Lee's Family Reunion

This entire crazy trip was planned around our next event: Lee's extended family reunion. This reunion is for all the descendants of his great-grandparents. It is held every four years on the Washington coast. The last time Lee and I went was eight years ago when we were newlyweds. This year was nice because all but one of Lee's siblings was able to attend, so our girls had a chance to play with cousins. The sad thing is that it was rainy and in the 50s the entire weekend (until Sunday when everyone left). Here's a photo of everyone who came this year:

And here's a picture of our family in front of the "red barn" where all the eating took place. I was very glad to have checked the weather and known to pack coats.
The family out there have cranberry bogs, so we walked around to look at them and asked all about how to harvest cranberries. Here is Brynne, Morgan, and Lee in front of a barn that is on one of the cranberry bogs.
We joined some extended family members (one of the few other families at the reunion with kids) on a small "nature walk" behind the houses. Brynne found a nice worm (on her right hand).
Meanwhile, Morgan found a nice slug.

We were on the coast for the 4th of July. Lots of family members bought various fireworks to set off on the beach. The girls did a few sparklers and smaller things before deciding it would be more fun to play on the rocks (which I didn't mind at all). Then we sat up by the cars and watched the men-folk set off the big expensive fireworks. It was actually really nice because there were lots of different groups on the beach so there were the really nice, pretty fireworks going off almost constantly up and down the beach. It was fun, but we were ready for bed by the time they were done!

On Sunday morning at the end of the reunion, they had a sing-along in memory of all the family members who have passed on. It was really neat. At the end, Lee sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" with his sisters Meredith and Katie:
On the way home, we stopped in Grayland to see Lee's grandmother's grave. She passed away shortly after Morgan was born. This picture is of Morgan and Lee posing in front of a veteran memorial. The names of Lee's grandmother, Dorothy Cottrell, and her husband, Clark Cottrell, appear right above the flowers. Can I just take a moment to say how hot my husband looks in this picture -- oh yeah!
After stopping in Grayland, we had to drive to Seattle and drop Lee off to fly back to work. :( Then the girls and I stayed a night with my mom's cousin Becky Reynolds and her family in Auburn. We had a nice time visiting with them one night before having to head on to the next stop. At this point I was glad that the next stop was on the way home...