Family Reunion - July 2

C and I hadn't been to a family reunion in a couple of years now. I think our last reunion was when I was pregnant with J, so the summer of 2008. 
It wasn't that we didn't want to go, it was just difficult to see a little baby enjoying a full day out in the hot sun and then at 20 months, it still seemed risky to expose a little one to so much heat. 
This year C's immediate family was in charge and so we braved the Canada Day heat and headed to just outside Wainwright in a small area called Gild Edge (I think). 
Most of C's aunts, uncles and cousins and cousins families made the trip. 
We usually get to see the family once a year and it's always a blast. Because this was a five family reunion, there was a good handful of extra people, aside from C's immediate family, who came too.
J met "the girls." A girl I've seen before but don't know the exact relationship, and her friend. They are between 11-13 I'd guess and love little kids. They were so excited to hear a baby (E) was coming, although they spent most of the day entertaining and playing with the little boys. I wish they lived closer, I'd have them babysit in a heartbeat!!

We did all the normal family reunion stuff. The difference this year from the last time I went was there was enough little (and big) kids to have real races!  3 legged, sack races, straight up running races, toss the wet sponge ... lots of kids games. 

There is always a big horseshoe tournament which takes most of the day to complete. C and I both made it to the semi-finals, on different teams but got knocked out which was okay because it was time to be heading home. 

We had a great time - despite the heat, poplar fuzz and mosquitoes!!

The girls

This keg didn't last long! 

Impromptu water fight!

Baby E trying to keep cool.

Little boy races.

Little girl races.

Little kid sack races.

Lots of water! 

3 legged races.

Lunch - April 8

We had the opportunity this morning to take in a dance competition at Festival Place. 

Ballet. I've decided it's my favourite. 

C's cousin's daughter B (confused?) is ten and LOVES to dance. I like going to watch her at Festival Place if I can because we don't get to Wainwright nearly often enough to see them. E and I took in her performances last night and this morning J, E, Grandma 21 and I went again. 

They.Were. Adorable!

The last time we got to see B (and family) was at a family reunion 90th birthday party last summer outside of Wainwright. J was smitten immediately with B and followed her around like a puppy saying "hi there" over, and over, and over. Cute for me. Maybe not for B. 

Today J was smitten all over! B was wearing the most beautiful bright yellow dress and he kept telling her how yellow was one of his favourite colours, along with blue, red, orange, white and black. Is was adorable watching him try to impress her! 

B's dance for the day was over so we headed to a restaurant close by for lunch and had a great visit. I got to meet two twin baby girls, just a few weeks older than E. 

Lunch took a long time coming but with a nice new hat (see picture below) paper on the table and two cups of crayons, J was in heaven. B was great, helping him spell and colour. I hope she had fun because I'm guessing J will be talking about it for weeks! 

A quiet 2.5 yr old at a restaurant for over an hour is a miracle! Thank goodness for ten year old girls!

Just for fun: J's word of today- KETCHUP.

Kim

Family 21 - April 6

We (E, J and I) had the opportunity to spend some quality time with C's family today.
We had plans to go to Grandma 21's house after lunch to have tea with a family friend DM, C's babysitter when he was a little boy. She has been so loving to our family, sending birthday cards every year since C was a boy and knitting beautiful baby afghans for both our children. It was wonderful to see her and get to (finally) introduce E. 
After our tea, we stayed the rest of the afternoon and planned to stay at Grandma and Grandpa 21's for dinner. C's cousin D is living at the 21 house while he finishes his university degree and J loves him! 
I had to run home quickly before dinner to flip some laundry and when I came back, J and D were sitting at the dining room table, just colouring. I could hear them talking about their combined effort picture.  It was the cutest thing!!

** Explanation required** The numbers associated with Grandparents was a J thing. He's big into numbers and letters, it's kind of "his thing." 
Both Grandmas are called "Grandma" and so J devised this way of distinguishing them between each other. He calls them Grandma 21 (C's mom) and Grandma 44 (my mom). It refers to their house numbers. Both Grandmas thought it was cute and it stuck!
The men go by Grandpa and Papa so we have no confusion there, and if you mention the "man" he'll know which grandparent set you mean but if you're just talking about "Grandma", he always asks "which Grandma?"