Whiting Reunion

The 2012 reunion was at Cascade Lake again this year but this time it was on the opposite side. A couple years ago while we were there our camping spots were pretty much all different campsites because there were so many trees. This year there were hardly ANY trees so it was very hard to find a spot that would be in the shade. It had it's perks though because it made everyone a lot closer and it was like one giant family campsite instead of a bunch of different ones and then we'd all combine in one. Anyway, since it's such a long drive from our house up to the lake we left a day early and stayed the night at Mom and Dad's house. Troy's family went up early too which made it so fun for Aiden to not only be at Grandma and Grandpa's house but to also have his cousins a day early. Tyson of course went straight to work helping his dad in the garden and yard.

Thursday we left to make the trek to the lake. It was a hard drive with Aiden because he was so anxious to get there and see his other cousins, he hadn't slept super well the night before, and his car seat doesn't move around at all to help him feel comfortable to sleep. It was rough and we had to stop and get out several times. Needless to say, we were all very grateful when we finally arrived at the lake. After we chose a spot for our tent (and moving it several times) we headed down to the lake with the kids. The rest of the reunion was lots of playing and eating and talking and it was great. Unfortunately there was a big explosion fight on one of the nights that had me literally running away carrying Aiden so he wouldn't hear the yelling and feel the horrible tension in the air. While I was running with him I just cried and tried to stay calm while I gathered as many kids as I could to come "play" with us half a mile down the beach. I obviously don't want to go into details but I do want to remember this was THE reunion. Anyway, here are some of the fun pictures:

Aiden was Trevor's little shadow all weekend. He might have actually followed Trevor more than his own shadow did. They were amazing to watch!

Little Taygen thinking he's big enough to dig his own hole like the big boys. So cute!

Aiden and Trevor sunbathing after a dip in the lake.

And switch! They thought it was so funny to get all muddy from the sand.

Mud monster Aiden showing off his big muscles.

One of Aiden's parts of the day was the yummy eggies for breakfast. On this day there were a bunch of leftovers out on a plate for people to help themselves to so Aiden sat down and pulled it in front of him and just started chowing down. He ate an impressive amount of the stack too. Everyone was laughing and cheering him on. This kid LOVES his eggies!!!

Trevor, Trenton, Crandall, and Brigham fishing for minnows (or something)  in a little  pond they dug out. Aiden loved to follow all the big boys down and stomp around in the water.

This picture cracks me up. It was cold enough that Aiden needed pants and a jacket with the hood up but he still couldn't resist the cold water and just walked right in.

Obviously Tyson is just a little kid in a big body so he spent plenty of time fishing with the boys too!

Aunt Jacque planned so many fun activities. One of them was  to paint a pillowcase. Aiden, my little artist, was in heaven having complete control over the paint. He even forgot about the lake for a while!

Uncle Brett is another little boy in a big body so he was more than happy to  turn into the mud monster of Cascade Lake. Probably the boys all thought he was the coolest person in the world at that moment!

Who needs motorized water toys when Dad can just pull you around!?

Trevor is such a great sport to pull Aiden too. I love their relationship so much!

Brayden was awesome with his boogie board (probably not the right name but close enough). He would run from the shore, thrown it in front of him, jump on, and glide. It was so fun to watch.

Like always, my grown up little boy thought he could be just like Brayden and had to try his own moves on his little floaty board. I realize I'm biased but it was just pure adorable.

At first Aiden would just do a little hop in the water and sort of step onto the board, but once he got a little more brave he would actually jump. I love this action shot!

These hot tubs actually got pretty warm. The little kids especially  loved hanging out in the warm water.

Uncle Brett being awesome like usual. Ben and Aiden got to out far out on the lake for the first time  with him and they both loved when he would rock the raft back and forth to splash them a little bit.

We moms were sitting on the beach in our clothes watching the kids and Tyson  came over with buckets full of the soft sand from way down the beach to spread out at our feet. because the area we were sitting was just rocky and nasty. He made it nice and barefoot worthy for us. How cute! I love that boy!

I can't believe this is the only picture I have of the awesome hot tub Bret and Tyson helped the big boys dig out. It was probably at least four feet deep and they even shaped it like a hot tub with various shapes of seats and everything. Then the boys sat in it and when the dam broke, in rushed the lake water clear up to their shoulders! It was pretty sweet!!

Like I said, Jacque planned some great activities for everyone to do. One afternoon we all participated in a giant game of "Minute To Win It". Each team had to decide on three activities for each person to compete in and there were plenty to choose from so it was a completely blast and hilarious to see everyone doing such crazy things instead of just sitting around talking.

Tyson and I were on different teams so it was very exciting when we learned we would be competing against each other in the bubble gum game. Jacque put a piece of bubblicious on a paper plate and buried it in whipped cream. The first person to find the gum and blow a real bubble (harder than it sounds because of the wet whipped cream!) was the winner.

Haha look at my fists. It was serious business trying to beat Tyson!

We were so close but I won!! My bubble had just popped when he got this one out of his mouth. That's my "Oooooh I barely beat you!!" face. :)

In this game, the contestant had to be the first person to knock over the row of bottles using only the baseball hanging in the nylon.

In this game, an empty kleenex box was tied onto the person's back and filled with golf balls. Then they had to jump and shake or do whatever they could to be the first to empty the box. Tyson was funny. He planned out some serious strategy after watching the rounds before him and he even tried a handstand but he still lost haha.

After watching everyone else, including Dad, do the jumping game, Aiden begged to try it. Look how excited he is waiting for his turn!

Dad's tying on the box getting Aiden all ready to go. He was bursting with anticipation.

And he's off! He was faster than anyone that had already gone. We let him do it more than once because it honestly only took him a handful of jumps before every golf ball popped out. He loved being the center of attention and having everyone clap and cheer for him.

This game was hilarious. Each person had to start with an oreo on their forehead and try to move it down to their mouth without touching it. There were some pretty crazy faces being pulled in the process!

In this game the contestants had to use a straw to move M&Ms from one plate to the other.

Even Grandma had a turn stacking dice on top of a popsicle stick held in her mouth.

I don't know if anyone was successful at this apple stacking game but Ben sure had fun trying!

On the last day some of the big boys got out a remote control truck and let Aiden have a turn with the controller. It was perfect timing because it kept him perfectly busy while we packed up.

And once again Aiden truly felt like he was part of the big boys' group.

Even with the negative aspects of the reunion we still had a blast and were happy we got to go. We feel like we have good relationships with everyone in the family and Aiden has so much fun with all of the cousins...old and young. We can't wait for next year!