Up early the day after the huge thunderstorm. We all had a kind of lazy morning finding a new routine of being on vacation.
Jeff was still unloading some bags and things from the car the next morning and found this guy. Yikes!
It was such a steep staircase!
I was trying to get a good photo of the small driveway and the big dips and hills everywhere.
Shannon was pretty sick at this time and Jeff and I were concerned enough to call her doctor to get some medicine. She needed a nebulizer and we were in a very small town, so a dozen or so phone calls back and forth from doctors to pharmacies and we finally found what we needed.
Jeff, Andy and I went on a grocery/prescription run and I thought it was pretty cool that this was the view from the local grocery store.
And on the way "home"
Shannon was happy to get some snuggles from Grandma Bert!
Then it was time to check out the "stocked" fishing pond. On the way we saw a tractor that was, get this, filling in the gravel that got washed away in the rain storm the night before.
Driving straight down!
On a map the cabin was a short walk away from the pond, in reality we had to drive and park and hike to get there!
Apparently it was so green from all of the rain?
Here are some of Jeff's cousins.
After a while we realized the fish weren't biting. We didn't catch anything! Didn't matter to this guy! He LOVES fishing with Daddy!
Shannon was happy to sit with me and watch the boys do their thing.
Back to the cabin for some lunch!
This was a blow-up cooler thing. The kids thought it was hilarious to watch Bert blow it up!
Then Shannon showed her true colors!
One of the main reasons we took this trip was to be part of the Grogan (Bernie's brothers and sisters) Family Reunion. We had about 40 people all together with Bernie's generation, Jeff's generation and John's generation. The fun started that night with a cook-out at Pat (Bernie's sister) and Ken's cabin.
This is Cathy (Bernie's sister) and John. Aside from the obvious differences that Cathy is blond and Bernie is not, they look and act very much alike, they have the same mannerisms, the carry themselves the same way, etc. So . . . John decided to call Cathy "the other Bert" but with the way he talks it took us a few tries at understanding him, but for the rest of the trip she was definitely called "the other Bert", it was cute and Cathy fortunately went along with it.
Pretty soon cars everyone started to show up. There were kids from 9 months to 18 years old running around, playing having fun. Hugs all around. Stories started (mainly from the Sponseller side of the family!) Roars of laughter here and there. Grills started, beers all around . . . basically an awesomely fun time!!
John became quick buddies with Michael who is related to him in some way. They share great grandparents, their grandparents are siblings and their parents are cousins, what does that make them? I just don't know!
The sun set but the party kept on going. Jeff and I were super excited for that night because we had promised John that we would search for and catch lightning bugs/fireflies. It's a hard thing to get on camera but trust me, John was in heaven running around looking for the quick flashes and then trying to catch them in his mason jar! His quasi-cousins were running around with him too! The adults held down the fort and the tales just got taller and taller!
Showing off his catch to Bert!
It was such a fun day and night. It felt nice to be surrounded by family. I had only met most of them once, at our wedding, so it was really like meeting them for the first time, but you wouldn't know it for a second. We all got along and had so much fun. Even John who is slow to warm up to people felt at ease right away. I felt lucky to be part of such a great family!
Day Four
The official reunion day!
We got up and took the kids to the "farmzoo" to check out the animals.
We thought it was a petting zoo, but these guys were not to be petted.
There was also a horse riding area and Shannon was the only one brave enough to get close. I think she's gonna be an animal lover!!
Then it was time for the big lunch that we were all there for. It was at the main house of the cabins we were staying at. The lunch was all you can eat, but not like a buffet, it was family style. They brought out huge plates of every southern food that you can imagine and even more. It was delicious and fun to be surrounded by all sorts of family!! We had the whole place to ourselves and it was a lovely old house that creaked everytime you took a step. So fun!
Waiting for everyone to arrive.
The view was amazing!!!
The front porch of this house had lots of rocking chairs!
Daddy's girl :)
Our table
The girls :)
The dessert table, yummmm!
Back at our cabin we got a photo of Bernie's sisters and brothers with their spouses.
Later that day we also got a photo of all of the grandkids. These guys are all the same generation, we are only missing a few kiddos that weren't there. What a crowd!
It was a great day filled with family!!
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