Lewis Family Reunion

A couple of weeks ago we went down to my parents in Bakersfield, California for a family reunion. It was so much fun to spend time with my sister, brothers, nieces and nephews. My mom is a music teacher and as tradition she usually gets out these bells for the grandkids to play with. Kenzie and I were a good team and I just realized that our bells match our shirts-- -I swear that wasn't planned. ha ha.

For the weekend, we all went up to a ranch in the Sequoias, stayed in cabins and played. We went hiking, swimming, horseback-riding, white water rafting, and paddle-boating. The kids had even a better time than we did. There favorite thing was just playing outside in the dirt and going on hikes with their uncle Nathan.


I borrowed some of these hiking backpacks for Austin and Cooper, my brother's baby.
They loved them although Austin kept trying to grab my hair, that little stinker. Austin and Cooper were born only 13 days apart. Maline and I both have 3 kids all the same ages pretty much (plus or minus a few months). I wonder how long this pattern will keep up.... what do you think Maline????

The kids most favorite activity was going on "hunts" with Uncle Nate. They all got hiking sticks and Nate was named "chief hunter" and he called all the kids his "junior hunters" and they pretended they were hunting for snakes or other little creatures. One day Nate took the four older kids out and was gone for almost 2 hours. When they finally returned I was amazed that no one was crying, fighting or being carried home. Later I found out that Nate had had to spend 30 minutes helping all of them put their shoes and socks back on after wading in a river.

From left to right: My sister, April. My oldest brother, Alan and his wife, Maline. Me and Mike. My younger brother, Jone and his wife, Angie. My brother, Nate. We were missing my youngest brother, David, who is on a mission in Mexico.

I LOVE this picture!!! These cousins are best friends when we get together. Even if it is only once a year... somehow Makenzie, Jackson, Tyler and Savanna just start up right where they left off. It's been so much fun through the years to have cousins the same age. Makenzie and Tyler are always mentioning throughout the year how they wish they could go back to NYC and stay with Savanna and Jack. Maybe one day we will actually live in the same state again and not on opposite coasts.

The grandkids (minus the babies) -- Christopher is just barely old enough to want to follow and play with the big kids. He just keeps getting cuter and cuter (although he's still pretty hard to get to hold still for a picture). I was pretty amazed with this one.

Makenzie and Uncle Nate found a salamander on one of the hikes.

This picture cracks me up. Up at the sequoias, the trees are enormous and this one had a cave inside. So we all tried to squeeze in and here is my attempt at a picture. ha ha.

One of the big trees

The kids at grandma and grandpa's

So if any of you have been to Bakersfield before, you know that it is hot, hot, hot. All there is to do is go swimming and thankfully my parents have a wonderful pool. My kids are fish when it comes to the water-- they love to be in it so it made for a good time for everyone.

Here's to swimming, laying out, and relaxing.

The foursome.

My brother, Alan, doing one of his many tricks.

This picture isn't from our reunion but from before. We went with the johnson's to a Giants game. It was so much fun but the weather was crazy. It was the middle of July and not only am I wearing a sweatshirt and scarf-- but if I would have known how cold it was going to be I would have brought earmuffs, boots and gloves. You can see the fog a little bit in the background. San Francisco weather is so random!!