Everyone arrived at different times on Friday...some taking longer than others on those windy mountain roads (I hate you, mapquest). By Friday night, everyone gathered at "Bec's" house (she was sharing it with the CO & CA Briners) for a cookout. Chef Mike did us right...the burgers & dogs were delicious, and it was fun to catch up with everyone. Nate quickly made friends with his 2 1/2 yr old cousin Lizzie, and they spent the night literally running laps around the house/porches/driveway. Hey, whatever keeps them entertained, right!? When it was time to leave, Pops nearly burned out the reverse gear on his car as we were backing out of the driveway. I have never seen such steep driveways!! Greg was helping to "guide" him (so as we didn't fall off the cliff), and Nana & I stayed in the car with Nate, who thought it was a roller coaster ride and kept saying "Yay!" Thirty minutes later, we made it back to "our" house. (Keep in mind that the houses were 0.1 miles apart!)
Saturday was filled with relaxation and fun. Nate had fun playing on our wrap-around porches, going on walks with Nana & Pops, playing on the docks (though that was short-lived b/c he got scared), playing with the coolers and ice, and swinging on the playset at Lizzie's house. We were lucky that Nate was so active during the day....he was a super sleeper every single night AND during his naps. I love 3 hr naps! I think part of it was his "Harry Potter closet." Yes, I stuck my son in a closet. It was a walk-in closet, mind you. We stuck his pack-n-play in there and left the door cracked and he slept like a rock! I am thinking it helped that it was super dark in there. Whatever the reason, we were glad he was a good sleeper and didnt wake up the whole house. Saturday night we all gathered at "our house" (which we shared with the OH Briners, plus Lora, and Nana & Pops) for lasagna night (yum!) and football.
Sunday was another chill day at both houses. Everyone took turns on the water trampoline (well, except me), canoeing back & forth between houses, and swimming in the lake. Poor Greg had quite a rough day though...during his run, he was chased by 3 "wild" dogs (according to him) who he thought might bite him. Scary! And then when he showered, he used the wrong thing and ended up using lotion in his hair instead of shampoo. It was pretty nasty (and hilarious)! We had mexican night at "Bec's" house that night, and my favorite part was Lora's spicy queso dip!! I could eat a whole pot of that!! I think I ate too much actually b/c Abby was going CRAZY and kicking a ton for a few hours. Oops! Bec & Mike broke out the Wii, and tried to teach Aunt Melissa & Uncle Tom how to bowl. Nate & Lizzie entertained us by running laps around the house again. And my poor little turtle...at one point, he was going so slow that Lizzie looked behind her and shouted "Come on Nate!!" I was dying laughing....that's my boy. Gotta love him. After the kiddos went to bed, we gathered at "our" house to play cards, a Briner family tradition from Grandma's house in Michigan. Playing O'hell, having root beer floats, and making fun of Nana. Some things never change!
I had lots of favorite moments at the reunion, but mostly I just enjoyed being with my relatives - some of which I hadn't seen in 7 years. And I LOVED that Nate got to meet 3 of his cousins - aged 9 months, 18 months, and 2 1/2 years. Who knows if we will do this every year like we said, but I sure hope we do it more often that every 7 years! I love my extended family...they're just as crazy as me! :)
2 comments:
You forgot to mention that Cole and I hiked back to our house, waited for you guys and then went to bed while Dad was BACKING UP the driveway. One of my favorite memories will be Nate saying "worwa" a lot :)
Sounds like tons of fun! Beautiful place too!
Post a Comment