Reunion

We've been reunioning...yes, it's a word (although spellcheck doesn't seem to agree). It means to visit, mingle and eat with loads of family in small amounts of time. Dutch oven is usually involved to some extent or another, along with lots of hugging. You usually leave utterly exhausted and need 2-3 days as a hermit once home to detox yourself and all of your belongings. But, oh how I love to mingle and catch up. It's all worth the exhaustion and lack of showering.

This delightful do is what we like to call Reunion Dreads. All it takes is a few days in the hills with no showering or brushing and lots of sunscreen, bug spray, dirt, wind, helmet-wearing and the occasional toss and turn at night.

My version was a bit easier. It involved more brushing, and lots less dirt and whipping of the wind.

Here we have the boy variation along with morning eyes and a cereal bowl...

Q's naps were a bit difficult to manage in the hills, but I persevered. He did pretty well considering he was getting a top snaggle tooth the whole time and I didn't even know it. (Snaggle tooth meaning not one of the top middles, but one to the side...it's quite lopsided looking and will make for some great pictures once it has fully materialized.)

Check out our glorious view... it made us burst into songs such as "The Hills are Alive" and "In the Meadow We Can Build a Tent".

Another requisite.

Dennis would wait in various transportation devices the entire time we were reunioning, from a 4 wheeler, to the topless Geo, to a Rhino etc. He would sit and buckle or apply helmet and sunglasses and try and guilt some poor sap into taking him on yet another ride. At which point he would yell "Faster, faster...like a roller coaster!", and if they did not oblige to his faster-requests, he would tell the sad story of how s-l-o-w they went all over camp. He also LOVED my grandparents and their motor home and would follow them around endlessly asking question after question, turning on lights, trying out the beds and generally musing about the coolness of the whole motor-home idea.

And then some of the Clampits, as Gramps likes to call the bunch of us.

And then here we have a most-of-the-group-shot. A few of the menfolk were on a 4 wheeling expedition and missed out on the blessed event. Oh well. Such is life.

If you notice, a few of the little ones are all staring in my direction (far left). I was wondering why and then realized they were most likely watching me as I was setting the camera, yelling instructions and then running like a maniac to my spot. Also, I did not have a tripod, so we improvised with an ice chest atop a chair. It worked.

Here's a shot during placement that I thought was fun.

After we were home and settled Mr. C and I were talking about the fun he had camping and such. He told me about his adventures on the 4 wheelers with Uncle This or Cousin That. I lamented that I didn't get a chance to go on any 4 wheeler rides during this particular trip. He told me it was okay since I most likely went on lots as a kid. I told him that I didn't really get the chance much. He quickly replied with, "Well, 4 wheelers probably weren't invented back then". THANKS! WOW! Just how old does he think I am , anyway?