The weekend before 4th of July we had a family reunion. It was the Christensen Family, so my siblings and I, my dad's sister and her family, and their cousin Cyndi and one of her sons. It had been 9 1/2 years since the last time all of us cousins were together, so it was long overdue. Sadly, one of Cyndi's sons and his wife couldn't make it (we missed you, Kenji & Ale!), but to have everyone else and their spouses was amazing!
Cyndi had arrived into Seattle on Jason's birthday, in the afternoon. She spent the afternoon and evening with us and then headed to the airport super late to pick up Koby & Lyndsey, who landed after 11pm. She brought them up to our apartment, where they camped in our living room for the night. The next morning, they wanted to see Seattle before heading out to the cabin for the reunion. The kids and I took them down to Lake Union and tried to get them on a scenic flight through my work. Alas, there were no seats available. But it was a beautiful day and we got to watch a couple planes take off from the South Lake Union Park. My kids were pretty enamored with Koby & Lyndsey & Cyndi and I totally loved having an extra set of hands!
My cousin Kenji's wife, Ale, designed these really cool t-shirts for all of us for the reunion. The front showed where everyone came from (CT, TX, CA, AZ, and UT) and where we came to (WA, though some of us were already here).
The back had everyone's names from my Grandpa Chris and his sister, Aunt Elaine, and all their descendants. So fun to see!!
Here is a picture of all of us from this generation, in birth order. We're just missing Kenji, who is just younger than Katie. From left to right: Aimee, Bailey, Katie, Gator, Koby, Andy, and Kylee. That's 8 kids in just over 6 years from oldest to youngest.
Friday Katie flew home and the kids and I picked her up from the airport. We hung out at our place for a little while, then she went back to Mom & Paul's with Jilly to spend the night. Andy met them there the next morning. The June babies and I waited until Steve was done with work and we picked him up there. We took off for the cabin that night. It was about 2 1/2-3 hours to drive out there, but it was a really pretty drive. We got there when it was dark, but had a nice evening with all the Bells and Watanabes.
The next morning Katie, Andy, and Jilly showed up and finally we were all together!! It was going to be the only night we were all together (Steve, Kylee, and Ryan all had to leave Sunday afternoon) so we made the most of our day. We took a major hike in the Olympic National Forest. It ended up being a much longer hike than we anticipated, but it was a lot of fun. It had been raining a lot, so the ground was really muddy. My little princess Jilly was sooooo mad that I made her wear jeans and tennis shoes. She only wanted her skirt and sandals. Sorry, chickie, it's cool, muddy, and might rain, you're wearing long pants and tennis shoes. ;-) She was so mad that she refused to listen to us, wouldn't hold hands, wasn't wanting to walk or anything. Very grumpy. BUT, the magic of being with so many people (especially since mine were the only little kids, a whole bunch of childless couples) is that there was always some to help out with the kids. So they got Jilly to walk with them and she happily skipped off.
It probably took us a lot longer than it should have to hike to the end of the trail, because we kept stopping to take a ton of pictures. But dude, we got some awesome ones. Look at my cute brother and my super cute son, taking a rest on a tree trunk on our way.
There was lots of time for goofing off. This is one of my favorite pictures of my sister ever! She's so much fun!
When we got to the end of the trail, we took a ton more pictures. This is of all the girls. Back row: Lyndsey, Cyndi, Kayla, Bailey, Elise, Aimee, Kylee, Robli. Front row: Terry, Jilly, and Katie. Wow, think we like the "eee" sound for ending names in this family? Hahaha! And Jilly was still being a stinker and not wanting to face the camera. Punk. :-P
All the boys. Left to right: Ryan, Steve, Jason, Andy, Gator, Kevin, Koby. For the record Gator is not his legal name. It's a nickname he got when he was born and used almost exclusively until middle school. So that it was I have always and will always call him.
There were some cool places to climb up into fallen trees. My kiddos got up into this cave-ish spot. Cuties.
Andy really had fun. This picture doesn't show how high up he was.
The river was beautiful! We hiked along it the whole time.
At the end of the hike, all sweaty and tired, but we had a great time! Back row: Steve, Andy, Koby, Lyndsey, Bailey, Elise, Kevin, Ryan. Standing in front of them: Terry & Kylee. Front row: Aimee, Kayla, Cyndi, Jilly, Jason, Katie, Gator, Robli.
You would think going on a 2 mile hike with 3 little kids would be miserable, but it ended up being a lot of fun! Kayla traveled great; I carried her on my back in the Ergo on the way out there and my super awesome cousin Bailey offered to take her on the way back. (How cute are they?!) Jilly walked well, kept up nicely, and Jason was seriously impressive. There he is, a couple days after his 3rd birthday with these short little legs (compared to everyone else), and he was such a trooper! He did ask Koby and others to help carry him back, but after a couple minutes he'd want to walk by himself again. It could have been awful, but it was great instead!
That night we did plenty of hanging out, chatting, telling stories, and playing games out at the beach park on Lake Cushman. The next morning, Sunday, we had a morning devotional, with songs (Jason and I picked Nursery songs like Popcorn Popping), and gospel discussions. Then it was game playing times. Let me just tell you, in this family, games are serious business. Blood has been drawn, bones have been broken playing Spoons. This time we managed not to cause such injuries, but there was still plenty of laughing, yelling, and scrapping around.
The table was a little awkward, because we were all crammed around an oval, but it worked out.
It was a fabulous time! We also played Tripoly, which was a blast.
Sunday evening, Steve had to go home so he could work Monday and Tuesday. Terry & Kevin also drove Kylee & Ryan to the airport so they could fly home. It was a quiet evening, where we just played with the kids and hung out. Monday was a less than perfect weather day, but we were still able to get out and play outside a bit. I took a ton of pictures with people holding my kids because they were so invaluable! I couldn't have managed without a meltdown of my own, without them!
It was also time to say goodbye to the Watanabes, as they had to head home. My kids were so in love with Koby. The Js would wander around calling for him. So cute.
Gosh, Cyndi and Jason have the best smiles!
This was literally the ONLY picture I got of the three kids together. Auntie Terry did some beautiful french braids in Jilly's hair.
That night Bailey & Elise gave Jason his birthday present (since they were already at the cabin on his bday). It was the long-awaited, much anticipated Cars movie!!! I can't even tell you how excited he was. This picture only shows about 10% of his excitement. It was sooooo cute. We turned it on for him and he sat and watched the entire thing. Just heaven for a little boy.
Kayla especially loved Robli & Gator. And their water bottle. ;-) She kept picking it up and running away with it. Good thing Robli is so sweet and let her play with it so much.
Tuesday we went to the beach park again. It was really windy, but we played on the playground for awhile anyway. Katie spun Jilly on the merry-go-round, which she totally loved.
Katie & Andy left that evening to head home and see my parents who had just gotten back from Spain (lucky ducks!). The rest of us (Terry & Kevin, Gator & Robli, Bailey & Elise, and me & my kids) headed out to near the Alderbrook Resort on Hood Canal for their big fireworks display (it was July 3rd, afterall). We went to a yoga center and saw a concert of a choir singing mostly pop tunes. Fun, but a bit uncomfortable b/c we ended up sitting on the floor. Uncle Kevin and Gator stayed outside with my girls, while Jason came in with me and the girls. After the concert was over, we went back outside and sat on the grass and watched the fireworks. Very fun, even if it was late.
I definitely had to get this picture. Jason is in his Gator shirt, with cousin Gator! When we were in Connecticut a couple years earlier, Jason had Gator jammies and we got a picture of him in them with cousin Gator. I'll have to make sure he has another Gator shirt for whenever we see Gator next! :D
Wednesday we packed and cleaned everything up. Bailey and Elise took off with the Js to head back to their place, because Elise was flying out that evening. Kayla and I drove back with Terry, Kevin, Gator and Robli. Steve was going to pick up the Js from Bai & Elise, then come meet us to get me & K, but we made such good time, that we ended up going all the way to Bai's and just exchanged everyone at the same time. Of course, the last day of the reunion, the weather totally cleared up and became gorgeous and sunny and warm. We were sad to say goodbye, but it was such an amazing weekend! Goodbye hugs for Auntie Terry!
And Uncle Kevin (even though he was on the phone).
And of course, Gator and Robli!
It was a super duper deluxe family reunion with tons of fun time, good food, and fabulous people. What more could you ask for?
