9/3/15

Wilson Reunion 2015 - July 3-6

 The 'official' reunion didn't start until Friday night, but we all got to Hurricane Tuesday night, so it pretty much started on Wednesday morning.   Luke decided we all needed to play in the river, so we headed to Virgin to play in the mud/river.  Probably the favorite part of the entire reunion was the chance to ride in the back of the truck (according to my kids, "just like the Guatemalans").
 Noah's head.  It was funny watching all the kids' heads floating down the river. 


 Grace already getting leery of the water. She does NOT like the water.


 The kids had tons of fun walking up the river and then floating back down, over and over again.



 
 Adam teaching Brooke how to walk up the river.
 Grace was not happy with her dad for making her go 'in' the water.
 Scariest part about the river......you can't see ANYTHING under it.  Can you find Noah in the picture above (you can barely see his hair)?
 Uncle Luke teaching Grant how to chuck mud at the walls.

 Eli found a nice shady resting spot, so peaceful.........until
 all his nieces and nephews found him.
 How sweet, they treated him to a mud treatment.  Now he doesn't have to visit the spa.

 The brown mud wasn't enough, so they found the black clay mud to add.

 Noah loves these type of outings.
 This cute thing is happiest when she has food in her cute little hands.  You'll notice this trend with little Grace throughout this post.
 Cousins!  Can it get any better?!  Good call, uncle Luke.  The river was lots of fun.
 Nothing comes between Grace and her food.

 This wasn't part of the reunion, but while some of the cousins went home for some down time, the kids and I (and Kate) went swimming at my moms.


 The Bringhurst cousins came over to swim with us, and uncle Ty threw all the kids, until he ended up having to jump in to attack Madi.
 
 Then a water fight ensued.

 
 The party continued at grandma Connie's for a pizza dinner.  Friday night was supposed to be the official Wilson reunion kick off at the Hurricane city pool, but there was a lighting strike or two so they told us we couldn't come.  Grandma Connie's neighbor (also Connie) is so sweet and let us invade her pool for the evening.



 Takes a lot of life guards to keep this wild group safe.
 Aunt Leah is a kid magnet.  Always has 2-15 kids attached to her at all times.
 The much anticipated arrival of Erin and James Michael.  We were all excited and anxious to meet them, and man did Eli hit the jack pot with them.  We love them both and can't wait for them to become official Wilsons.
 Beth putting on her charm to convince James Michael we're not too scary.  
 Saturday was the big production.  Leah and Beth were in charge of helping the kids put on a play.  The kids wanted it to be about the Tunnel Trio (a story that Leah has been telling the kids for a couple years), so they came up with the plot, costumes, and even made up a song. The kids pretty much did all of it by themselves.  Pretty impressed with what they came up with.
 The narrator
 Sergioby got the lead role and Melvin the Mole, although he didn't get a speaking part. :)
 All the actors singing "We Are the Tunnel Trio" accompanied by Leah on the banjo.  Words by Charlotte Yang. 

 They got to perform at the Hurricane Performing Arts center, so it was all sorts of official.  Once I get the video of it, I'll post it.  It was pretty awesome.


 They all came out for their final bows and Lionel thought he needed to strip and show off his muscles. Funny kid.
 Sorry for the spooky eyes, the audience was in the dark for the performance.
 The costumes were unique.
 Noah was a snake.
 They started adding scales, but got sick of it 1/4 of the way down the leggings.

 After the performance we headed back to grandma's for the Wilson Olympics.  Our shirts this year were sports tees, and Mary painted a big 'W' on the front, and each of the kids had their name and number (birth order) on the backs.  My kids still wear theirs all the time.



 Let's get this competition started.
 First round: ball dribble.  I think Brooke won this one with 1 1/2 dribbles.  Only Sergioby can dribble a soccer ball. :)

 Next up: Standing long jump.  I think Noah won this one, but I can't really remember. Maybe Freddie?







 The adults always have to try the long jump. 
 3rd event: Ball toss.
 4th event: obstacle course (quite an extensive one too - crawl to the tree, skip to the slide, climb the stairs, make your way to the slide, go down the slide, jump on the tramp, roll to the basketball hoop, make a basket and then run back). It would have taken me probably twice as long as the kids.

 
 Sweet little Rosie didn't want to be left out, so she even did the obstacle course.

 The last event was a whistling contest: Amelia won that one.  She can whistle really loud.  Aunt Mary had the kids do pass the orange for those that wanted to do more events.
 Awards ceremony time

 Aunt Jana made the medals and had treats for all the participants.

 My kids sure are going to miss uncle Eli when he moves to Arizona, but we are so happy for him and Erin (and James Michael).



 It was James Michael's birthday, so we had lots of cake.  He didn't want anything to do with the cake or songs, he only wanted the truck on the cake!

 Amazing sunset on our way to see the fireworks.
 Everyone piling into Luke's truck to go watch some fireworks.

 We went to Jan's brothers cul de sac to watch some fireworks and do sparklers.





We finished off the night by watching the city fireworks behind my dads business. 
 Sunday, we all went to baby Lucy's baby blessing.  Afterward we had a family picture (haven't edited any of these, but promise will get all the Wilsons a copy once they're done) and then back to grandma Connie's for lunch.  It was grandma's watering turn, so her yard was like a lake.  I told the kids they couldn't get wet, because it was Sunday, but obviously they obeyed really well.
 This is more like us.
 See, she fits right in.

 Monday morning, we finished off the reunion with a swimming party at my moms house.
 Cute squishy baby Lucy.





 Having some fun with the underwater camera.









 Min made us a yummy lunch - Salmon.




Princess Grace had a birthday on Monday, so we got to help her celebrate with donuts. She was very pleased.






Ava loves my moms cats!!
It was such a great reunion!  The kids are getting a little older, so they play well by themselves and love it. Thanks Mary and Min for arranging everything, and Con and Rob for being such excellent hosts.  Thanks Luke and Jan for letting my family crash at your house, we always feel so comfortable staying with you guys.  Good thing Eli found such a great girl to marry, because it's his turn to plan the reunion.........or are we counting his wedding as the reunion?


9 comments:

ellisgomez said...

I love the Wilsons! What a party :)

Mary said...

Summer that unedited family picture doesn't need editing! I can see everyone's eyes, what a miracle! Thanks for sharing these so we can relive the good times.

mammasweet said...

Summer, I have the video of the play! How do I get it to you? This was great- I haven't seen some of your pictures. I love you very much and agree that Erin and James Michael are going to be perfect Wilson kids.

Summer said...

Squaggle - probably send the file through googledrive, or upload to youtube and then send me the link.

Leah Wilson said...

My favorite part of the summer for sure! It was so fun. My favorite pic is Eli and Erin and James Michael walking away after family pics behind my church. So cute. Thanks for sharing punjab. PS this is beth not leah. not sure why I have her account open. hmmm.

ateaspoonofsugar said...

So you need to plan the first ever Ballard reunion. Looks like tons of fun, and tons of work!

Anonymous said...

Ah! Summer! This brought tears to my eyes! This was such a wonderful, fun trip and I am so glad we got to be a part of it! Such great pictures too :) And no the wedding doesn't count as the reunion - it's just an extra bonus time that we get to see all you beautiful people again ;) Eli and I are already planning next year's shindig!

Unknown said...

Yikes! I need to lose some weight. I sure felt better than I looked during that day at the river.

Great work, Punjab! And mom, I have some videos of the singing.

Unknown said...

Yikes! I need to lose some weight. I sure felt better than I looked during that day at the river.

Great work, Punjab! And mom, I have some videos of the singing.