Family Reunion

Though we were only "in-laws", we were happy to be invited to join in on some of the fun of Kelsey's family reunion (her mother's side of the family). We drove down to the Texas State University's Campground, near Wimberley, TX, yesterday. We got there around 2:15 in the afternoon and stayed until 8:30 p.m.

It's a beautiful part of Texas, known as The Hill Country, and the campground facilities are perfect for a large group like this. One of Kelsey's cousins, John, and his wife are the caretakers. The family had use of the bunkhouse, which had a kitchen, a large room for relaxing, talking and eating, and bunks and bathrooms for the entire family.

The Blanco River flows through the campground, and it was a huge hit with everyone, but especially the kids, who spent a good part of each of their days in the water.

This hole in the river is known as The Bath Tub, and it was a favorite spot for cooling off for Clara and Robert

Swim clothes drying on the fence

There was lots of food - snacks sitting around all day and lots to choose from at dinner time: grilled hot dogs, burgers, frito pie, and grilled vegetables. 

Do you see how close Clara is to my height?!

We thought we'd be heading home right after dinner, since it was a good two-hour drive, but when we learned that Robert was going to get his turn at the climbing wall and the zip line that evening, we had to stay to see that.

Before the zip line, though, we gathered the kids together for several sets of pictures. Here are a few of them from my camera. There were half-a-dozen cameras clicking away, so there are probably some better ones.

All of the cousins from this generation

They only sat still for the first picture because of the promise of a "silly picture" afterward

These are Kelsey's folks, Bev and Doug, and their eight grandchildren

And these are us with the two (very special) grands that we share with Bev and Doug

Clara and Robert

This is Clara and her Oregon cousin, Lilly. They are close to the same age and get along splendidly.

With the picture-taking out of the way, the kids were anxious to get to the zip line. Most of them had gotten a turn the evening before, but some - including Robert - had missed out when it got too dark to do it safely. John (Kelsey's caretaker cousin) and his wife are trained in the ropes course, and were running the show. Since we needed to get on the road, John agreed to let Robert be first this time around.

He had no hesitation, and tackled the challenge like a trooper!

Helmet on

Harnessed up

And away he goes!

Double-checking the harness

Waiting for the signal

And he's off!

A thumbs-up signal after his turn. He loved it, and came off of it saying, "That was FUN!"

Staying to see Robert meet his challenge was the high point of the day, and Dan and I both agreed that we wouldn't have missed it for the world, even though it made it 10:30 before we got home.

Family reunions like this are not something I grew up with, since my family was small and spread out from north to south. I'm so happy that Clara and Robert will grow up with tons of shared memories of summer reunions together with all their cousins.