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| Lexie out on a tube... |
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| Behind every tuber is a crew! |
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| Austin & Hunter |
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| Brianna didn't get tossed! |
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| Lexie & her Papa |
Many of the summers for the last 25 years, several members of my family have gathered at Marion Reservoir for a weekend of camping. When we started, my sibs and parents all lived in Hutchinson, and it was close by.
Now my sister and her family are the only ones still in Hutch, but she organizes the weekend for us and our gatherings range from about a dozen to over 30! We have certain traditions, such as cooking "wranglers & s'mores" just after dark, doing some stargazing, swimming in the lake, soccer games among the kids and some of the grown ups, "church" by the lake, and lots of catching up. Of course there is always wind (we are in Kansas), sometimes a storm blows through, and often we have HEAT and mosquitoes! For us kids, the grand-kids, and now the greats, a very special part of the weekend is time with (my parents) Oma and Opa. We come away with stories to tell for the ages, and a lot of memory making! Here's some of my favorites from years past.
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| The cousins in '90? |
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| Manda... so fun by day.... terror at night! |
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| hey Uncle John! Matt in '86? |
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| Holly... a FEW years back! |
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| fun in the water long ago! |
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| Bria, Maddy & Gage- nature art ~'05 |
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| Austin, Bria and her friend... ~05? |
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| Lexie blowing bubbles when she was smaller! |
This year was unique in several ways, 1) none of our out-of-state family came except Holly & her boys from NW Missouri and usually we get some of my nieces and nephews here from Georgia or Florida. :-( (but we plan to gather in Arkansas in December. and 2) My sis has had a population EXPLOSION in her branch, 4 baby girls in 15 months (added to the 7 grand-kids she already had)! What fun to get acquainted with these precious little ones.
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| To take kids tubin, or to go fishin, or to just sit???? |
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| Austin and Maddy look out for John. |
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| Grandma Brenda introduces us to Ella. |
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| Opa and Miss Kinley |
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| A boat ride for Ella and Sophie! |
Crowds like we had in 2009 are rare these days, but we still have a good time. Passing on family traditions to our little ones... PRICELESS!
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| Summer 2009, quite a crowd! |
I wish we could have been there! It seems that we always have to choose between Marion and another family gathering during the year. This year, we chose Christmas, and I'm excited to gather at Oma & Opa's this year! Miss you all!
ReplyDeleteFun by day, terror at night! That is me for sure! I have only been to the lake once since I was a kid.... I REALLY need to get there next summer! Love you all! See you in December!
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