For the first time in about 6 years (since my wedding to be exact), my parents and brother and sister and I, complete with our families got together at one time, under one roof! Only J.E.B. was missing from the bunch and while I was sad not to have him here, V and I still had a ton of fun with everyone else.
My parent's house was the meeting point and we were all there at different times, but about one week was overlap for everyone. My brother and his family got there about a week or so before my sister and I arrived and then I had planned to stay a few extra days after everyone left. (side note--I'm still here in Gettysburg since I came down with a nasty head and chest cold and decided that flying for about 7 hours to get back to Yuma was just NOT gonna happen. So now I have a new departure date and am desperately hoping that my head cold will have cleared by then)
So the house was full, eleven people to be exact, and it was a chaotic madhouse but in a good way. My sister's boys, who are 5 and 3, were loud and rambunctious and adorable and playful. Their energy quickly enticed my brother's son, who is 2, to join them as well as get V, who just turned 1, to branch out of her shell and start to socialize. Ethan (the 3 year old) and V became fast friends and you could regularly see the two of them together, with Ethan explaining the ways of the world to her. It was just too darn cute!
The kids could regularly be found in the living room amid scattered toys and all the couch cushions on the floor in a pile onto which they, naturally, kept jumping! Meals were fun and between grabbing chairs and food, it was great to see my family all together and to catch up with them. And since there were so many adults here, it seemed as though at least 2 people each day took a nap (adults included) while the others watched the kids. Very relaxing I have to say. Although somehow with all that relaxing I caught a head cold. Hmmm.
We didn't have a lot planned other than hanging out at the house, although a neighbor has property which has a creek on it and we all trooped over there one afternoon to enjoy the water. It was V's first time in such a large body of water (she was in a pool at a friends' house when she was a few months old) and she took to it like a fish. While the boys made mud mountains and played with the trucks, she wandered around getting her feet wet and playing in the mud. She also was a HUGE fan of the grass here in Gettysburg. Its the nice soft green grass that I grew up with. The kind that makes you want to walk around barefoot. Not at all like the rough, prickly "grass" we have in our backyard.
Jen's boys love to dance to Lady Gaga (?!) and we had an impromptu dance party one night. We all laughed and clapped as the boys danced their hearts out but everyone was surprised when V got out there too! She started off twirling in the middle of them all, then seemed to get a little intimidated so she just continued to dance/twirl right around me. There were some great videos taken of the whole to-do.
For some reason V took to everyone except for my brother. Try as he might (and he did try) Jeff couldn't get close to her. She would look at him, in fact she couldn't take her eyes off him, however when he got close to her or talked to her she immediately ran to find me. If she was already in my arms she nestled in closer. It became a big joke throughout the week.
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| I love the faces in this pic |
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| A silly-face picture, what else? And my daughter giving her "I'm too cool to do a silly face" face |
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| The fam, minus Ethan and V. Where they are...who knows! |
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| Nate hard at work making BeBe a crispy marshmallow |
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| What a great expression, Ethan! |
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| I love Sage's expression here. He's got a mouth full of marshmallow but is still contemplating another one! |
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| Lovin' the muddy water |
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| Everyone enjoying the creek |
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| Ethan and V |
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| We had a photographer come and this is the to-do required to get a 1-yr-old to look at the camera and perhaps even smile! |
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| Ethan pretending to be shy |
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| What a cutie! |
