Smyth Family Reunion

There were so many aspects of this reunion that I didn't take pictures of-thank goodness for our memories!  The big boys and girls had sleepovers outside in the club house and large tent each night.  They didn't fall asleep as quickly as the adults would have liked, but our family only does cousin sleepovers, so it was a treat.

 The first day we had a family variety show which I got NO pictures of-lame, lame, lame!  Our family did the crayon box skit from 'Studio C'.  Other entries were the 'duck lemonade stand' song, bazooka bubblegum skit, hand chimes, Grandma's and Grandpa's walk down memory lane, Henry's basketball jam, and a wall-ball demonstration.  The second day, we went to this lake where the kids had a blast.  The water was frigid but oh the magic of sand!!

 We got this shot with GG Smyth and all her great-grandkids (that weren't napping).  The next day we took family pictures in the morning (still to come), then headed out for a picnic and hike in Yucaipa National Park.  

 We were very excited to touch this real redwood tree.

 Our last day, we decided to hit the ocean and it was gorgeous!  A good portion of the cousins spent hours catching sand crabs.  And toward the end, Leo and his four year old cousin Evelyn decided to take a stroll down the beach by themselves.  All I had been doing at the beach was watching where Adam and Leo were so I was very distressed when I looked up from getting Andrew a snack and couldn't find Leo.  My sister-in-law and I immediately took off down the crowded beach and about 6 heart pounding minutes (that seemed like hours) later we found them running up in the sand, looking at other people's beach toys, not worried at all!

It ended all too quickly.  We all had quite a teary time saying goodbye to our Utah cousins that we wouldn't see anymore on our trip.  I'm so thankful for how well the children got along the whole time.  They played cards endlessly in between each activity.  We were so blessed that way.  And only one broken bone-cute little Avery's leg.  Then we drove back to Arizona for three more weeks of down time.