Smith Family Reunion, Part I

After we got back from our vacation we had about a week of recuperation time until all the Smiths + GG and YoPapa got into town.  We were all so excited!!  It had been a whole year since we had seen GG and YoPapa and even longer since we had seen Josh and Mandy's family - at least 2 1/2 years.  We finally got to meet Zach!! 

We had the BEST time.  One of the first things that happened was baby Lucy was blessed.  It was awesome to see all those men in the circle and almost all (if not all) were family members. 

I brought my camera and tripod in hopes of getting a somewhat decent picture of everyone but there were just too many variables.  Unhappy kids and threatening rain, to mention just a few!  It's not the best but at least we have a memory. 

The next day we took the boat out for one last time with Caitlin and Dave and their kiddos and Miss Whitney.  All the Reids rode on the tube.  Mase was not a fan. 

Daddy even let Uncle Dave drive the boat.    Apparently we let just anyone do that now.  ;)

Whitney is so funny.  She is so serious!  I tried to get her to smile so many times but I never caught one on camera.  I swear she had fun though.  She is the sweetest thing too!  She is also quite the little fish and loved jumping in and swimming with Maddie and Ryley.

When she got on the tube the first time I asked her if she wanted a ride like the boys had just gone on.  She said yeah, and since her family has a boat and I know she's been out several times I figured she would be good with a ride like we normally give our kids.  (FYI - this tube is impossible to flip over and it really wasn't all that wild of a ride anyway.)  I kept watching her face waiting for a smile or a scream or something to tell me how she was doing but this was all I got:

I figured she was doing fine so we let them ride for quite a while.  After a little bit Whit started to look a little less serious and a little more terrified.  Subtle differences but differences nonetheless. 

I told Josh to stop the boat and let her off and sure enough she said she'd been scared.  She wasn't crying or anything but she said it was a crazier ride than she'd expected.  I felt so bad after that!  Poor little thing being terrorized by the crazy Hopewells!  It must have not been too traumatizing because she eventually got back on with Ryley. 

I told Josh and Mandy about everything when we got back and they asked her if Uncle Josh was crazier than Dad or her Grandpa (Mandy's Dad) and she said no so I guess we're cool.  The other kids had fun tubing one last time this summer.

     

It was a beautiful night out on the lake and a perfect way to wrap up the boating for the year. 

While everyone was here we also managed to sneak out to dinner without any kiddos (well, except for Lucy and Quinn) thanks to my sweet friend Hillary, who I am now in debt to forever and ever.  She watched all our kids, Josh and Mandy's three and Mason on totally short notice in addition to her five!  She's a saint.  So the adults got to go to Braza Dancante - a churrascaria here in Allen.  (I had to turn all these pictures to BW because the lighting was super dark in there, and they had these orange/red lights all over so everyone looked like pumpkins!)

Plates and plates and plates of meat.  That pretty much sums up our dining experience. 

That and men walking around with giant sticks of meat and huge knives! (Check out Quinn - so hilarious!!!) 

She sat and watched videos on Dave's phone the entire time.  Completely absorbed.  How exactly do I train my child to do this?  Anyone? 

Seriously - never took her eyes off the phone.  Or blinked.   We had lots of fun trying to get her to look away.  By the way, is she not the CUTEST little thing that ever was?  So stinkin' cute. 

We all ate ourselves into meat comas.  Taylor and Caitlin demonstrate:

And yet, when they came around with the dessert tray almost everyone said, "Yes!"  I don't know how we ate as much as we did.  It was pretty good food but not great.  I think we all agreed that the roasted pineapple was the best thing there.  The whole experience was fun but we will not be going back.  The price was OUTRAGEOUS.  Josh and I did not eat over $100 worth of meat.  If you can, then this is the place for you.  I'm glad we've experienced it though and can mark that off as done.  ;)  It was so nice to go out with all the adults and be able to focus on each other and not the chaos of 13 children for a little while. 

One of my favorite things about when everyone visits:  We try to get in lots of game time after the kiddos go to bed.  My sweet husband would put the kids to bed and happily shoo me back to my parents' house so I could play games with my siblings - and almost every night.  We played lots of Settlers of Catan and trains.   Good, good times.

Next up in Part II - Kidolympics and Museum Fun!