Jones Family Reunion 2007

So we just got back from the family reunion. It was a lot of fun. It is a 6 hour drive to Bend from here so of course that is stressful with kids that two days earlier drove 13 hours. They were good though...I can only say that because we put Robbie and Grace in Mom and Dad's car so the trouble kids were gone. Not only that but since none of our kids had to have their car seat touching another carseat all of the kids slept. Our kids are seasoned travelers. They really are so good...they don't have a choice...we drive home all the time. On our way through Bend I saw that the place I used to work was no longer there...a parking lot was over the top of my old tax office. Only later to find out that the house we lived in was also no longer there....a new house built on the lot. WEIRD. Driving through I started feeling super homesick for Bend. We had a great time there....of course that was pre kids so anything sounds like "so much fun", in retrospect and pre-kids. It is really beautiful there though and I found my way around with no problems...I was proud of myself for that. We stayed in Sunriver at Sunriver Resort. We rented a 3 bed, 3 bath house it was awesome! Perfect for us...a million closets to put kids in cribs in to sleep, nintendo for the boys, a hot tub, grill...it was great. Fortunately the place was as nice as it was because, Cali and I with 6 kids, we didn't leave the place very much. It mostly seemed like a Cali and Ashley reunion because we spent a lot of time together. It was funny because there was one 2nd cousin-in law (like once removed or something) that was there with his son (sans wife she was at a wedding). He hung around the house a lot during the day too so it was actually a Jacob (that was his name) Cali and Ashley Reunion. He was really nice though and we didn't mind having him around.

On the second day there we went to take our kids to go swimming only to find out that it was closed due to "mechanical problems". We had six kids dressed in suits...what a pain. We headed in to Bend I wanted to drive around and see things. The problem was that as cute and quaint as Bend is there is an annoying amount of roundabouts and as we were heading home all of the kids were getting really car sick. They were all starting to cry and say they were going to throw up. Oliver was so scared that Jack was going to throw up on him he kept freaking out and trying to get him to move over. It was CHAOS. When we got home we got them all calmed down and got them in the hot tub. As Cali was putting Carolina in she felt her stomach rumble. She as quick as she could (Cali's kids throw up a lot so she has great reflexes), took Carolina to the woods and poor baby threw up a million times. We then took her inside and layed her down and she threw up again an hour later. So sad. Poor Cali spent the rest of the time there...not sleeping and helping sick kids. We hoped it was just car sick kids but it ended up being the flu?? Who knows.
So that is that. We spent a total (Cali and I) of 40 minutes around the Jones's. 20 minutes each night at a BBQ only long enough to feed our selves and for our kids to FREAK out. The kids did swim in the hot tub a whole lot. We turned down the temp as low as it would go and they had a ball. Cali went out to get them out and Jackie was standing on the edge peeing right into the hot tub. Like he was some kind of statue...or like the hot tub was one enormous toilet. It was so funny...and of course gross. (that is what chlorine is for right??)
Here are the kids and Grandparents...we walked to the river...it took a lot longer than we expected.
Poor Robbie (and Grandma Jones) were so tired.
We saw sooo many deer while we were there. You can see one at the very top of the picture.
We kinda felt like a circus act everywhere we went. And we kept thinking....where are our HUSBANDS???
A deer up on our porch.
Oliver, Tyson and Rob playing frisbee. I love watching my little guy run.
Grace...oh her legs are sooo yummy! She had just eaten a little avocado, thus the green face.
Ty, Oli, Dad, Carolina and Jack. So cute. The kids had a great time and thought the place was amazing. Special thanks to the Doogie Dog for financing the trip (the cabin was pretty expensive).

I will say that it made me really miss Cort....ahhhh. I am not someone that is usually cheesy but every once in a while I allow it. Bend is the first place we lived when we moved from Rexburg. We didn't know anyone and all we had was each other. It is our town. So I missed him. I am not good at being alone. Anyone that really knows me knows this. It isn't good for me. So being there made being away extra hard.