Last Saturday was our annual Smith Family Get Together in Aledo. We made the most of the timing and headed out early so we could visit with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan in Fort Worth. The girls LOVE his house because they can literally run circles through it. Plus their living room is sunken and Ava absolutely loves going up and down the step! We got in a short visit and grabbed lunch before we left to head to Aledo.
We started getting together for my Grandmother's birthday (which is August 11th). It seemed easier to get together at the end of summer instead of trying to get the whole bunch of us together at Christmas. We are a good size group! My Mom has three sisters and a brother. I think there are 14 grandkids, and now there are spouses of grandkids and even great-grand babies! So, yes, it is a good sized group. When my Grandmother passed away, we kept on with our get togethers. This year we had a decent turn out. We missed Uncle Tone being there, something about Law School finals... :) And there were a few other cousins who couldn't make it, but all the Aunts and Uncles were there, and it made for a good time. We missed our annual singing - this side of the family really has some awesome voices - and it always makes me smile to hear the songs they sing. Really reminds me of Grandfather and Grandmother. But we all did have a good visit and enjoyed each others company.
The kiddos especially enjoyed playing together. They LOVE to wrestle with Pa!
Ava LOVES to climb into seats and just sit. So Uncle Tom found a couple of child sized chairs from years past when my cousins were little and brought them out. Ava was thrilled!
She especially loved this one because she could stand and "direct" traffic for the two older kiddos.
Being the musically inclined side of the family, I caught a good picture of Mom's brother, Uncle Tom (different from Uncle Tom who found Ava some chairs), teaching our second cousin Trinity how to put together a clarinet. All three of the little ones were quite intrigued with the whole process.
Saturday evening on our way to the hotel, we stopped by and visited the graveyard where my grandparents are buried. It was a bittersweet time.
After a scenic drive through the backroads of Weatherford, we arrived at our hotel that Uncle Andy snagged an awesome deal on. It was a really nice hotel and the kids couldn't wait to go swimming!!
Carli spent much of her time thinking about getting in the water. It took her a good 45 minutes to finally get off the steps in the pool. I think this is funny that she has no fear of the lake, but this clear water kind freaks her out! She would go back and forth between the pool and the hot tub.
Cousin Logan on the other hand had no fear of the water! His swimming lessons have paid off! He LOVES to jump into the water and even once jumped over his Daddy!
After 45 minutes, we had about given up on Carli venturing out into the pool. But she surprised us all and took off across the length of the pool after a ball. She did this a few times and wore herself out just in time to call it a night!
Ava has no fear! She spent the entire time walking to and from the hot tub and pool. She wore me out! Because she didn't just walk from one to the other, she would try to walk right off the edge into the water! So, I held her hand and Grammy would catch her in the hot tub and Pa caught her in the pool. Usually she was carrying a ball or attempting to throw it.
She didn't stay in one spot long. After she stepped off into the water, she was done and would try to walk right up the side of the pool/hot tub to head the other direction.
Sunday there was no time to sleep in! Actually who could sleep in when you share a room with a one and two year old?! We got all packed up and headed out to eat breakfast at one of Grandmother's favorite spots, R&K Cafe. It was AWESOME!
We finished breakfast and went to church at Aledo Church of Christ where my parents got married in 1977. I actually still remembered some of the people from when we used to visit growing up!
Before we all headed home, we stopped in Arlington and had lunch at Kincaids, then Mom and I got to shop at JoAnn Fabrics.
It was a great weekend of family fun, kind of like a mini vacation! Thanks Uncle Andy for convincing us to stay the night on Saturday! It was worth it!
We started getting together for my Grandmother's birthday (which is August 11th). It seemed easier to get together at the end of summer instead of trying to get the whole bunch of us together at Christmas. We are a good size group! My Mom has three sisters and a brother. I think there are 14 grandkids, and now there are spouses of grandkids and even great-grand babies! So, yes, it is a good sized group. When my Grandmother passed away, we kept on with our get togethers. This year we had a decent turn out. We missed Uncle Tone being there, something about Law School finals... :) And there were a few other cousins who couldn't make it, but all the Aunts and Uncles were there, and it made for a good time. We missed our annual singing - this side of the family really has some awesome voices - and it always makes me smile to hear the songs they sing. Really reminds me of Grandfather and Grandmother. But we all did have a good visit and enjoyed each others company.
The kiddos especially enjoyed playing together. They LOVE to wrestle with Pa!
Ava LOVES to climb into seats and just sit. So Uncle Tom found a couple of child sized chairs from years past when my cousins were little and brought them out. Ava was thrilled!
She especially loved this one because she could stand and "direct" traffic for the two older kiddos.
Being the musically inclined side of the family, I caught a good picture of Mom's brother, Uncle Tom (different from Uncle Tom who found Ava some chairs), teaching our second cousin Trinity how to put together a clarinet. All three of the little ones were quite intrigued with the whole process.
Saturday evening on our way to the hotel, we stopped by and visited the graveyard where my grandparents are buried. It was a bittersweet time.
After a scenic drive through the backroads of Weatherford, we arrived at our hotel that Uncle Andy snagged an awesome deal on. It was a really nice hotel and the kids couldn't wait to go swimming!!
Carli spent much of her time thinking about getting in the water. It took her a good 45 minutes to finally get off the steps in the pool. I think this is funny that she has no fear of the lake, but this clear water kind freaks her out! She would go back and forth between the pool and the hot tub.
Cousin Logan on the other hand had no fear of the water! His swimming lessons have paid off! He LOVES to jump into the water and even once jumped over his Daddy!
After 45 minutes, we had about given up on Carli venturing out into the pool. But she surprised us all and took off across the length of the pool after a ball. She did this a few times and wore herself out just in time to call it a night!
Ava has no fear! She spent the entire time walking to and from the hot tub and pool. She wore me out! Because she didn't just walk from one to the other, she would try to walk right off the edge into the water! So, I held her hand and Grammy would catch her in the hot tub and Pa caught her in the pool. Usually she was carrying a ball or attempting to throw it.
She didn't stay in one spot long. After she stepped off into the water, she was done and would try to walk right up the side of the pool/hot tub to head the other direction.
Sunday there was no time to sleep in! Actually who could sleep in when you share a room with a one and two year old?! We got all packed up and headed out to eat breakfast at one of Grandmother's favorite spots, R&K Cafe. It was AWESOME!
Pa gave the kids a lift down the hall, to the elevator and pretty much delivered them to the car with the luggage of coarse!
We finished breakfast and went to church at Aledo Church of Christ where my parents got married in 1977. I actually still remembered some of the people from when we used to visit growing up!
Before we all headed home, we stopped in Arlington and had lunch at Kincaids, then Mom and I got to shop at JoAnn Fabrics.
It was a great weekend of family fun, kind of like a mini vacation! Thanks Uncle Andy for convincing us to stay the night on Saturday! It was worth it!
1 comment:
I loved getting to see your girls, even for that short time. They are so precious! It made my heart happy to see them using my old chairs. :)
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