Redneck Family Reunion

A few weeks ago we took a road trip to Seattle to get down with our redneck selves.  I mean, to enjoy a family reunion.

Our kids are great road-trippers.  Yes, that's a term.  They get practice starting from the womb.  It's an 8-hour drive (when you don't have a nursing baby) and we usually only make one stop to eat/gas/potty.  We made two stops this time.  I drove almost the whole way.

Me:  Those are such pretty tree groves.
Me:  Wait, don't I usually only see those tree groves when we are driving to Portland?
Me:  Brian!  Wake up!  I think I missed our turnoff.

It was a lovely conversation.  At least it only added about 30 minutes to our trip.  The missed turnoff, that is, not the conversation.  Moving on...

The reunion was held at my parent's / brother's property.  Most people set up tents and roughed it, but I only agreed to go on the condition that I could stay in a house.  There are three houses on the property, so I figured my chances were good.  Thankfully the whole my-car-barely-fits-all-my-kids-let-alone-camping-gear plea worked.  Or maybe it was I-have-a-teeny-tiny-baby-who-poops-in-a-bag-and-couldn't-possibly-be-exposed-to-inclimate-seattle-weather that worked.  Either way, we slept in a house.

I was terrible about taking pictures on this trip.  I was too busy nursing and sitting and playing pickle ball.  And running and leading people in boot camp.  And playing more pickle ball.  I am ready to dig up my entire yard and replace it with a sport court.  I heart pickle ball.

I did get pictures, however, of the ultimate redneck event.  Ultimate Slip 'N' Slide.

This was not your mama's slip n slide.  This was about 200 feet of visqueen rolled down a huge hill.  Two hoses.  And a giant bottle of baby shampoo.

This also doubled as bath time for all the kids.

Another highlight for the kids was the golf cart that one of my uncles brought.  Who would have thought that a golf cart could entertain for hours on end?  It was amazing.  There were usually no less than 9 people on it at a time.  Any time an adult tried to drive off with it, a swarm of kids would come running and jump on.

Emma will forever remember this summer as the summer she learned how to drive.  I remember being her age and being allowed to drive a golf cart on vacation at a resort.  I couldn't believe my parents were actually allowing me to drive it, and it was such a thrill.

This is behind the scenes at the family photo shoot.  Believe it or not, we were actually missing quite a few people.  But we did the best we could and got some family shots.

This is great-grandpa and grandma with maybe 3/4 of their great-grand kids.

It was a great weekend of hanging with extended family.  We can't wait for next year!