A Little Bit Of This. A Little Bit Of That.: Family Reunion

August 4-7 was our annual family reunion in Mantua. The Allen's got up there Thursday afternoon and set up camp. Everyone else joined us Friday night. Camp was a little different this year. One, it was muggy with lots of insects. Two, we actually had a schedule they wanted us to follow. Three, there was a black bear sighting in town so we had to be extra careful with our food. (so Dad wasn't too keen on our paranoia) Four, the town's alarm went off all wknd, which it never has before...since its such a small town its how they call the firemen to the station.
Friday, we sat around and let the kids play down by the river, played card games, roasted smores/marshmallows, and of course cooked our famous Allen dutch oven dinner-pulled pork sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit tray, KFC coleslaw, and Aaron's yummy peach cobbler. Thank you to Kyle for cooking everything to maximum taste. That night when the rest of the Anderton clan came, we did a big "get-to-know-you" game, then sang campfire songs. It was a little cheesy for me so I got the kiddos ready for bed during singing time.
Saturday was the day for activities. We started bright and early with crafts. Followed by Bingo, games in the field, potluck dinner, and then the auction-which Bryson and Jace entertained us with their "buying" skills. After the auction, we talked around the fire making smores and finally calling it a night.
The kiddos did get scruffed up a bit. Rhett was pushing his 2nd cousin, Cole, on a homemade swing. It got a little high and knocked him over giving him a bloody and bruised mouth. Ry, as graceful as she is, was more on the ground than up. As soon as I would clean and bandage her up, 2 minutes later she'd be back all muddy and bloody again. At one point she had scrapes on both eyelids, nose, both arms, and tummy. She even got so frustrated she cried "I can't stop falling down." We couldn't do anything but laugh. Poor Kenna got it the worst. She fell off the bench while eating dinner and got a black eye so we thought we'd strapped her in her stroller to contain her better. That didn't work cause 10 minuites later she tried to get out of the stroller, flipped forward, and smacked hard into the concrete giving her another black eye and a huge goose egg. Then the next night as she and Justin were walking the trash to the dumpster, our uncle reversed and backed over poor Kenna. Good thing she only got hit by the bumper and not run over by the tires. But it scared her and Justin pretty good. All in all, good thing my other uncle, a fireman, was there to be our paramedic. And luckily nothing was too serious that couldn't be fixed.
Along with the bruises, fun stories and memories, and sleepless nights (due to some rockin lightning and thunder, the town alarm, many snoring men, and "bear" noises) we cannot wait till next year when we can attempt it all over again.

Excited for camp with our new 'do