Family Reunion

Our Fourth of July weekend is going to play out kind of like a fireworks show. The next few posts will build slowly up to the grand finale, so stay tuned. These are some pictures of a reunion we planned with my dad's side of the family - just lunch at a park. It was neither lame nor boring, and despite the social norm, I love my Wellman cousins so dearly. It was WONDERFUL to see them again.

This is my crazy Uncle Bob. I told him the cupcakes cost a dollar, and he actually paid up...

Here my sister Lisa and I are posing with our closest cousins, Kim and Kelly. This shot is reminiscent of our some of our fondest childhood memories. We used to play house with candy cigarettes. Whoever was the mom had to be a chain smoker :)

And here's grandma and grandpa and their posterity...

At The Races

This was another fun cub scout event. I had never heard of a Raingutter Regalia, but it was pretty much a pinewood derby with homemade boats. Anyway, the construction of such things should never be left up to a boy's mother. I made his sail way too big, and it was by no means well-balanced. Nolan's boat kept tipping over and he didn't win any of his races. After the racing was done and the winner was declared, we clipped the sails and glued on some rocks for weights and then it sailed right past the winning boat in an unofficial heat. Too little, too late for Nolan. He does NOT like to lose anything! Time for another family home evening about good sportsmanship...

Summer Fun

Lakes are fun. Boats are fast. I'm a wimp with a weak stomach, but my husband has a new-found addiction to wake surfing. I'm so glad we got in on a boat birthday party with Kimber and Dave!

Mel Day

I spent a fun day with an old friend at a public pool / water park and we topped it off with lunch at McDonald's. Important Note To Self:  Never be friends with people who are prettier than you and make you look really frumpy in a bathing suit (unless they are really nice and good and fun to be with and you've known them since you were a baby). Thanks for hanging out with us Mel and kids!

Laura's Baby Shower

This is the team that threw together a shower last weekend for my husband's sister Laura (who has a baby girl on the way). I wanted to spotlight this picture because it is a happy memory of some good sister-in-law time. There is something very special about the Gordon family, being mostly made up of boys (Laura is the sole sister at the end of the line-up). So even though all the brothers have an annoyingly close bond and are constantly sneaking off together; and even though all five wives come from different families, we are surprisingly similar, close in age, and get along like great friends. Funny how all the Gordon boys chose brunettes isn't it? And that's not the only commonality we share. All five Gordon children and their five spouses (that makes ten) graduated from NAU; and all five couples were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple. I bet not many families could say that!

Just for Fun

 

Sometimes we get an itch to do something spontaneous. This was our first time bowling as a family (+ Madix). Totally worth it, and fun for everybody! We even let Liam push the ball down the ramp and he would throw his hands up and cheer for himself when he knocked a pin over. Hanna and Madix kept tap dancing on the wood floor in their little bowling shoes. Nolan was a little wild - he plays all sports with 100% gusto. He kept pitching his ball backwards and/or into other peoples lanes. Good times :)

School's Out

It's bragging time!

My cute kindergartner has graduated, and I am so proud of how far he's come in one short year. I've never been able to send my kids to formal preschool. I just try to teach them their letters and make sure they can write their name before they head off to kindergarten. I knew I didn't need to worry about Colby keeping up, though. I've known since he was teeny tiny that he's got some super powered brains in his head. I think he was about 3 when he developed a fascination with dinosaurs and collected a library of facts about all the different species. Then around age 4 or so he announced that he was now a squid scientist and felt it was his duty to inform us how they propel themselves through the water backwards by squirting the water out of their mouths and so forth (I credit all this education to PBS - who says TV's not good for your kids?). Anyway, he comes home from school with new knowledge to spout out every day and he's reading like a pro. His teacher says he's testing at a second or third grade level. This is his favorite friend from class, Abby, and his teacher Mr. Pieper.

Nolan has just completed second grade and is no less impressive. In addition to his completion certificate, his teacher Mr. Lin gave him a special award for being an excellent thinker. I couldn't agree more! The greatest thing that happened at graduation, though, was a complete surprise to me. The school's music teacher got up and said that even though she had many students and many classes, she had only chosen two students to receive awards - one boy and one girl. Then she called Nolan up to accept his award as musician of the year! I almost fell out of my seat! I felt really guilty too, though. Apparently he's got a talent that I have not been nurturing. Better get that boy some piano lessons or something.

Here's Nolan with Ian and Mr. Lin...