part three of that whirl-wind: the kids are spoiled more

It's been a bit since we were in Illinois, but on our last day there, we met up with Grammy Pammy, Lanny, Aunt Bitsy, Maddie, Abbie, Jacob, Aunt Eileen and Aunt Claud at a restaurant for a few hours.  The kids got showered with more presents and eat whatever they wanted off a buffet.  It took some Tetris-like skills to get the kids and all their gifts from the visit packed into the car for the ride back home.  It was a great way to top off the visit to Illinois.  I really enjoyed traveling with the kids this time.  They pretty much didn't complain as long as they had snacks and drinks and some music or a video.  

Kella and her new Elsa doll.  Kinley mostly commandeered this toy-she must have gone to bed before I took this photo.

                                                        

#sisterselfie

...and #sisterselfie

Kinley with the dolls she loves.  No one else could get close to the dolls without her freaking out.  

Lanny got some presents, too.

True love.

The dolls are taller than Kinners!

Liam loved his new shirt and had to put it on right away.

Elsa gloves that matched her outfit.

Cale got what he wanted:  poker chips and cashews

Ewan, excited for his new Star Wars peeps.

Many tears will be shed over the playing of this game.  Mostly, because everyone wants to be the winner.

Liam and his space pod. #MITbound

Ah, Monopoly.  The cause of much family strife.

Chillin with the ladies.

Now, we are back in the swing of things, and have been for a couple weeks.  I'm so glad we had the chance to travel to see everyone.  And, Andy enjoyed his time by himself, too.

Brace yourselves: more reunion photos

And, now, here are more reunion photos.  Lanny and Courtney took photos too, that I downloaded from Facebook.  These are mixed together, so I don't know who took what, although I know Lanny always takes really good pics of the kids and that he is responsible for the group photo in this mix.  

Ethel's birthday cake.  So cute.  She likes to paddleboard, which explains the decor.  The cake was supposed to be a surprise, but no one told Andy and in conversation about where he had gone, he mentioned going to get the cake.  Spoilers.

Kella and Abby.  Behind them is the tent city we didn't use since it looked like some heavy storms were coming through later that evening.  No complaints from me.  I like sleeping in air-conditioning and Ewan had already informed us that since he had already been to camp and slept in a tent, he was not doing it again. 

Me, being bossy.  What I do best sometimes.

Kinley, post sun exposure.

Ewan, red like his clothes.

bunches of cousins!

Having fun in a deflated pool.

Maddie in the tent.

The elusive Jacob.

there's that snake again.

helping Grammy

Although it killed some of my kids to get their picture taken, I think this photo turned out pretty well. 

The kids' table.

Kella.  Bossy, like her mom.

Kella found someone to play dolls with.

Grown up time.

more corn hole.

The fish fry.

Xander

Brace yourselves-family reunion photos coming

Long ago, in July, Andy and Marcus came back a day early from Boy Scout camp so we could have them immediately unpack and repack and get in the car to go to Grammy Pammy's reunion extravaganza.  Everyone was going to be there, everyone. 22 people.  11 adults, 11 kids.  12 boys, 10 girls.  We came from Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Indiana and Georgia.  Even Joe's girlfriend and her mother drove up with Joe to experience July near St. Louis.  We spent 5 days at Grammy Pammy's in July.  For one of those days, the entire family was together.  Crazy. Busy. Fun. We all took photos.  Here are some of mine from the all-together day.

Welcome to the family fun!

The water slide was a big hit.  My kids got cooked playing outside all day.

Just hanging around.

Time to eat!  There was so much food!  I did no calorie counting that weekend.

Look at these cookies.  Courtney's friend made them.  First, they look amazing.  Second, they tasted great.  Grammy was wise to portion some out for every day or they would have been gone at once.

Afternoon time=game time=Ticket to Ride time.  Ethel, the game newby wiped the board of everyone else.  Andy, only made one person (Cale) cry.  A good time overall.

Cousins.

Found a snake.

Time for corn hole.

Eric supervised the fish fry.

Maddie carted around the littles.

My attempt to capture a pretty sunburst.

The Spielman sibs-in backwards order.  Plus Kinley, who couldn't handle being left out.

A nice pic of Jim, Courtney and the boys.

One of my favorite on-the-fly pics.  Courtney chasing Jacob almost down the street.  At least Jacob wasn't streaking...

The cruising buddies-Joe, Ethel, Mom and Annie Ruth

Lanny and Mom

And Ethel and Joe.