Okay, so here is the rundown of the 2nd family reunion of the summer. It all began with my beautiful little sister's wedding reception. She and her husband were married earlier this summer, but they live in Texas, so they planned their Idaho reception for right before the family reunion, so everyone would be around. Welcome to the family, Wes!
They held it in my Grandma's lovely backyard. Seriously, my Grandma has two green thumbs, and probably green toes, too (ummmm... that sounded a little gross. Sorry Grandma!) Her yard is beautiful, over an acre in size, and she does all the work on it herself. She's in her 80's now, and it's starting to be a bit too much for her. I'm 50 years younger than her, and it would be too much for me. Then again, I kill houseplants, so my odds of success on an entire ecosystem are slim.
Then, the next day, a few of us went whitewater rafting. Well, actually, Isaac and I drove the shuttle and picked everyone up at the end of the run. I didn't mind because I'm not much of a whitewater enthusiast. See the photo above? That kind of action makes me a little bit nervous. This photo isn't of anyone I know. It was the group that came down the chute just before our group. I was taking some practice shots to find the best place to shoot from. They caught much more water than our group.
While we were waiting for our group to appear, we watched these guys SURFING the rapids. It was incredibly cool and incredibly freaky at the same time. When they fell, they'd just hold on to their board, point their feet downstream, and ride out the rapid, then swim to the shore and go back up to try it again. I'd never seen that done before. Pretty ingenious. I guess if you like to surf, but live in the mountains of Idaho, you use what you have.
Eventually, we got tired of the surfers and decided to do a self-portrait while we waited. We were going for an abstract look. I think I'll call it 'Toddler with a cheesy camera smile'.
Finally, they arrived. Here's Rick and my new brother-in-law heading down the river with my sister-in-law's dad. Notice the lack of legs and paddles flying, and the total lack of soaking? Stinkers.
And here's the raft being guided by my baby brother. He missed the big hole on purpose. I don't blame him, since his eight year old daughter was in the raft on her first whitewater trip. I don't blame him, but I still am stuck using complete strangers for the "soak" photo. Grrrrrrr.....
The next day, we set off for the City of Rocks for the official get-together. It was an incredibly warm, incredibly dusty, but incredibly fun time. The kids couldn't get enough of climbing on all the rock formations, and that was the main reason we chose this spot. We knew they'd love it. We were not proved wrong.
We had a water fight for the kids on one of the afternoons with some plastic tubs filled with water. They'd just finished the wonderful treasure hunt that my brother-in-law put together for them, and they were soaking their little dinosaur capsules, waiting for them to hatch. This was serious business, and had to be completed before the fun of the water fight could get started.
Congratulations! It's a baby Foamosaur!
But then it was time to get to the main attraction. Grandpa was a major target for the grandkids, as you can see by the state of his clothing. The kids played and enjoyed themselves, while most of the adults tried to keep cool in the "off limits" area under one of the sunshades. I think they should have joined in. It would have cooled them down.
It really was a beautiful place, but I think next time we'll go in September. (Stay tuned, there's still one more reunion to cover for the Summer).
They held it in my Grandma's lovely backyard. Seriously, my Grandma has two green thumbs, and probably green toes, too (ummmm... that sounded a little gross. Sorry Grandma!) Her yard is beautiful, over an acre in size, and she does all the work on it herself. She's in her 80's now, and it's starting to be a bit too much for her. I'm 50 years younger than her, and it would be too much for me. Then again, I kill houseplants, so my odds of success on an entire ecosystem are slim. 
Then, the next day, a few of us went whitewater rafting. Well, actually, Isaac and I drove the shuttle and picked everyone up at the end of the run. I didn't mind because I'm not much of a whitewater enthusiast. See the photo above? That kind of action makes me a little bit nervous. This photo isn't of anyone I know. It was the group that came down the chute just before our group. I was taking some practice shots to find the best place to shoot from. They caught much more water than our group. 
Finally, they arrived. Here's Rick and my new brother-in-law heading down the river with my sister-in-law's dad. Notice the lack of legs and paddles flying, and the total lack of soaking? Stinkers.
And here's the raft being guided by my baby brother. He missed the big hole on purpose. I don't blame him, since his eight year old daughter was in the raft on her first whitewater trip. I don't blame him, but I still am stuck using complete strangers for the "soak" photo. Grrrrrrr.....
