Reunion weekend

Well we are finally back from our wonderful summer tour adventure. I can't even begin to list all of things we did and people we saw but we had an amazing time and have so many memories from our trip. Of course I took about 8 million pictures (OK, not that many but quite a few) and I have so many fun things to share about the things we did and people we saw. I'll try to organize the posts the best I can but I know I'll be playing catch up for awhile, so check back often to hear all about our trip.

Our trip started out with a flight from TX to Rapid City, SD for a family reunion with my Dad's side of the family. They have a total of 9 siblings and all but 4 made it out. I was able to see a few of my cousins and my cousins children and our kids were able to meet this huge extended family that they never knew they had. Unfortunately, our luggage got caught up somewhere along the flight so we missed the first night of get togethers. We did get to spend sometime with my Aunt and her husband and A got to go on his very first motorcycle ride. He was in heaven!!!

A getting ready for the big ride.
He just jumped right on, not scared at all.
Look at that big smile... he was so excited.
The next day we headed to my Aunt and Uncles house where the reunion was held. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up. The kids loved playing with all of their cousins and just being free in the yard to run, play and eat.

Here is A with one of my very tall cousins (He's 6' 7'') A just loved hanging out with him.
Boys being boys... checking for trout.
F with my cousin D.
A sweet picture of A and Grandpa going for a walk.
The kids loved spending time with Grandpa... because he's always so funny and fun to be around.
Cousins taking a break from playing to eat watermelon.
I thought this was cool. This is my Aunt and Uncle's basement floor. It is covered in beer box labels.
My cousin. (So pretty, E) :}
The kids just loved to be free, running around with their shirts off, playing in the yard.
And this was probably the best part of the evening for me. We had had a great day of sun, socializing and eating. In the evening everyone just gathered around my uncles who play guitar, and listened to them sing. Ever since I was a child, I remember this as my favorite part. To have this huge family gather and just sing and listen to each other and laugh is so comforting to me. The kids finally zonked out and just laid all over my Dad and I but we didn't care, we were in heaven listening to such great music.
My 2 uncles and a cousin playing guitar.

Here is a short video of them playing. It's a little blurry and I wish I would have recorded it longer but you get the jist.