire (in the fire pit) and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.

Shasta had so much fun following Meili around all night. She wanted to be wherever Meili was and she definitely didn't want to go home before Meili did. We finally left at roughly 9:45pm and it was a little after 10 before we got home. Shasta stayed awake and sang songs the whole car ride home. I thought for sure she'd fall asleep right away, but no. Since she was awake when we got home I gave her a bath because she was covered in dirt. It was 10:30 before she got to bed.

The next morning we were supposed to be to Willow Park at 8:30 for breakfast. I had to wake Shasta up so we could get ready and she was so confused. It took her a long time to wake up and she didn't understand why she was being pulled out of her comfy bed. It was 9am by the time we got to the park.

After breakfast a bunch of games were set up for the kids to play. They were each given a check off card and each time they completed a game they got to put a sticker on their card and get a piece of candy. Once their card was completely filled up they got a prize.

Shasta didn't care much about playing the games as long as she got to be with Meili. Nick felt like she needed to play the games the right way before she could get a sticker, but most of them were over her head so I said as long as she attempted them... even if it was completely wrong from the actual objective, then she could still get a sticker. She's only 2 after all and the games were set up to accommodate kids up to the age of 10 or so. Nick wasn't completely on board with that, but it seemed silly to fight with her to play a game when she was having fun just being with her cousins. Plus, everyone there was family. I'm pretty sure they weren't going to chastise us for doing it wrong!!!

First they did some relay races. This one they had to pass wet sponges over their heads and between their legs to the person behind them. PS. Nick dressed himself! All protests from me aside, he thinks he matches!

Next was water balloon toss... or "it's my turn to hold the water balloon".

An actual relay was set up. Here they had to jump over all the hurtles.

This is Meili "throwing" her javelin through the target.

Running through the tires.

Frisbee toss tic tac toe.

Magnetic fishing.

Marshmallow shooting.

Knocking over the ping pong balls with a water gun.

Or just shooting daddy...!

There were a lot of fun games set up. There's even a few that we didn't get pictures of. Once we were done with the games it was time for lunch and then we were dismissed for free time.

During free time we took Shasta, Shelby, and 4 of their cousins (and their mom's) to Willow Park Zoo. In which Shasta insisted on holding hands the whole time or being carried (sorry Kaleena)!

Holding hands with Meili

Holding hands with Gigi

After free time was over we met at the park in Mendon down below the cemetery for dinner and a fun game of bingo. Nick bought 5 bingo cards and ended up having to play them by himself because I had to nurse Shelby.

Here's a fun side story (or tmi really). During free time after we finished up at the zoo, I went shopping with Nick's mom for some fabric for Shelby's baby blessing dress. Nick gave Shelby a fortified bottle and because I was gone I didn't get the chance to pump. By the time I nursed Shelby I was super full and hurting so I made her nurse on both sides. I knew after the one side she had gotten more than enough, but I was desperate for some relief so I put her on the other side anyway. While still latched, she puked ALL OVER ME like an endless milk fountain. I quickly moved her away and pulled the blanket off of us to try to catch some of the milk. Then when I thought she was done she puked a second round all over the both of us. And this time because she was pulled away from me it went all over my shorts so it looked like I wet myself! I guess it's a good thing we haven't reached a point where we can nurse in public (because she still struggles to latch on her own and it's too hard to help her under a nursing cover) otherwise Nick's family probably would have seen more of me than they bargained for. The downside is I was nursing her in the car and you can bet the seat got spit up on it! And it worked out for Shelby that I had a change of clothes packed for her and an extra blanket, but I still had to wear my soaking wet clothes for the rest of the night.

In the end, Nick won us some fun bingo prizes! Once all the prizes were won the party was over and it was time to go. As people were packing up to leave they opened up the mic for anyone to share their favorite stories of Grandpa Lewis (who passed away 9ish years ago. I wasn't part of the family when he died so I'm not completely sure how long it's been). They were planning on doing it during dinner, but forgot so they threw it in at the end. It was fun to learn some silly stories about Nick's grandpa, but I had a splitting headache and was still soaking wet from Shelby so we didn't stick around to hear all of them.

I'm pretty proud of this picture!

The reunion was a lot of fun and we're looking forward to next year!