Well, we did it! Our little branch of the family had 24 people there, we were only missing 8, so I think that is a pretty good turn-out. We left Thursday morning and it took nearly 11 hours to get down to the homestead (now I remember why we don't go there very often). We met Laura, Jackie, and Beth there, and Donna and Jolyn had already got there also. We had 8 tents, 3 shade/rain canopies, and about 20 coolers. Oh yeah, did I mention that of those 24 people we had 6 kids between the ages of 18 months and 5 years?
On Friday morning we headed straight up to the infamous rope swing. This swing is located on an old growth pine on the side of Sierra Trigo (a very steep, extinct volcano). So you hold on to the rope, run down the mountain and let the rope swing you way out and around. It is quite a workout, but true to all the kids before them Matt and Erik loved it!
Here is Erik on the rope swing
On Friday morning we headed straight up to the infamous rope swing. This swing is located on an old growth pine on the side of Sierra Trigo (a very steep, extinct volcano). So you hold on to the rope, run down the mountain and let the rope swing you way out and around. It is quite a workout, but true to all the kids before them Matt and Erik loved it!Here is Erik on the rope swingAfter lunch we had a chance to drive up and see Little Giant spring (about 3 miles away) where the homestead gets its water. Back when my Great Grandfather homesteaded he boxed in the spring and line sited the pipe all the way back to the homestead. Then we went up to where he had a sawmill, there isn't very much left, but it was great to see where it was.
Matt and Evan on the remains of their Great, great, great grandfather's sawmill
Janna and Erik climbing on it too
My children also discovered my favorite lizard, horny toads, we even brought a few home.
Of course on Saturday morning, started the horseshoe tournament, my cousin's Brian and Brent won the men's again this year, and their wives won the women's.
Scott and Donna hitting a few ball in the shadow of Sierra Trigo
Anna conned the kids into shagging balls for her, about 4 times.
My second cousin had a candy canon, which shot candy about 100 feet at the kids, here is Nancy and Janna hunting for candy!
Cute Anna and Beth, but the glasses make you look a little like sleestacks
Faith taking her duck for a walk.Ok, for us the pinnacle of the reunion came on Saturday night. We had volunteered for the program back in March (it seemed like a good idea back then). We attempted an old fashioned melodrama, it would have helped if we all knew our lines. Thank goodness for Jolyn over on the side prompting. The only problem was that there was so much ad-libing that she had trouble even knowing where the heck we were!!
So here I am holding my plastic six shooters on Casey and Scott, while Jason looks on!
Here is Nancy (after revealing herself as an outlaw), Jackie, Emily, Erik and Beth
So, we finally packed up on Monday morning, I offered Matt 2 cans of silly string if he would go around and pick up all the little candy wrappers on the ground, he looked at me very skeptically and then said, "What color?" That made me laugh so after he picked them all up he actually got five cans, which he promptly shared with his brothers.
Jason made us all breakfast on the infamous pancake griddle and then we headed out.
I decided that since I was in the area I would stop by the family section of the St. Johns Cemetery. This is the headstone of the woman I was named after, my Grandpa's second wife, Aliceson Darwin, who died of TB on her 26th birthday. She had given birth about a month earlier and her baby died two weeks after her death. So we were walking around and I was taking pictured of the headstones when.....
yeah...I fell into a grave. The ground had settled below what looked like a layer of weedblock and down I went into my Dad's cousin's grave. OK, it was a baby named Lee Whiting, second child of my Great Uncle Eddie. The little boy died right after he was born in 1909. I will admit I screamed when that happened. There went my spiritual moment, here I was attempting to connect my children and their ancestors and now all they will remember is that time when Mom fell into the grave! Sorry Lee.
So, we finally packed up on Monday morning, I offered Matt 2 cans of silly string if he would go around and pick up all the little candy wrappers on the ground, he looked at me very skeptically and then said, "What color?" That made me laugh so after he picked them all up he actually got five cans, which he promptly shared with his brothers.Jason made us all breakfast on the infamous pancake griddle and then we headed out.
I decided that since I was in the area I would stop by the family section of the St. Johns Cemetery. This is the headstone of the woman I was named after, my Grandpa's second wife, Aliceson Darwin, who died of TB on her 26th birthday. She had given birth about a month earlier and her baby died two weeks after her death. So we were walking around and I was taking pictured of the headstones when.....yeah...I fell into a grave. The ground had settled below what looked like a layer of weedblock and down I went into my Dad's cousin's grave. OK, it was a baby named Lee Whiting, second child of my Great Uncle Eddie. The little boy died right after he was born in 1909. I will admit I screamed when that happened. There went my spiritual moment, here I was attempting to connect my children and their ancestors and now all they will remember is that time when Mom fell into the grave! Sorry Lee.
So, other than that little incident, the trip to the cemetery was pretty neat, it turned out that both my Great grandma and Grandpa Whiting were buried there, as well as my Great Great Grandma, Mary Elizabeth Cox Whiting.
Well, this has been a really long post, but reunions are a big deal with my family, and we will be all charged up for the next one, in 2011, and I promised Scott to not volunteer for anything!!
