We drove up to Boise on Wednesday afternoon and stayed at my sister Marisa's. Marisa is the one who was in charge of the reunion this year. So she found the place, got all the food, made all the food, and came up with an "Olympic" theme for our reunion. She is always so creative and organized so of course it came together very well! Cascade is about 2 hours north of Boise, and is a very pretty drive in the canyons along the North Fork River. Cascade has a manmade lake and is pretty much a tourist town. We left Thursday afternoon and got to the cabin around 4. Marisa and Justin found a vacation rental place that rents out cabins and condos. We were able to get a great deal on a HUGE cabin that overlooked the lake. It sleeps up to 25 people, and has a game room, movie theatre, and a covered deck that spans the back of the house and has a great view of the lake. After we got there, unpacked, and got dinner started, a few people headed down to the lake to check it out.
When they came back....they were all wet! They just could wait any longer to get into the lake!
Here's grandma hanging out on the deck with the two youngest cousins, Mayci and Kaylee. Pretty soon though, Matt and Nat will have the youngest cousin! And we are so excited!!
This is the view from the deck of the house. We spent a lot of time in the back yard, hitting balls with golf clubs, playing catch, and the slip and slide. It was a short walk to the beach and dock. The sunsets were amazing and weather was perfect!
The next day we put our suits on and enjoyed the water some more! Tiffany, Chris, and Marisa had a blast.....can you tell???
Nice form Nick.....
Carson even loved jumping of the dock!
Once Kaylee woke up from her nap she came and played with us on the beach and the water. She loved it!
That morning we also had our "Opening Ceremonies", which was supposed to take place Thursday Night, but since my sister Tiffany and her family didn't make it until late Thursday night, we decided to postpone it until Friday morning. We each had to pick a country to represent. We did Canada, just because we had been there and I had shirts for all of us but Kaylee to wear. We found out the baseball glove was invented in Canada, so for our talent portion, we sang "Take me out to the ball game". Carson and Kaylee are pros at singing that song so it was so cute to see them sing it!
Other countries were USA, Sweden, Argentina, and France. My Mom, Dad, and Chris did a cute skit, Marisa and her family sang and played guitar, Matt & Nat sang and played guitar, and Tiffany's family did a cute song with audience participation. In between countries, we also had a magic show....or something like that....from a few people. The kids thought it was the greatest!!
To finish off the Opening Ceremonies/Talent Show, Marisa, Tiffany, Chris and Myself sang a song called Mealtime Manners. When I was little, maybe 7 or so, my mom taught my sisters and I this song, and we would preform it at the nursing home or any other function my mom was in charge of. So it was so funny to do this with my siblings, 20 years later!!! I have it on video, and someday I will try and post it on my blog, because I didn't get the best pictures of it, and you can't tell exactly what we were doing. But it was classic!!!!
After that, while we got lunch ready, we had a dance party.....we all got into it!! (My family is kinda weird that way I guess!!)
We also did tie dye shirts...red white & blue!! 
I had never done tie dye before, so it was interesting to see how it is done. It is a bit messy, but kinda fun! We had to dye them outside so we wouldn't make a mess inside....Nick's tarp he brought up for the slip n slide, worked great for a drop clothe!
The next day, after they had time to wash and dry, we went to the local flea market.....wearing our matching tie dye shirts. Well, most of us....I guess a few of us thought they were too cool to wearing matching shirts with the rest of the dorky family! ;)
I couldn't find Kaylee a small plain tshirt, without buying a 5 pack, so I found this cute little white top at walmart....it turned out cute tie dyed.
Us and our cool shirts.....with the pretty lake in the background!!
Marisa has some good friends who were nice enough to bring their boat up on Friday, and take us boating. Oh My....we had a blast!!! The boat was running until after dark, since we were all having so much fun. We took Carson and Kaylee with us, and they loved it!! Kaylee wasn't too bugged by the wind, and really loved it when we got on the tube.
The kids loved being pulled behind the boat, and the faster we went, the bigger they smiled. Brian, the boat owner, did a good job keeping us safe and still having fun!! But once the little kids weren't on the tube, and didn't show us very much mercy!!! I went with Nick, and my brother in law, Justin. We went so stinking fast I was sure I was going to fall off a few times!! And my arms hurt SO bad from holding on so tight!!! Then I went again with my sisters.....that was hilarious!!!! We were all screaming and having the time of our lives!!!
Then I went again with Marisa and Chris....and would have gone again, but my arms were so tired, I could barely lift them to blow my nose!!! So I decided I had better stop before they fall off!!! 
On our way back to shore, we talked my mom into getting on the tube, even though she didn't have a suit on. If it goes slow, or straight you don't get very wet on the tube. But Marisa and Chris ended up sticking their feet in the water making it spray all over mom.......
So she was pretty soaked by the time she got back on the boat!!! It was so funny!
After I got back, I found Carson asleep on the couch....he was so worn out from playing so hard in the water. He took a 2 hour nap on the couch, with everyone there talking, playing, and making noise, but he slept right through it!!
Saturday morning, we made omelets for breakfast.....it a bag!! It is the coolest thing ever! You put all your ingredients into a bag, mix it up, and put it in a pan of boiling water for 13 minutes, and whoola...it is done! Carson was the big helper that morning, and was a pro at mixing up everyones egg bags!
Saturday afternoon, we pulled out the tarp Nick packed and used it for a slip and slide. That was very entertaining for everyone....not just the kids!!!
Yes....even Nick and I played on it.....
Not Natalie....she is carrying precious cargo....and we can't take any chances!!!!! So she did some sun bathing instead!!!
That is Matt....jumping a blow up aligator over Tiffany......Crazy!!
Saturday evening, most of the men went golfing, which was also right across the street from the cabin, and the rest of us and the kids went and saw Harry Potter and the HBP. I was able to leave both Carson and Kaylee home with Grandpa and Natalie....so I really enjoyed the movi
This cabin was so fun....these are just a few of the picture of how neat this place was. The last one is the movie theatre! We played card games, talked, watched movies, worked out, and ate....oh boy did we eat!! We had such yummy food. Hamburgers, dutch oven, salads, desserts, on and on......it was all good!!! We got packed up mostly Saturday night. We went to the Cascade Branch Sacrament Meeting Sunday morning, and then headed straight back to Boise. We stopped in the canyon on our way down to have lunch and enjoy the river view.
It was a long drive home yesterday, and the kids weren't very happy being in the car that long. But it was worth it!! We had so much fun and created so many great memories. I can't wait to do it again!!! Thanks again Ris for putting it together and making it so much fun!!! And thanks to the rest of my family for being there and for being such amazing people! I know we all act like dorks sometimes, but I think that is why we have so much fun together!
4 comments:
Wow! I had fun just reading about your trip. I'm super jealous. Sounds like one of those "we need to do this again" times.
Sounds like such a fun time with your family. We get together every summer for a week at the condos and I have such fond memories from doing that! I look forward to it every year. But after reading about yours I want to try harder to plan actual activities for us to do. So you'll have to give me some ideas!! :)
Wow sounds like a great time! What fun memories you will have!
Fun stuff! Can I come to your family reunion next year?
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