Cousins!

This has been a busy, wonderful, exhausting week, all at once.

I took the kids up to Park City for our annual family reunion. I've never posted pictures of the suites we stay in (courtesy of my parents' time shares), so I thought I'd do it this time. I think the suite is almost as big as my house. 

I think my favorite part of the reunion is always just seeing how much our kids enjoy each other. I love my siblings (especially now that I don't live with them), and it makes my heart happy to see that friendship passed on in our kids. We've been coming up to Park City since I was a teenager: these kids have (most of them) come since they were babies.

Jeni and I stole away the first night to go to a book launch in Salt Lake for Jessica Day George's newest book, Silver in the Blood (very delightful, I thought! Romantic, flirtatious, just enough darkness to keep the story grounded).

Also, I clearly need to start a red-headed writer's league because it's apparently a thing.

Our first full day in Park City, we headed up to the Olympic Park. There was some discussion beforehand about a questionable forecast, but we decided to chance it.

 Naturally, though the forecast suggested it wouldn't start raining in earnest until noon or so, it started to dump when we were halfway up the mountain on the chair lift. By the time we got to the top, we were all soaked. We huddled together in a little cabin at the top of the mountain until one of the park shuttles arrived to take us back. Jared, Brielle, and Julia had taken the chair lift *back down* the mountain instead. Jared and Brielle didn't do too badly since they had rain jackets, but Julia looked like she'd showered in her clothes.

You can see through the window here how wet it is.

 Once we got everyone together, we went back to the hotel, hoping the rain would clear up before too long. Luckily, it did. The afternoon came on beautiful, and the Olympic park wasn't too crowded since most people had been scared away by the rains that morning. (Okay, it wasn't too crowded outside of the 30 students who were in line for the alpine slide in front of us).

Oliver got to go down the alpine slide for the first time and loved it. Luckily, he was just as happy playing in the playground with Abdiel.

 
Oliver spent a lot of the reunion doing this. Apparently Fritos are his new favorite chip. Possibly food.

Abdiel thinks he's spiderman, so he and Oliver spent a lot of time on the climbing ropes.

I was super proud of Evelyn. Last year, she panicked on the obstacle course and one of the guides had to climb up and get her down. This year, she did it twice! Here she is, with my dad right behind her.

 And on the zipline at the end of the course. (She was actually enjoying this).

 I don't have any pictures of Andrew--mostly because he was too busy moving on to the next thing to pose for pictures. After dinner that night, the big kids went swimming (my dad stayed with Oliver) and I watched--it was too cold for me!

The next day was a little more low-key. We went on a short hike with a gorgeous view of Park City. Oliver mostly rode on my shoulders, so of course he enjoyed it.

We had lunch, then the kids wanted to go swimming but the pool closed (thunderstorms). While Oliver napped, we rode the trolley up to our favorite ice cream place in town. THEN we went swimming. This time I even got in with Oliver, who discovered that he likes being tossed up in the air and let plunge under the water (though I scooped him up immediately after).

We celebrated Gwyn's first birthday that evening. Lia made chocolate-raspberry cupcakes with coconut icing. Justin prepared a nice devotional that night, but I missed a lot of it because Oliver was up past his bedtime and it showed. 

Friday, we headed back to my parents' house and recovered a bit. Saturday, the fun resumed.

Bubby and Poppy brought Dan up early that morning so he could join us at the church for Enoch's baptism. It was a lovely service: his father baptized him and confirmed him, with the help of his uncles and grandfathers. And after nearly a week apart, I was especially happy to see Dan.

Gwyn appeared quite taken with him too. :)

Afterward, we gathered at Jeni's in-laws house for a brunch of sausages, fruit, dips, chips, oddly flavored oreos (birthday cake, anyone?), and the kids had a blast with several inflatable water-slides. Some of the grownups (Samuel) were brave enough for the slides too.

Saturday night was also my 20 year HS reunion. It was a little surreal, being back in a building I haven't been inside for nearly two decades. And seeing so many people I recognized, some of whom I haven't seen since high school. I think what I loved most--besides catching up with some people I don't see nearly enough--was seeing how many different ways we've been successful. Those mostly clueless kids I went to school with have grown, matured, suffered, rebounded, and have done some really amazing things among them. It was both inspiring and hopeful.

(I also got to see a video clip of the unveiling of the school gym my senior year and the bulldog I painted. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of it, since that was easily the crowning moment of my HS career).

Today, we got to celebrate another cousin's birthday: We-ell (aka Will). The kids enjoyed the icecream, and then chasing around on scooters and big wheels while the adults chatted. 

A long, lovely week--but I have a feeling tomorrow might be a painful return to reality!