Camp Castletonia

At the beginning of this month, some of my family got together for a Castleton reunion. We rented a house up by Bear Lake (and by we I mean my parents -- thanks a million), and it was so much fun.

We started off the first night with our Camp Castletonia song (for those who are unaware, every family makes up a verse about what they've been doing, or just anything pretty much, and they sing it to the tune of Yankee Doodle). I told Hallie to be thinking about different things that we had done that year to sing about. After about 20 or so minutes of thinking about it, I asked Hallie what ideas she had come up with. These are just a few:
1-God sent us to earth (my response: "Did that happen just this year?" -Hallie's response: stares at me like I'm crazy, then states simply, "No.")
2-We eat all our food so we's not hungry
3-We play nice with our cousins
4- We're all pretty and handsome (handsome was added on belatedly because only girls are pretty)
Anyway, I just thought that Hallie's responses were so hilarious. As it turns out, we made up our verse using the 2nd and 4th of Hallie's contributions.

We had a morning of some relay-type activities. The kids did pillow-sack races, beanbag toss, and then were joined by the adults for hopping races, long jump, and wheel-barrow races. It was super fun, and thanks to the Mumfords and Grandma & Grandpa, there were even prizes for all the kids.

The water at Bear Lake it so high this year, so there's hardly any beach. We decided to spend our first day at the South end of the beach. The water was so high up the beach that the first few feet had submerged weeds everywhere. It was pretty gross to step on it. The kids weren't quite as squeamish as I, and they would venture out to fill their buckets with water.
We rented a boat our first day which was super fun and super freezing. About 2 hours after we got to the beach a huge rain storm blew in and it was so cold. We sent the kids home with Mom and Becky, and then Tammy, Nathan, Jon and I stayed at the lake and utilized the boat. It was so much fun, especially because nobody else was on the water (the rain, remember?). I haven't ridden a tube in about 11 years. I had forgotten how terrifyingly thrilling it is to ride on a tube behind the boat! I rode with Jon, and he kept his arm over my back, thereby making my escape from a fast-flying tube nearly impossible. It was so fun!

Friday was a much sunnier beach day. We went to the North beach and it was much less weed infested, so the kids played right down by, and in, the water. It was nice and hot and the kids (with Jon's excellent assistance) made a spectacular fortress.

We spent a few hours at a local park that had tons of swings and climbing toys. The kids had a fantastic time!

Rob came up late on Thursday, and from the second he got there, Sky was like his permanent attachment. She loves him so much.

Family reunions are the best! Even though they can be crazy sometimes with so many little kids all close to the same age, there is just nothing that can compare with hearing their little voices laughing and talking together. For those who weren't there this year, hopefully we can have you there next time. We missed those who weren't there, but were so happy to spend time with the few that were able to come. Wahoo for family!