4th of July Weekend

Warning: Photo Overload!

For this 4th of July, we decided to head to Eastern Idaho. It was the first time in our 11 years of marriage that we've spent the 4th of July with my parents (it was about time). Part of the reason we've never spent this holiday with them is because the big Griffin Family Reunion is always this weekend. I grew up going to this reunion, and I never really looked forward to it. They always held it at Heise Hot Springs. All of the cousins my age would go swimming, but my Dad always told us it was too expensive, so we would sit around and visit with the old people while all the young people swam. We were also the only ones who slept in a tent. Everyone would be sitting (and sleeping) comfortably in their motor homes while we had a tent. Also, this reunion had a very wide range of cousins. It's the descendants of my Great Grandma and Grandpa Griffin, so I didn't know most of the people there or know how I was related to them (2nd cousin twice removed--what is that?). And, lets just say that I didn't have a lot in common with a lot of the "cousins". We had plenty of teenage mothers, smokers, bikini clad girls, etc. I remember the year one of the cousins got pulled over for speeding, then hauled off to jail for possession of drugs. Sooooo...for years my mom has been telling me how much better this reunion is. That everyone has pulled their life together, the reunion is actually organized with real meals and games, etc. So after 11 years of marriage, I decided it was about time I showed up to this reunion with my family. It helped that this year my favorite great aunt was in charge of it and they held it at Indian Hot Springs, which is just a 1/2 hour from my parents' house (so if it was too boring, we could just drive back to Grandma's).

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my mom was right--the reunion was great. We all had a wonderful time there. On Friday we drove to Blackfoot for a dinner and fireworks at my Grandma Sorensen's assisted living center. We all had a good laugh at the fireworks in the daylight (they couldn't wait for dark, because it would be past the old people's bedtime). It was good for my kids to see my grandma again (she's their last living great grandparent).

Saturday we all slept in, then headed to the reunion just after lunch. We sat around and visited for a while, then the fun began. All the kids joined in on races.




They had a race for each age group, then gave out medals to the winners. The medals were really cute--my aunt glued a gold dollar coin on the 1st place ribbons, a half dollar on the 2nd place ribbons, and a quarter on the 3rd place. My kids represented our family well. In the racing, all the kids took first place in their age group (except Sara, who took second place because she was in the same age group as Josh).






Scott and I even took medals in our races (the men's under 35 race and the pregnant women's race).


Hanging out between the races. Josh and Aaron both found sticks that were great for digging holes in the dirt.




Next was the baseball toss. Aaron and Josh took first place again, and Savannah and Nate took second (poor Sara was competing against a bunch of boys). By this time, Nate was getting really tired. He wasn't such a fan of his second medal.







Next came the whipped cream game. You get a glob of whipped cream on your wrist, then you are supposed to hit your arm with your other hand, making the cream fly up into the air, and then catch it in your mouth. The kids had a great time with this game. (Nate skipped the flipping it in the air, and just ate the cream right off his hand.)













And after filling up on whipped cream, the kids had fun climbing this old tree.





Around 5, I took Nate and Aaron and went back to Aberdeen with my parents so the boys could nap. Scott stayed with the older three kids and let them swim for a few hours. Then it was time for fireworks. My sister Linda came to watch them with us. The kids were all chilled from swimming, so they bundled up in blankets in my parents driveway and we watched while Scott put on a good little fireworks show for us.




Sunday we opted to sleep in with the kids while my parents went to their 9 o'clock church. The kids were so tired--Savannah slept in till a quarter to noon. After my parents got back from church, we got packed up and headed back to the family reunion again. Sara asked where we were going and when I told her we were going back to the reunion, she said, "Why? We already met those relatives!" We had another good afternoon there. They had a big family dinner, then we participated in the auction. People bring things they have made or bought, and they auction it off for money to pay for the next year's reunion. We came away with some delicious homemade caramels and chocolates made by my Aunt Wanda, and each kid got to bid on and win something they had their eye on (Aaron's was a little $3 plastic golf set from Walmart that we paid a ridiculous $23 for at the auction--but he had a great time bidding against another little boy). After the auction, the kids got to take turns hitting a pinata and got a handful of candy to take home in the car. Needless to say, the kids were pretty tired from the weekend of fun, and most of the car ride was quiet. (Till they woke up and decided they were all sick of being strapped in their seats and complained the last hour of the drive.)