Collier Family Reunion

WARNING- PICTURE OVERLOAD :)

July 5-8, 2012

We all headed to Bellevue, Idaho for the Collier Family Reunion. The drive there was great and we only had to stop once! Oakley made it the whole way (6 hours) before needing to eat which was great to because we made it a lot faster. Once we arrived I feed Oakley, we got our stuff upstairs, and started enjoying the company. Everyone camped out on the grass in tents, but Grandma Collier was nice enough to reserve the upstairs of her house for us since we had a newborn and because I am not that particular to camping. 

Day One Activities 

Aunt Audrey did the girls hair

Lily was thrilled beyond pieces to see cousin Payton and they became inseparable the whole time. 

 Vyvyn, Uncle Tims girlfriend, is an amazing tattoo artist in Seattle and offered to do face painting for the kids while we were there. Here they are waiting there turns.

Holding very still 

And the finished Lily flower on our little Lily. 

Kylie does not like having her face painted. Never has and I am not really sure of the reason, so she asked for her hand to be painted.

Even Paisley wanted one and did great holding still with the help of Aunt Jenni

Everyone wanted to get the finished picture, but she was being shy. This was the best I got :)

I realized on this family reunion that I get a little overwhelmed being around that many people all the time. I had promised the kids we would go to the park so after dinner we headed out with our little family in tow and had some nice quiet time alone. Paisley had been left at the house asleep, because she had not had a nap and had a meltdown she was so tired. 

 Dad pushed the girls on the swings

The girls loved rocking out on the dinosaur thing

Dave helped the girls get really sick and dizzy! 

And I sat watching the kids playing and feeding Oakley all while taking in the beauty of the area. 

That night we did fireworks that Aunt Sarah and Uncle Eric brought. 

 Some did not last long....it had been a long full day.

 Lily has boundless energy, however, and was still going strong. We enjoyed the fireworks then headed to bed after a nice long day. 

Day Two Activities 

Some people headed down to the river, others stayed behind. We set up the little pool for the kids and enjoyed the quiet and the sunshine while they played. 

 It was fun sitting around talking and getting to know different people. I switched off between inside and out to enjoy many different people and conversations. It was great. 

Halfway through the day Daves parents offered to watch the kids and let us go on there bikes around Bellevue. It was so much fun! There is a bike path near Grandmas house. We stayed on it sometimes, but also rode around to see different cute shops. 

 Long ago I wanted to be a photographer. I took AP photo in high school, won a few awards, and even sold a few pictures. I loved the whole process of taking a picture then watching it come to life in a dark room. I wanted to minor in Photo at SUU, but they did not have a program. Sadly thats were that dream got left as the digital age of photo came around. I still have my nice camera and lens and wish I could have had it on this bike ride. My favorite thing to take pictures of is old buildings. I love the story they tell with how run down they are and I used to love they way they looked in black and white. Here were some of my favorites on our bike trip. 

 How cute is this little library?

I love old churches, this happened to be the original city hall

Wouldnt this make the best dance studio?

Anyway, as stupid as it sounds I still would love to have my own dark room someday. Like I said for me there is something magically about watching a picture come to life through the chemicals. :)

 After dinner we did our annual family Goldilocks and the three bears. 

 The participates: The Collier Kids: Baby Bear- Randy Collier (Daves Dad), Momma Bear- Tim Collier (Randy's second oldest brother), Pappa Bear- Sarah Meinke (Randy's little sister), and Goldilocks- Denny Collier (Randy's oldest brother)

Hidden helpers and arms of characters: Emily, Dave, Ben, and Audrey

If you have never seen this before the idea is that someone is the arms of the characters. They have to do things while the story is being read. It will make more sense as the see more pictures. 

 Narrator: Joe

Papa Bear being shaved (Ben her son is shaving her face.....get it?)

 Mamma Bear getting make up put on

 Baby Bear being fed

 Goldilocks seeing the bears

 And the end while ever one tries to clean up the mess made :) 

It's usually really funny and very entertaining! 

 And finally Grandma Collier having a little one on one time with her youngest great grandchild. 

Day Three Activities

 Swinging on the hammocks (this was an activity throughout the three days!)

Sadie's birthday was on the last day so we all celebrated together. She turned 4. 

And they did a piñata

After lunch everyone started to head on there way. We had such a good time with family and the kids loved being with there cousins! Such a fun family reunion.