Family Reunion at Lake Chelan

We had our first official "Robert & Susan Grover" family reunion this past week. We went over the mountains to Lake Chelan and enjoyed much fun in the sun! Aaron & Courtney came with Hank and Max. Andy & Britney traveled from Arkansas with Baylee and Sydney. Tim drove from Rexburg with Katelyn and Claire. Robyn, D, Macie and Hailey came to spend a couple of days with us in Seattle first, then we all left together to head over to Chelan.

We stayed in a home with a beautiful view, with plenty of room for us all. Every morning we woke up and this was the scene we saw. I could have sat on the deck for hours just watching people on the lake with their boats and jet ski's. Reading would have been a pleasure too, but there was no time for that! This was all about spending time with family. Enjoying every moment, trying to store them all in my minds memory bank so I'll never forget any of it.

I took over 250 pictures on this trip! I wanted to capture everything. It's been hard choosing which pictures to post and which to save for another time. It may seem like I've posted them all, but really, it's just a few! So, here we go.....


Macie, Hank and Baylee sitting on our front porch at home waiting until it was time to go! Cousins getting acquainted with each other....it was just to cute.


My most favorite picture of all. Eight of our most precious gifts.
Katelyn, Claire, Baylee, Sydney, Max, Hank, Hailey and Macie.
We missed you Adi, Seth and Luke! Grandma thought about you all the time and wished you could have been here with us.




Grandpa giving piggy back rides! I'm not sure what got into him, but I liked it!


Monday morning we headed off to Banjo Creek Farms. Robyn had done some research on places to take kids and this was one that made our list. It was really very small, but the kids loved it. The goats were very friendly, so were the horses. The little dog on the farm even put on a show for us jumping on the back of one of the horses. It made the kids laugh!




In the afternoon we headed for the Lake. For fun, we rented a couple of jet ski's. We all took turns and got our fill of riding around. Even the little kids got to take a turn with their dad's. I couldn't believe how brave they were. They all loved it! When we weren't out on the lake we were in it. I bought lots and lots of water toys and everyone had so much fun with them. Thank you Fred Meyer for your wonderful sale!


Tuesday we went to a local water park. It was small, but great fun. We just spread ourselves out and enjoyed the day. It was the perfect park for little kids. They had some slides that were just the right size for them to go down alone. The smiles on their faces were perfect! Everyone thought this was the best part of the week. We all had a super dooper time at the Water Park!

Tuesday night a storm began to roll in. We could see if off in the distance coming towards us. We all went out on the deck to watch. You could see the rain coming down into the lake. It was actually really cool. But, there was thunder and lightening with the storm. We saw lightening strike right across the lake from where we were staying and it started a couple of fires in the hills. We couldn't believe how fast the fires spread. All of a sudden sirens were everywhere. Hank was in heaven! We watched it until we went to bed. Something we've never seen before. Luckily, morning came and the fires were out. Smoke was still smoldering, but the danger was over. Thanks goodness for Fire Fighters!

Wednesday we went to a park on the Columbia river and the guys played baseball. That was what Tim really wanted to do. Aaron borrowed some softball equipment and the guys and an Home Run Derby. I think they all had a blast, didn't get any pictures of that though...I was playing with the kids on the playground. We ate lunch there then came home for some serious naptime. Something we hadn't gotten too much of.

For dinner that night we BBQ'd down by the lake. The kids had fun swinging, Grandpa too! Andy and Britney made a delicious chicken dinner that everyone devoured!


Next is just some random pictures that I couldn't leave out! So, I fit them in here!

Aaron snoozing with Sydney

Hank and Hailey

Uncle D & Hank





Sisters!

Hailey and Sydney

A smile from Claire

Beautiful Katelyn

Typical Max...a smile on his face!

Don't know to many Dad's who would attempt a trip alone with two kids. Tim did it though! He's a great Dad....his kids love him and he loves them.

At the beach!

Love those smiles!

Brothers.

Hailey and Grandpa

I really did play with my grandkids too! No one took any pictures of me though!

One of my favorite things about being together was watching my kids loving their nieces and nephews. Memories were made. Aunts and Uncles will be remembered for showing love and kindness....and being fun!

Robyn and D left Chelan for Rexburg. On our way home we stopped in Leavenworth for a little while. We ate lunch at a yummy Italian restaurant and then spent some time looking in shops, eating ice-cream and a little candy! Tim left us after lunch to head back home. We were glad he came with us so we could see him and the kids for a little longer.

Friday we headed off to Seattle to watch the Blue Angels. Aaron, Courtney and Bob watched them front and center on Lake Washington. Andy, Britney and I watched them from a parking lot! We lost each other trying to find parking! Sydney got hungry so we just stopped at a shopping center so she could eat. Luckily, the Blue Angels flew right over top of the car! So, we just stood out and watched them. It was perfect, but no pictures.

We ate at a new place in town called "Five Guys." It was as good as In and Out! We took a picture of the fries sign because it said the potatoes were from Driggs!

Love this picture! Barbie...aka....Baylee! Cute, huh!?

So, that was our trip. Everyone is gone now. The house is quiet. No one is messing anything up. Sad. We love our family! Thanks to you all for coming. We loved being with you, spending time with you and making memories with you. Hope we can do it again...maybe next time everyone can come. That would be awesome.