Oh Yhea, the Reunion...

It has been a week since we've been home from Maine--I think I've had enough time to decompress and write a good blog about the trip--but every time I try I am still overwhelmed. So before life passes too far along and I have to blog about Lorien's high school graduation I'd better get a post up. So here are some of my favorite pictures and moments from the trip. Be ye warned, this is a long post made up almost exclusively of pictures.

Day One: An afternoon at the beach. We all met at Fort William's Park on the coast for an afternoon of yard games, checking out the lighthouse and playing in the water. Of course, there was lots of time for meeting new cousins and visiting with the family. (Above, Lorien and Lilly - Clare and Amelia)

Food and Family, all you need. (Silas and some watermelon - Clare and some watermelon)

When Will and I lived in the Boston area we would drive up to Fort Williams every so often. We had one of our first dates there and made one last quick trip up the coast before we drove out to California. It was so nice to go back and relive fun and fond memories.

With our time at the beach we all stuck to the activities we enjoy the most--Lorien got soakin' wet in the waves. Wyatt rolled around in the sand making sculptures and getting sand in creative places...like in his ears, of course... (If you cannot tell what Wyatt made in the sand: he wrote Dad Mom and made two sand hearts and two sand ice cream cones.)

My favorite part of the whole reunion was the evening spent with my brothers and sisters. We went out for burgers and then spent quality time reminiscing and laughing at Spring Point. (Above Left: All the ladies! - Right: All the fella's)

Out at Spring Point (Another lighthouse in Maine--perched out in the ocean at the end of a giant rock pier) Pictured above: Ebin - Camie and her husband, Ben - Lesley

Chris and his wife, Annette. - Charlie - Caleb (on the far right) and his wife, Shellie (center)...in the photo on the left...

After a weekend recovering from a little bit of family time, we all met up for the "Maine" part of the reunion at a big house on at a ski mountain. With only a few hiccups we were all settled and hanging out together. Meal times were the best-- (Above left: Max and Silas - Grandpa Davis and his wife, Catherine)

Shellie, Lily and Caleb - Simon and Erin

Clara and Max

Hey, it's me! --two days, no shower and still going strong. Grandpa Davis made some old family favorites like chopsui and fudge!

Lorien uses the adjective "amazing" all the time--the end result of three solid days with her older and totally glamorous cousins. For example the other day Lorien told me: "Emily has the BEST song on her Ipod. I love it! At first you just hear all these funny noises and then this guy starts to sing--and he has the most AMAZING voice. I just love it! He starts to sing and Mom, it sounds so AMAZING!!! I just love it! You HAVE to hear it!" Yep, that's my kid, six years old going on sixteen. It's, well, AMAZING! (Above left: Victoria, Kayla and Emily - right: Genet, Lorien and Alison)

We had many-a entertainment option at the house: games and music were very popular. (Top left: Will and Wyatt playing checkers - Mike and Ebin having a jam session Bottom left: Amelia and Mike - Simon)


If games and music were not what you wanted there was always a short walk down to the lake for a swim. Too bad we all jumped in fully clothed--neglecting to wear our bathing suits down to the tempting cool of the water. My sister, Camie, led the charge and like lambs to the slaughter we all jumped in after her. So, while I probably wont jump off a bridge if all of my friends are doing it--I will go screaming into the night if my big sister does.

Aaaaand, if games, music or water are not your choice--you can wrestle Wyatt. You will probably loose, he has a mean take down. (Above left: Wyatt and Jack - right: Owen and Wyatt)

Grandma Claudia treated Clare to a manicure. Clare was very pleased. (Left: Grandma Claudia and Clare - Clare showing off her nails)

For me, meal times were the best times. The teenagers emerged from their lairs for sustenance, parents served up paper plates of nutrition and children were left to pick around the healthy stuff and stick to the starches. We sat together in random groupings, laughing about whatever came up (or whoever fell down).

You cannot tell very well from any of my pictures--but Camie and Jenn had a great idea for reunion shirts. We didn't have time to have shirts made so in classic family form we made our own. Each family picked a color and we wrote "Bigger Really is Better" on the front of the shirts and "I'm # (fill in with number of child)" on the back. If you were married to--or the spawn of # you wrote "I'm with # (fill in number, again). They were all really cute. When I get a copy of the huge group shot I'll be sure to post that so you get a better idea of what I am talking about.

Well that is that! There is so much more I could blog about--and plenty more pictures (I took over 200) but I'll spare you and keep all those fabulous memories to myself.

In a cabbin in the woods...

We spent a little bit of time up at my Mom’s camp in Northern Maine. It wasn’t an official part of the reunion but many of my brothers and sisters were there with their families. We met up Saturday afternoon and spent most of our time making sleeping arrangements and watching the kids play in the lake. All those beautiful thick clouds finally let loose Sunday. Making life kind of tough at camp—a tiny cabin in the woods lacking in indoor space/electricity to entertain so many children. For a break, we drove the five miles out to my Mom’s house for dinner and entertainment via the magic of television. Mercifully, the rain stopped on Monday but we were all focused on packing up for the rest of the reunion. I ran off to do the grocery shopping with Camie, leaving Will to fend for himself with our three kids up in the woods of Maine. What a guy!

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This is what camp looks like from the outside--you can imagine how spacious and roomy it is. Our lot was not to sleep in this luxurious little hut. We got a big tent outside. Don't worry, we found ways to make the tent nice and homey--like a wooden sign with our name in permanent marker staked outside our tent door. Nothing says "home" like a splinter inducing project!

Fishing off our neighbor's dock. [His] dock has tall grass around it where little fish wait to eat worms dropped into the water--only to get the shock of their mini-lives when that same delicious worm turns into a sharp hook and yanks them out of the water. Daddy and Clare snuggling on our dock--while the mosquitoes feast on their exposed flesh. Lorien and Grandma Claudia making pizza for dinner (at camp!).

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experiments with the color setting on my camera. I had many willing (and a few not so willing) subjects. My nephew, Phil. My sister-in-law, Annette, and her son, Brian. My nieces, Emily and Tori.

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My brother, retrieving some fishing gear that fell off the dock. My nephew, Adam. One of my beautiful sisters, Camie, her husband and one of their son's.

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Clare, making a slide out of the now muddy path down to the dock. (Her pajama bottoms are ruined now.) Me and my sweetie-pie. (Yes, we are very happy.)

The three girls and their lolly-pops. (Amelia, almost 3. Clare, 2 1/2. and Clara, almost 2.) Max and Lorien drawing funny super-hero's together. Another of my beautiful sisters, Jenn, her daughter Clara and my last beautiful sister's daughters: Amelia and Lilly. All the cousin's taking a break in front of the TV.

My two little druid's (Lorien and Wyatt) heading back to camp after trying to spell some fish out of the water.