2014 Sibling Reunion--Part 2

So where were Mom and Glenn during our Sibling Reunion?

Mom and Glenn missed this weekend because they were out of town while Glenn taught resilience seminars. Don't feel too bad for them: they were enjoying six weeks of New Zealand and Australia's beautiful scenery...

 (Queenstown, New Zealand)

...enjoying the fine arts...

...seeing the sights...

...and hanging out with the coolest animals.

Yeah, I don't feel sorry for them at all.

Sunday morning on our Sibling reunion weekend dawned a bit too early. Mixing a late night, three noisy and overly-tired kids is the perfect recipe for little to no rest. 

Chad and Darnell headed out early to drive to DC to meet up with a cousin of Darnell's and a friend before driving to Laura's house that afternoon. The rest of us got ready, packed a few bags and drove to the Calderwood's house in Winchester.

Before Mom left for her trip with Glenn, she gave Jude and gift. She gave him a brain. Yes, a brain. It was one of those "put it in water and watch it grow" kind of things and for a week Jude watched it get bigger and bigger. It made for some interesting conversations: "Jude, don't play with your brain." "Mom, have you seen my brain? Is Cole playing with it?" "He's touching my brain! Make him stop!"

After watching it closely every day, the seventh day finally arrived.

Not too shabby, considering it started out the size of a walnut. Thanks, Mom! The boys thought it was a blast!

We finally arrived at Laura's house mid-afternoon. It always takes longer than I think to get everyone out the door and on our way, this time made worse since we were taking not only our puppy but were babysitting Chad's puppy as well. Whew. Poor George was working nights and managed to make it home that morning to say hello to everyone and then retreat to bed. What I wouldn't have given to have him drive with me!

The Calderwood's house was full of family. It was Grant's 1st Birthday and they celebrated in style with Allreds and Calderwoods all gathering together. It was great!

You'd never guess this beautiful woman just had open-heart surgery three weeks ago. She is amazing.

The cute Birthday boy!

Lily was showing off her balancing skills. She's convinced she's a bigger kid.

Calderwood family!

Grant wasn't too sure about the candle:

He was less sure about what to do with the cake. Tyler helped him out a bit:

They tried to get him to grab it himself, but I guess he's inherited his mother's aversion to sticky, dirty things because this was the result:

Lance made his appearance just in time to enjoy the cake! Scott and Abbey were kind enough to drop him off in Winchester on their way back to Charlottesville from Boston. It was good to finally have him there!

Aunt Amy made his month by letting him borrow her Pokemon DS game. This kid is crazy about Pokemon these days.

Mason and Jude decided to show Grant how the cake is supposed to work and set about making as big a mess as possible.

Grant was not impressed. :)

Gift time!

This little atv and a ball tied for favorite gift:

Story time with Aunt Laura

The kids and the puppies were going crazy, so I took them all on a walk. Chad and Darnell came along with Ashes too.

We walked to the High School that was a few blocks from Laura's house and the boys spent about 30 minutes running laps around the track. Awesome.

Lance ran two laps without stopping!

Love these boys!

The next morning (Monday) we all had breakfast together at Cracker Barrel before Chad and Darnell had to head back to Ashburn to catch their flight home to California.

Talk about kid-magnet! Cracker Barrel is so smart: half the store is a huge selection of toys and candy that you have to walk through before you get to be seated. It took us about 20 minutes to make it 20 feet.

Enjoying the beautiful summer morning.

Amy and Stephen drove back to DC and Chad and Darnell left to catch their flight, so the kids and I went with Laura and her boys to a cute little splash pad to spend the afternoon.

I struck out for home that evening, driving the couple hours to Charlottesville while the kids slept. It had been a wonderful weekend, although I was looking forward to a full night's rest.

We made it home without incident. We must have had someone watching out for us because the next morning after getting Lance on the bus, I noticed one of my tires was flat. Not just flat, but flat flat. I had received a puncture during the trip home and the air must have leaked out sometime during the night. A tender mercy it didn't happen in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere while I was driving four sleeping kids and a puppy all by myself. After a quick prayer of thanks, I changed that sucker all by myself and got it repaired later that day. Never a dull day.

I am so grateful I got to spend time with my family! It was crazy, loud, and busy with all the kids and running around, but it was totally worth it. Jason, we missed you! It's just not the same without you and I'm looking forward to another Sibling Reunion when you get home in 8 short months!

2014 Sibling Reunion--part 1

Labor Day weekend was extra special this year because we had our Sibling Reunion! The last time we did this was seven years ago in 2007. Jason is still on his mission so he missed it, but the rest of us were able to make it. Lance was pulling double-duty that weekend and spent Friday and Saturday up in Boston with his dad visiting with Uncle Pete and watching a football game, but joined us later on Sunday. Poor George had just started his Critical Care rotation and was pulling 15-hour shifts at night so he missed out on the entire weekend. :(

Chad and Darnell came into town Friday and brought their new puppy Ashes. She is so cute and very sweet with the kids. I think Cole fell in love--he tried to hold her the entire weekend.

Kailey is attending school at Southern Virginia University, so I drove down Friday afternoon and picked her up so she could visit with us as well.

Friday evening while we waited for Amy and Stephen to arrive, I took everyone to the Downtown Mall.

On our walk there, Kailey found a friend:

Jude wanted his picture by the statue, too, but this pose was all he could muster:

One of George's Attendings lives about 4 blocks from the Mall, so we were able to park there and walk.

So happy Chad's in town!

This was his first time meeting Lily.

We were supposed to have a relaxing evening listening to a band at Fridays after Five, a free concert the city puts on during the summer every Friday night, but we had brought Bender and Ashes and didn't know until we got there that dogs were not allowed inside the concert area. Sad! So, we walked around the Mall and grabbed some dumplings for dinner.

It was anything but relaxing. While it was Fridays after Five, it was also "Paint the town Orange" so the crowds were huge and there were Marching Bands playing and marching up and down the middle of the Mall.

Somehow, this little girl managed to fall asleep amidst all the noise. 

We had had enough of the noise and the crowds, so we packed up the kids and drove home to meet Stephen and Amy who had just come into town. Chad and Darnell had flown a red-eye to Virginia and were exhausted but we still managed to stay up late chatting.

It was an interesting night with Ashes, Bender AND Vera in the house. I don't think many of us got much sleep with one anxious adult dog and two puppies that seemed to not understand nighttime is quiet time.

After a rest-less night, it was on to Busch Gardens! Laura was only about 4 weeks post-op from her heart surgery, so her family skipped Busch Gardens and planned to have us meet them at their house the following day.

Darnell was a trooper and sat in the back with the kiddos for the two long hours it took to get to the park.

They were happy to have a companion. :)

Since the puppies were too young to leave at a regular boarding facility, we had to bring the dogs and board them at the park. Of all the lines we stood in that day, I really think this one was the longest wait. It took over an hour to check in the dogs and be on our way.

Trying to wait patiently:

Puppies!

Yeah, Cole just couldn't leave Ashes alone.

Finally, finally we made it into the park and to the rides.

Cole's first stop? The train, of course!

We rode it all the way around the park and got back to the ride just in time for me and Kailey to do "child swap" and hop on. Perfect timing!

This little girl was a stinker most of the day and just wanted to be held.

Man, I can totally see a teenager peeking out of the cute little face. When did this guy grow up?

Stuffed donut! Jude was quite pleased when he won this pink donut in a game. It came in handy as the day wore on and became his pillow when he would randomly stop and lay on the ground for a "rest". He's such a stinker.

This is where Lily ended up most of the day.

I love that all my kids so far enjoy rides. It makes amusement parks so much fun!

Aunt Amy was a wonderful set of extra hands the whole day.

Chad and Darnell waited with me and the kids while everyone else went on the Griffon. We got the kids ice cream.

I think Cole had more ice cream on his clothes than he did in his stomach.

See what I mean about the pillow?

The kids had had enough, but there were still a few rides the big people wanted to do, so I took the three little ones to the Land of Dragons where they played happily for almost two hours before we went home.

After a long, hot day, that water sure felt good! Waiting for the bucket to tip:

First nap of the day:

Poor baby girl.

Jude loves this area because not only is there a splash pad, there are also awesome rope courses to climb on and slides to go down. Most of the time we were there, he was exploring the ropes and sliding down slides.

Stephen's friend Corrine came too (she's the one on the far right):

Funny story about Cole:

He had been playing in the water park for over half an hour when suddenly I look up and I can't see him. I finally locate him running up the stairs and disappearing into a part of the play area that looks like a hollow tree. Apparently he'd found a great little slide and spent probably 20 minutes sliding down, climbing the stairs all the way back up and sliding down again. 

He had been doing this for a while when I figured I should get a picture. I gather up Lily and run over to the end of the slide where I notice Cole is just standing there, looking concerned. Uh oh.

"Cole, do you need to use the bathroom?"

"Yes, Mom."

That's when I look down. There at his feet just chilling on the ground is an enormous log. Yep, Cole pooped on the ground. I had taken off his water-soaked diaper earlier and just let him play in his shorts. *Face-palm.

I tell him not to move and run back to the stroller where I grab wipes and fresh shorts. I quickly grab the log with the wipes and toss it in the nearest trash can (there was nothing else I could do!), clean the area really well, then clean up Cole and change his shorts.

Oh boy. It's never dull. :)

Lily woke up refreshed and had a good time crawling around investigating the water and watching the kids.

She had just started pulling herself up to standing all by herself! It was so cute to see the tiny little girl standing there like it was no big deal.

Almost 8 months old and already pulling herself to standing. This little girls is going to be walking before we know it!

Waiting for the water to come out:

It was a fun day! We left the park around 8 to make in home in time to drive Kailey back to school. Chad and Darnell were wonderful and offered to drive her the hour back to her house from Charlottesville. Life savers!

The next day (Sunday), Chad and Darnell met up with a friend and a cousin in DC and then met the rest of us at Laura and Tyler's house in Winchester.