We left on Friday afternoon to head to Indiana. Brian's parents were hosting a family reunion on Saturday, and it had been a while since we had seen everyone! Some strong storms moved through the area on Friday and knocked out power for a good portion of northern Indiana. Thankfully, the power came back on before we arrived! We stopped first at Brian's cousin, Rachel's house/farm. They've added a few new animals...2 pigs, 7 puppies, a couple ducks, and some more chickens. We took a tour of their gardens (one of them a newer one since we'd been there before) and a walk along the path in the woods before heading over to Brian's parents' house. The kids had a great time playing together! I'm so jealous of the amount of room they have for their gardens and such!
On Saturday morning, my friend, Mary, stopped by for a visit. She and her son were on their way back to Kentucky, so I was really happy she made the time to stop by and see us! Family started showing up a little after noon and the rest of the day was spent playing in the water, eating, socializing, picture-taking, and relaxing. Our family has grown quite a bit since our last reunion in 2006! We had a great time! A couple of the families stayed to watch the fireworks with us. Every year, the people in charge of the fireworks wait until it's almost pitch black out before starting them, which means 10:30 Indiana time. This also means half the kids (and some of the adults) are already asleep! And we complain every year about it! :-) They were still fun to watch, though.
On Sunday, we all (one of Brian's aunt and uncle and grandkids spent the night in a nearby hotel, so they joined us again) gathered for a pizza lunch. Brian, Hailey, Clara, and I headed out around 3 pm to visit where Brian went to college (literally just down the street from his parents' house). Basketball camp was starting for the week, and our nephew, Alex, and Brian's cousin's son, Mikey, were participating. Brian knew his old coach would be there, so he wanted to at least drop in and say hi. They have two new gyms now that Brian didn't even play in...amazing how much changes in just 13 or so years. An elementary school that both Brian and I went to (located right next to the college's campus) had a face-lift in the front. It's been so long that I don't even remember what the old front looked like! :-)
Time went too fast as always! We're looking forward to having Brian home with us this Wednesday for the July 4th holiday along with more playdates during the week!
Clara and Lillian at Monday's playdate.
Hailey and Audrey.
Sisterly love...this is often how they play!
Clockwise: Beginning to a Mammoth Sunflower, one of the gardens, Hailey swinging on the tree swing, one of the two pigs, chickens around the 100 year old barn.
Their black lab had seven puppies...so cute! Would have been fun to take one home with us, but we just travel too much to take care of it.
Walking along the path in their woods.
Family photos, Clockwise: Brian's dad's brother, Jon and his family, our family, Brian's dad's sister, Ronda's family (she and her husband couldn't attend), Brian's dad's twin brother, Garry and his family, and Brian's dad's late brother, Dan's family (missing one son and his family who couldn't attend).
The whole group together!
Water fun! Especially cooling on a 90 degree day!
More fun and games!
Getting ready to eat!
Hailey's second cousin, Layla, and Brian's cousin, Brock (Layla's dad) attempting to teach Hailey how to do a back flip.
A little game of basketball...fouling is optional! :-)
Fireworks!
Visiting the new gyms.
Meeting up with Brian's cousin, Mike, and his family when they dropped their son off at basketball camp.
The new front to the elementary school.
In the 8 years I've known Brian, this was the first time I saw this on the garage wall! We have a chart going on the back of Hailey's bedroom door, too.
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