Reunion, Part I

While Eric was bettering himself by learning about tropical diseases, the kids and I headed out last week to Denver.  Every 2-3 yrs my mom's side of the family has a reunion.  It is awesome.  Games, food, music, laughter, lots of conversation.  This year's reunion was outside of Estes Park.  We wish Eric had been able to come, but it was sooo wonderful to see all my family.  AND, best of all, Maggie actually knew just about everyone because we've spent the entire year visiting all of them. :)

The first day, we took a little hike in Rocky Mnt Natl Park to a waterfall...about 0.3 miles and it was plenty for my kids!  A beautiful destination and a nice shady trail.

Maggie and her second cousins, Ella and Keira

Maggie and Ella, hiking along

Ben and Aunt Heather.  Ben walked more than Mags. :)

Relaxing by the waterfall

Ben and his adoring cousins

The only complaint I had about our accommodations was that there were no bathtubs in the rooms, just showers.  We gave Mags and Ben a sponge bath every night in the sink.  Here, Ben decided to try to soap...

 Activities involved the above mentioned hike, Family Christmas, and medallion hunt for three different ages. The little kids were really just hunting a box of treasure.  Maggie started strong...

 ...but got sidetracked along the way by some horses.  She and Ben refused to be moved...

 ...but later enjoyed the spoils of the treasure hunt anyways.  See tiara and candy necklace.

We enjoyed hearing musical selections from my uncles.

It was great to have a number of kids in the same age category as my kids.  Ben and my cousin's daughter, Zoe, are only a month apart.  They had fun sitting, chattering, wandering around, and...

 ...playing the piano together.  A few more years and they will be the ones doing the duets.

More to come!  Such a fun time.