Kyndall, Ryder, Rustin, Kassidy and Kaydence with Grandma Wilkinson at the library where she works.
After 9 days in Denver with Jayson's parents, we packed up, said goodbye, and began another loooong drive to Sandpoint, Idaho. My younger brother, Shane, was getting married in Spokane, Washington and my side of the family was having a mini-reunion prior to the wedding. We all stayed at a lakehouse that my parents rented. There are six siblings in my family, three of us married (at least at that point in the week), and eleven total grandkids, so there were a lot of people sharing one house, but it actually turned out great. It was nice to all be together and be able to hang out and talk after all the kids were in bed. Riley and Kaiya loved seeing their cousins, who they rarely get to see.
Riley---the house we stayed at had a little beach outlet and kayaks that the kids could use. They loved it!
Shane (my brother) and Kaiya
The view out the back window of the lakehouse. That area of the country is so beautiful---it almost didn't look real!
The quints with their cousin Logan (also three-years old) eating dinner
The first day of the reunion (which also happened to be my birthday---anyone want to guess how old I am??) we spent at Silverwood Theme Park. After doing Disneyland and another theme park earlier this summer, we figured this one would be a piece of cake--Especially with so many aunts, uncles and grandparent's around to help out. I spent most of the day with the little kids, while Jayson and the older kids went off to do the big coasters. After spending the day at Silverwood, I had a new appreciation for Disneyland----they could really give some lessons to these other theme parks :-) Disney really knows how to keep things moving---although the lines had many more people in them at Disney, we waited in line a lot longer at Silverwood. At Disney it was no problem having a 2-1 ratio of little kids to adults, but at Silverwood, there were several rides that required a 1-1 ratio, which is pretty tricky when you have 7 (my five plus my niece and nephew) kids 3 and under. But, all in all, we had a great time! And, super-hubby Jayson even took the quints home around 7:30 pm and let me stay with my parents and brothers a little longer to ride on some of the big coasters :-)
The whole group at Silverwood Theme Park
Ryder and Kyndall on the airplanes
Rustin and Kaydence on the helicopters
Kassidy on the airplane
BBQ lunch
Waiting in line for one of the rides--Ryder, Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence, Kassidy and Sadie (another cousin)
Tiare (my sister) with Rustin and Kyndall on the parachute/Ferris wheel ride.
At every theme park we have gone to this summer, the kids have loved the big costumed characters---this one had Garfield. Even though they had no idea who Garfield was, they were still excited to give him a hug!
The stroller brigade!
This was the first time my whole family had been together in over four years, so of course we had to get family pictures taken. Since there was a professional photographer in charge, we didn't take a lot of our own pictures, but Jayson got this shot of Ryder that I really liked.
Ryder
The "original" Curtis Family: Back: Ryan, Colby, McKay, Shane, Front: Rachelle, Mom (Betty Ann), Dad (Steve), and Tiare
Day two of the reunion we rented a boat and took turns riding and doing water sports.
Max (cousin), Riley, Kaiya and Jayson
Riley and Max
Tiare and Kaiya
The little kids took a nap during most of the boating time, but they did manage to get a ride at the end.
Of course the highlight of the trip was the wedding. My youngest brother, Shane, married Sam Hiatt in the Spokane Washington LDS Temple. Sam is from Bonner's Ferry, ID, which is about 2 hours away from the temple, so after the ceremony, we drove up to her house for the reception. It was all very beautiful, and I especially loved the dresses that the girls wore.
Shane and Sam
My siblings with spouses and the bride and groom
Wilkinson Family: Jayson & Rachelle, Kyndall, Ryder, Kassidy, Rustin & Kaydence, Riley & Kaiya
We were trying to get a picture of my parents (aka Mimi and Papa) with all their grandkids---this is a close up of the quints during one of the shots---I thought it was so funny that they were all doing such different things.
Mimi and Papa with all their Grandkids (the stick-out-your-tongue shot)
The day after the wedding, we got up early and began the long, 2200, 32 hour drive back home. We did the drive over two days and stopped overnight at Jayson's parents house. I had myself all geared up for two days of torture, so I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. All I can say is THANK GOODNESS FOR DVD PLAYERS!!! Really, I don't know how our parents ever survived road trips!
We arrived home late Sunday night, just in time for Riley and Kaiya to get a few hours of sleep before their first day of school!
Riley and Kaiya on their first day of school---less than 10 hours after arriving home!
Kaiya and her school friends Ashley and Ryley
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