First Annual (I hope) Reese Family Reunion

The highlight of the trip to Washington was the First Annual (I hope we do it again) Reese Family Reunion.  My grandma, Erma (Reese) Elmendorf, has one sister, Elsie (Reese) Castle, and two brothers.  Twins, who are both deceased.  My grandmother is 97, her sister is 95.

My mom’s cousin Donna (Castle) Johansen organized a family reunion at her lake house.  It was well attended by her siblings and their families, my grandma, and my mom and us, as well as the daughter of one of my grandma’s brothers. 

I haven’t seem most of these people in over 15 years. 

What with the lake and my children’s love of water, we had a fantastic time.  It was a little cold for my Utah blood, but my mom, being the amazing grandma that she is, got in the water with the kids. 

Eleanor jumped off the dock at least a dozen times.  Getting colder and shakier every time.  Making my mom tread water in the freezing lake until she could summon up the courage to jump, or finally encourage her frozen legs to move, I am not sure which.

Denise and I took Henry out on the boat.  I have such wonderful memories of doing this as a kid.

My cousin Bonnie’s husband had a great time (well, he looked like he was having a great time) playing with the boys.

Me and Bonnie.

I learned that my cousin Tracy is somewhat of a snake charmer.  She helped the boys each hold a small gardener snake her dad found in the bushes.

 

It was truly a memorable day, one I hope to repeat in the near future.

Washington

The kids LOVE Nona and Papa’s house.  My mom set up the pool, a constant attraction for all the kids, especially Eleanor, who more often than not was in her clothes, or no clothes.  Here are a few pictures where she actually managed to get a swimming suit on.

 

We played baseball and soccer and other such things in the yard.

We went to visit friends.  Old friends truly are irreplaceable.  This is Jack and Henry in Adam and Alex’s pool.  They LOVED it.  They begged me to take them back to play with those boys.  So, I did.

Eleanor at Sarah’s house.

This is Miles.  Could you ever get enough of this kid?

But, what I very unfortunately don’t have pictures of is what I did with the bulk of my time in Washington. 

I painted.  My mom, Denise and I painted the dining room, living room, and bedroom in my grandmother’s house.  It was quite a project considering no one had even so much as removed the pictures from the walls in 25 years.

But, we did it (or rather, they did most of it while I was doing these other things), and gram loves it. 

Three cheers for Papa who was on babysitting duty all week!

Oh how I love my family.  How I wish we lived closer.

Steam Train Steam Train

…take me where I wanna go (sing along if you know it- I don’t really, it is something on Playhouse Disney).

Jared was only able to stay in Washington with us for a few days, so we made the most of them.  My dad told us about the steam train that was running on an old bit of track from Chehalis out toward Adna.  We were all for it.

It was the perfect day for a train ride.  We sat inside one of the old passenger cars and stared out the window.

Eleanor let everyone know when she saw a cow, or anything with four legs standing in a pasture, with her loud (and as Jared noted, angry-sounding) “Mooooo!!!”

Jared took Henry up to the front to see the engine in action.  His impression?  A bit too loud.

Picking Up a New Hobby

While in Washington the boys were introduced to skateboarding by my cousin’s son, Logan.

They LOVED it!! Denise and her fabulous photography skills captured it beautifully.

They now both want skateboards for Christmas. Eleanor probably does too. She generally wants whatever the boys have.

Bitter Celestial God

I just love that first picture (read Diahan's post below first). Jack looks overwhelmed, Henry's head is coming out of nowhere, and Eleanor is hoping that Henry comes no closer.

*****

There's something screwy about those photos, however. I can't quite put my finger on it. Oh, wait . . . sunlight! I'm sure the locals had no idea what it was. Did they run and hide? Could it have been some bitter celestial god expecting a human sacrifice, or more importantly, coffee beans?

Imagine the stories they can now tell their grandchildren - they survived the fiery light in the sky. It was a generous light, to be sure. For they were each left with a reddening of the skin as a reminder to never disappoint the burning orb again.

The rain god was never so "heated."

*****

Incidentally, I have my own photographs of our last Washington trip - just so people know what is normal.

 

This was from our trip to Mount St. Helens

This is at the beach (nice catch!)

Hopscotch at around noon

Diahan and I smooching (so embarrassing)

and a beautiful sunrise (I am a sucker for Mother Nature)

 

And no, the lens cap wasn't on.

No Place Like Home

I love Washington. Not simply because I grew up here and my family is here. Not just because it is actually possible to run into an old and dear friend at the store (for those of you who care, I saw Sam Grubbs!!!). Not just because it is familiar and comfortable. But largely because it truly is beautiful here in the summer. True, I was worried a bit the first couple days of barley sixty degree weather. But yesterday and today were true Washington summer days. Just perfect temperatures.

The boys have been having a blast. Yesterday we went down to the ball park and hit balls off the tee, some pitched balls, and ran around the bases. We kept enforcing the must touch every base rule, and this was Henry's interpretation. Jack is a fabulous hitter and often hits it over our fence at our house, which of course, is a home run. So, once we got past the fact that he wasn't likely to hit it over this fence, we had a great time.

Then it was down to Borest Park to play on the toys and then throw rocks in the lake.
Today we took a picnic out to the Cowlitz Falls Dam area and went fishing. Jared and I don't fish and Jack has been begging to go for years. So, Papa took him out. At first I thought it was extremely unfortunate that we didn't catch anything, but now I am thinking that perhaps now he will stop pestering us to go all the time... Poor Henry just needed a nap, and then he got sunscreen in his eyes, and an owie on his knee- no, forgive me, TWO owies, and was just a general mess the entire time. And, you guessed it, Eleanor slept.

In case any of you were thinking that Jared is taking a needed break from wife and children, (look at the abuse he takes) he really does the same things when we are home, as this is evidence of.