john family reunion 2012 :: a week of adventures

We spent the first full week of August in Bethel, ME, reunion-ing with the John family. We had a great time. I took a lot of pictures and missed taking pictures of a lot of things I want to remember, so its been a bit challenging for me as I've tried to figure out how to construct this post.

While Tina, Meredith, and Carly spent a lot of time searching vacation in the northeast homes that could accommodate our group (13 adults, 5 kids), Carly was the one who found the house we ended up using. It was a perfect fit for our size and what we wanted to do.

 

 Front

 

Back

The house was large enough that each family was able to have their own room (or rooms in a few cases) and bathroom. There were two large common areas with TVs, which was great because the Olympics were happening during our stay. The kitchen was large and the dining room came with two good-sized tables that we pushed together and everyone was able to squeeze around.

Alicia putting the finishing touches on a delicious cake.

Speaking of eating, each day a different couple was assigned to make and prepare the dinner meal. Breakfast was generally cold cereal, although Papa John made scrambled eggs and bacon for Will a few times, and lunch was sandwiches or leftovers. Doug made daily trips to the local supermarket to pick up what was needed for that night's dinner as well as to replenish our stock of sodas and snacks. We went through a lot of oreos, graham crackers, cereal and throwback pepsi that week..

A few weeks before the reunion, Doug and Tina drove up to Bethel to scope out the area. Because they did that, we arrived with some activities in mind, in addition to our plans of spending time with each other at the house. As far as weather goes, we got quite a mix: the first three days were warm and sunny, the next two were quite rainy, and the last day of the reunion was overcast with intermittent drizzle.

We spent many hours outside at the beginning of the week.

Naturally, the pool and hot tub were a big part of our outdoor activities. The pool wasn't heated, so it more enjoyable in the afternoon. I spent many hours floating around the pool in the afternoon while Lauren was sleeping and other people were entertaining Will. It was awesome. Thank you to everyone who made that happen.

On two nights the men built a fire in the firepit. We roasted marshmallows, sang songs, and watched the kids get as dirty as they possibly could.

 One of my favorite pictures from the trip.

 Will was more interested in the roasting than he was in the eating of s'mores.

On most days, by the time dinner rolled around, the toddlers were a bit irritable. I started telling Will that if he was good I would take him on an adventure after we ate, which was basically a walk where we explored the area around the property we were staying. We decided we liked calling our outings adventures because with an adventure you never know what you are going to get, and Will really likes that word right now.

  Uncle Steven caught a few grasshoppers and frogs and showed them to the kids. 

 Another favorite picture.

It was really fun to see Will and Sadie interact with each other. This picture makes me smile because Sadie was usually the leader.

The backyard was quite large, which meant on the days it didn't rain, we could set up a bocce court or play some wiffle ball.

 So tough he can play while holding his 15 month old.

 

 

 Matching spectators.

On Tuesday we spent the morning hiking and playing in the natural water falls and pools at Grafton Notch Stake Park.

 

It was beautiful, but the terrain was a bit rough for the toddlers. 

 It was a team effort getting them up the mountain.

  

 

 Babies in backpacks

Once we reached the natural pools we spread out and enjoyed ourselves.

 

The view from the top was gorgeous.

 

 

 Some threw rocks.

  

Some got their feet wet.

  

 Some went all the way in.

  

The water was really cold, which was refreshing for the most part. Ben was the first one to go all the way under.

 

 The whole group (minus Meredith who took the picture).

 

We had a great time, but it was exhausting. Poor Weston fell asleep on the way back to the car.

The afternoons and evenings were filled with various activities.

Watching movies or the Olympics on tv:

 

 

Entertaining the babies and toddlers:

 Ben is an awesome artist, and could draw pretty much whatever the kids requested.

 Anything can be a drum.

Aunt Carly was awesome and planned a few fun activities for the toddlers to enjoy--playdoh and foam stickers.

Everyone was so kind to humor Will's marching band obsession.

Sometimes the kids entertained themselves.

 

Jumping and tackling each other on our bed.

 

Hanging out under the chairs.

One thing I did not get pictured was Hillary playing "prisoner" with Will and Sadie. Hillary would catch the kids and put them on the couch, calling them her prisoners. The kids would then try to escape and run around as she chased them back to the couch. To say they loved the game would be an understatement. She was such a good sport to play with them over and over again, even when she wasn't feeling well.

I also didn't get a picture of the kids playing with the foosball table or the poker chips that were in the basement. The kids loved having "money" and spread the chips throughout the basement. They also loved putting the balls on the chute into the foosball table, but they struggled to score and get the players to move.

On Thursday morning Doug and Tina treated everyone to brunch at a local cafe.

 

 After we ate we attempted to take some pictures of the cousins in matching outfits.  

 

As you can see,Will wasn't really into it. I was able to catch a picture of the girl cousins looking cute.

It started to rain as we got in the car, so that afternoon we determined to do indoor things.

Tina bought wood trays for the girls to paint.  

 Getting our craft on.

Doug took Anthony and I to a local Finnish Museum Friday afternoon. Even though the museum wasn't open the president of the society met us there and gave us a tour. It was the most excited I've seen TJ in awhile and just last night he was looking up the price of plane ticket to Helsinki.

While we were getting our Finnish on, a big group went to a nearby activity center and played laser tag. Anthony's sisters watched Will for us, and Will and Sadie had fun playing air hockey and hitting buttons on the machines (no need to spend money on toddler at an arcade).

Before bed we usually tried to bathe the kids and play with them a bit. Will was not a fan of the bathtub and it was a fight to get him in. He loves our bath at home, but apparently foreign tubs aren't his thing.

 Too excited to be still for a picture.

 

Papa John read the kids some stories to help settle them down.

 
In the evenings, after the kids went to bed, we basically did the same things we did in the afternoon, only quieter. Lots of ping pong, pool, and Dominion were played, as well as a 1000 piece puzzle completed, and I can't believe I didn't get a single picture.

This is a picture Carly took of the kids running around the ping pong table, playing their own version of the game.

Meredith took this picture of the puzzlers. I didn't help. I'm just not good at puzzles, especially when you can't look at the box.

On Saturday we got to ride the zip lines at the nearby Sunday River Resort. We went in two groups because the kids couldn't participate.

Before we started with one of the guides.

Some of the people on the tour with us were real characters, which made the experience even more enjoyable.

 Tina, Carly, Doug, Carrie

 Anthony, Daniel, Hillary, Ben

Meredith, Alicia, Bryce, Matt

We had a great time and felt very blessed the weather worked out in our favor. Just after the second group finished the course it started to storm. They only stop for thunder, which it did, so if we had been any later we wouldn't have been able to finish.  

This was my first time visiting Maine. I was impressed, it's a beautiful state. 

It has taken me so long to upload and organize all the pictures into some sort of sense, so I am not really sure how to close. All in all it we had a great time reconnecting with one other and giving the kids a chance to get to know each other, so I think the reunion was time well spent. Thank you to everyone, especially Doug and Tina, for all the time and energy spent planning and preparing things. Can't wait 'til next time!