Memories in the Making: family reunion time!

A small portion of those who gathered

Every year on the first weekend of June Adam's mother's family gathers in Iowa for a family reunion... and it is pretty awesome. Adam's mom, Sue, has a LARGE family. At first it was overwhelming because I could never remember who was who and how everyone was related... but now I have it down and LOVE opportunities to spend time with them. This year's reunion was bittersweet with the recent loss of Patty, Sue's youngest sister. But the Hight family seems to have an amazing resilience, they take things in stride and are grateful for each other. Jack's great grandparents, Myrl and Sylvia also lost their 2nd born child shortly after his birth. I asked Sylvia about this during our visit, and her response was "It's a part of life... you just have to keep going." She also talked about how most of her children were born at home. Pretty sure she is a tougher woman than I could ever dream of being.

NonaJane admiring her GREAT grandmother Sylvia.

Jack and NonaJane with their Great Grandparents. NonaJane is their 30th born great grandchild.

The family reunion is held on Sunday at the park in Schleswig Iowa. This year Adam's cousin Tracy and her husband Mike invited us out to their pond on Friday and Saturday for some fun in the sun, food, alcohol and camping. Doesn't get much better than that! Jack and the kids enjoyed their sandy beach, boating, and fishing. The adults yapped away, burned ourselves in the sun, and Adam and I attempted to keep track of our children. Turns out 2 kids are MUCH needier than one kid. Particularly with a newborn in tow. Luckily just about everyone wanted their turn to hold her... so really I think I got off pretty easy. They just passed her back off to me every time she needed to nurse. It worked out, AND she is such an AWESOME baby that she slept 5-6 hours straight each night! Adam and I are wondering if the gentle swaying of the pop-up camper didn't lull her into a nice little coma each night.

Mike and Tracy's cabin, with our pop-up camper in the background (not to be mistaken for the extremely nice 5th wheel in the foreground)

Jack enjoying the beach area before the arrival of ALL the kiddos and their toys!

The hard part for me was having to nurse in public for three days straight. By Sunday afternoon I had teared up and told Adam "I'm just so tired of nursing out in public!" No matter how careful I am to cover, I still feel strangely exposed. I did appreciate all the help and generosity that his family showed me. I also got lots of compliments for taking my 4 week old camping... I always appreciate compliments :)