After the Beal reunion we had a week long break before packing up again to see the Roses in McCall. This time we'd be gone for six whole days. On the 4th we drove to Boise to stay the night with Gabe and Christy. This helped break up the drive since we have to stop every two hours for a good half and hour to take care of Beckham boy. The kids enjoyed his pool and we even did a few fireworks in his driveway. Colin is Emmett's age (two months apart) and they share a love of dinosaurs, so the three little boys hit it off big time playing dinosaurs until we made them go to bed. We managed to get kids to bed in time to watch a movie and enjoy some late night buffalo chicken bites.
Monday morning Justin was planning to help do the food shopping with his brother while I stayed at Gabe's with the kids. Due to some miscommunication, Justin had to come pick us up to do the shopping with him. We ended up waiting around for several hours trying to figure all the food out. Thankfully Beckham was pretty chill with all the waiting in the car and then walking around Costco. Oh my land it was hot in Boise that day! We managed to finally make it to the rental house in McCall and decided to take the kids to the lake right away. The lake in the evening is the absolute best: no crowds and perfect water! I am healed enough that I was able to swim with them which I was so grateful for: that water was absolute heaven to me! That night James and Jon arrived with their families.
Tuesday the cousins played while the adults mostly hung out all day. We managed to enjoy the lake a bit in the late afternoon and then Justin and I were in charge of dinner. We brought pulled pork that I had made previously and frozen, so all we had to do was throw it in the crockpot with BBQ sauce and voila. Jon and Judy arrived that night just in time to see Beckham before we headed to bed.
With everyone there, Wednesday was officially time to kick off the reunion theme of "superheroes unite." Justin assigned a character to every family member and created a whodunnit/clue game to be played throughout the week. People could find/win clues and based on their superhero power (which Justin made up) they could also steal/block clues. After explaining everything and experiencing a bit of a mad dash of clue finding/stealing fun, we ventured to the farmer's market and the fish hatchery. After not a great night's sleep and a bit too much walking around, I was feeling yucky so I managed to take an afternoon nap with Beckham. We took the kids to Rotary park before dinner.
Thursday the family all did a two-mile hike but I knew that would be a bad idea for me three weeks postpartum, so I stayed home. I thought I'd make myself useful and tidy up while everyone was away. I also made lunch for the kids for when they got back. We hit Ponderosa state park for our lake time which was my favorite part of the trip. The beach was in full sun but we had a canopy, and the water was absolutely perfect! Bonnie was able to bring up a paddle boat for us to enjoy which the cousins all got a kick out of. I borrowed a life jacket from Hart so I could swim out and enjoy the water with the kids with very little effort. Emmett and Eleanor are BFFs (nine months apart) and played in the sand a bunch. Logan doesn't have a cousin close to his age, but thankfully they include him pretty well. Bonnie made empanadas that night for dinner and I think I ate 5 or 6 - they were so good. Between the amazing food and amazing lake time this was by far my favorite day.
Friday we played some reunion games, adults only. This was a lot of fun with lots of thoughtful planning by Justin. The games and activities were all just right. We headed to downtown McCall to enjoy ice cream ally and look through the shops. After lunch I napped and we did the lake one more time in the late afternoon. I swam out to the docks with Emmett and convinced him to jump in with me. He's still learning to hold his breath/his nose when he jumps in so he was one-and-done. They enjoyed playing in the sand and Beckham slept really well giving me ample time to play in the water one last time. When we got home I started packing things up to make for a smooth checkout the following morning. Most people stayed up to watch Black Widow but I was happy to take a shower, fix my hair, and go to bed.
Saturday was a long day of checking out in the morning and driving home all day. We made a few pit stops in Boise, and then again in Mountain Home for lunch. Beckham truly gets the gold star of the week. He was content as long as he wasn't hungry or had a gas bubble. And I'm going to go ahead and give myself a gold star for hanging in there for a whole week, participating in most of the activities, and keeping a pleasant attitude between two-hour sleeping blocks and rationed Dr. Pepper. All while doing this three weeks postpartum. I know: I'm amazing, and you're welcome.
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