Beach Day

Well, the Reunion WAS at Bear Lake, so we really should go to the lake, right?!  We did go and it was quite lovely.  We rented some kayaks and they were enjoyed for the two hours we had them.

This little cutie was hysterical.  She was happy to eat dirt, and to drink gross lake water.  I support building healthy immure systems, but it was still gross.

Josh made me laugh as well. 

He and McKenna (his lovely lady) took a kayak out for a spin.

Rylee was hard at work building a sandcastle.

A work in progress.  But an impressive work!

Marian also wanted to go out on the Kayak.  Dan obliged as second paddler. The other girls had no interest in going out.  They just wanted to work on the sandcastle.

They kayaks were fun and I went out for a bit with Steven and then Samantha.  It is quite the arm workout! 

The finished product!

Okay, so the girls were not really finished, but I was done and ready to go.  

So we took one final photo of their glorious masterpiece and then headed somewhere with air conditioning and showers.

The Sweaty Swarthout 5k

The family put on a 5k race on Saturday morning.  It was a lot of fun!  Despite the altitude, Marian, Callie, Dan and I ran in it.  And Dad.  And lots of other family. I think there were around 30 of us?  The hill at the halfway point nearly did me in, but I was pleased with my run.  Marian left me in the dust.  And I know there are more photos out there, but I don't seem to have them on hand.  If I find them, I'll edit to add them.

Dad ran a good race.

Having run with him most of the summer, I know this was the first time he ran more than 2 miles.

I think the face says it all!

He and Marian went back to run in with Callie and her cousin-friend Zoey.

And Dad won the award for "The Most Mature Runner".

I will mention that one of my favorite parts about the race is the yellow caution tape they swiped from across the street's construction site.  They used the caution tape as our finishers tape.  And for each person crossing the finish line (on a very public and busy street corner!), Aunt Sally and one of her daughters would hold up the tape for you to run through.  A few runners who were not in our group came running down the sidewalk.  They looked confused, but were encouraged to run through the tape to much cheering.  I felt like a participant in an Improv Everywhere stunt!  It was a lot of fun.

 

De-Bearding the Lion...er... something like that

Dad had been working a lovely beard.  And while it was a delightful novelty, he was ready to be baby-faced again.  Silly man waited until AFTER family photos before deciding it was time.  

Here is the "Before"

The half-trimmed.

Ooooh, we can see some cheeks under there!

And the oh-so-handsome "After" photo!

Family Photo Fun

We got the whole family.... almost.  Andy and his family are missing from the mix.  And they were missed.

Another family group shot, this time at the beach, by Bear Lake.

Dad with all but 5 of his Grandees.

Dad with 5 of his 6 kids.

Yeah, I'm a little teary because Adam had to go and mention that Mom is missing. I was okay till then.  And then I wasn't okay. 

Me and Dan.

The whole family plus one.  Josh brought his lovely lady, McKenna and we made her join the picture.

And we took a picture without her too.

5 kids and their spices.

Nathan was feeling left out, since he was the only representative from his family.  So Adam showed him the love.

And I do love all these people!

Family makes everything better!

I was quite dreadful about taking photos.  But here are some from the first few days: 

Poor Rachel crashed hard after a little too much fun.

Hailey was always fun to chat with.

Rylee was adorbs on picture day!

All the kids were adorbs!  And they did great for photos. Adam's little cuties were especially fun.

Its an Adam Sandwich!

These two.... trouble I tell ya!  But Rylee does love hanging out with Emily.

The sun was super bright, but Rylee still posed for me.

It was fun to have Nathan there, and I'm glad he came.

There was an exceedingly amusing evening of fun lawn games, to include this hysterical relay race.

Much laughter and giggling was heard.

And the kids were very good sports.

I snuck a picture of Steven before he noticed.

The little kids thought Josh was just the best.  He did have a good time with them.  He and Miley hung out this evening. 

And I snuck in this photo of Delaney and Sarah.  I do love that the kids have cousins around their ages to hang out with.  And I love that all the kids are pretty awesome!