Nelson Family Reunion

Like all family reunions; so much time and effort goes into planning them, and they go by TOO fast.

 In July we flew to Illinois to go to my family's reunion.  I haven't been back with the boys since 2007!!  That means Breck has never been to my parent's home.  I hate to admit this.  It's horrible I know.  We usually have my parents come out here to visit.  Because of this fact I wanted to be there longer than the planned reunion.  We got to spend a week out there.  The nice thing was all of my siblings came early!  

Here are some of the things we did:

My dad collects pocket knives.  It has become a bonding thing with the kids and grandkids.  We gather around to look at them as he tells the specs about it.  His knowledge about them is amazing.  Anyone that was interested got to receive a pocketknife from him.  I know my boys TREASURE them. 

We got to spend an afternoon at the pool of a family friend down the street.  Poor Lochlan didn't like the feeling of not being able to touch the bottom.  The older kids loved trying to catch a thrown ball before hitting the water.  Tatia even got a water aerobics session going!

Unfortunately, I don't live near my brothers & sisters.  So I tried to spend time with cutie pies Joseph and Lochlan.  ( I let my mom spend time with Eli...the grandson she hasn't seen yet since her mission).  It cracks me up that Joseph's hair is just like Nate's was....straight and hard to style.  Literally, Joseph's gelled mohawk fell after a few moments.

How cute is that.. Kaia comforting Breck.

Friends of my parents have a 'lake' in their neighborhood they invited us to.  We were happy to spend another hot day in the water!

My two awesome sisters...Nann & Nissa.  I'm very blessed to have an older and younger sister.

Alyssa is awesome and came even though she is due in August.  I wanted to surprise her and have a simple baby shower with the girls.  Her husband is Japanese, and she also loves the culture and speaks it.  I was THRILLED when I found a tutorial online for baby items wrapped like sushi.  Her sisters helped me make those....they turned out great.

I had to lovingly rub it in that Matt & Kimra would soon be grandparents!  They had a blind folded diaper race....Matt won.

                                         The sisters competing in a bottle drinking race. 

And who doesn't love the candy bar poo in a diaper game. 

Us adults were cracking up that the cousins of all ages loved wathching Shaun the Sheep on Netflix.  

One of our organized activities was to go downtown to The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.  Wow!  lots to see.  Most of us went to see the paid Myth Busters exhibit.  Hudson did well and was chosen to test the validity of dodging a bullet.  He was able to move away from a paint ball from a certain distance. 

All the cousins (minus the teenage girls) slept in my parents' living room.  It was remarkable how Mom & Nann got enough mattresses, couches, and bedding.  The kids enjoyed being able to sleep together.  Our last day when we were cleaning things up Lilly, Gavin, and Breck had fun jumping around.

Tatia and I with Eli.  The youngest Nelson Grandbaby.  He is famous for being the biggest grandbaby....11 lbs 4 oz!  Come to think of it, we should have given Mindy a trophy for that :)

During the reunion my mom had us go through and choose things that we would like that belonged to our grandparents.  It was a lot of fun, and luckily we have different tastes so the process went very smoothly.  In the additude of cleaning out the house and handing things down to the next generation us sisters were happy to give these bunnies to our daughters/nieces.  Back in the day us girls sewed all these bunnies and the clothes for them.  It was very sweet to see the little girls fall in love with them so quickly.  They named them and played with them immediately!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!