Post Family Reunion

                                                                The Post Family Reunion!

 Jeff's mom had 9 kids, her mom had 7, those kids all had kids and as many as could come came to the Post family reunion. Thanks to Cindy for organizing and planning it and helping some far away cousins get out to California we were able to have a huge family fest.

We knew that quite a bit of family was coming but we didn't know that Cindy would plan (and pay for) so much to make it a wonderful weekend where we could all get to know each other better and meet spouses, children and others for the first time.

She reserved a spot at the Irvine Park where we could have all our festivities and brought enough food for an army. (Between us all we ate enough for an army)

The night before we were able to host Jeff's cousin Robin and her husband Kerry and their two kids Sydney and Tanner. They had fun playing with our kids and...

Sydney learned to LOVE dogs.

(she was so sad the next day when she realized she wouldn't get to see Maddie again)

While she was at our house Maddie was hand fed enough food and snacks for a week by Sydney. Maddie was sure to follow Sydney everywhere she went!

The day of the reunion again...the jumper was a huge hit.

Especially when you get it all to yourself!

Getting decorations up

Taking the kids for a ride on the train

Jacob trying to give Cayden kisses...

His response...of course this is his look basically whenever I see him. I can't wait until he's talking and I can find out what hes really thinking :)

I realized later that Cayden was the only great grandchild there, and he's the great-great-grandson to Grandma Smeltzer who is still alive!

 

New family/friends Jacob and Ethan

We also took the kids on pony rides.

When we got there we found out that the height limit kept all but the smallest kids from riding....Ashley was happy to meet the height requirement.

The big girls got to lead the horses for the younger kids.

When we got back we were just in time for the taco guy. Cindy you've really outdone yourself!! I had the best fist tacos :)

More and more family is still coming throughout the day.

Cayden trying to give Olive a kiss!

The kids had all kinds of fun playing lawn games and throwing footballs and stuff together. Kept them entertained throughout the day.

Christina and her husband Mike and youngest of their 5 kids.

At one point Steve gathered us all together and had us introduce us to each other...also we all got to thank Cindy!

I counted 70 people that came in and out that day so I was grateful for the introductions! This was in spite of all the people that couldn't make it!

It's amazing how much a family grows over time!

After this everyone who wanted to headed over to the zoo. It cost $2.00 per person to get into the zoo but Jeff worked his deal magic and we all got in for a dollar each...30 of us so that was like saving  $30.00!  

We were quite a group walking through this little entrance :)

The zoo wasn't big but most of the animals were out and active...

and of course there were ones that could be pet

Olive loving it

The bear was the coolest especially since he was pacing right in front of us. We didn't get to see any bears in Yellowstone so he was cool, but I was glad there was a fence between us.

Steve introducing the rest of the family to his game of "signs" They loved it. There were so many signs people had a hard time keeping them straight!

Cousin Jennifer, Jeff and cousin Cat

Robin, Cat, Jennifer (with her new baby), Naomi, Sarah, Jennica and Cheri

They even had a pinata in honor of May Bell's birthday (Ben's new step daughter)

Swing that bat!

There was so much candy some of it was left untouched after the kids were done picking it up. I've NEVER seen that happen! (so the adults just HAD to pick it up for them ;)

Singing Happy Birthday to May Bell

After that long day we came home to sleep and then met the family back at the beach for a family reunion beach day.  We knew the main event was the day before, and not everyone would be able to come to the beach but when we showed at 10:00 when we were supposed to it was Steve's family and us.

So the boys played smashball.

Ashley and I and the girls explored the beach and wrote in the sand.

Hung out...

There was some football throwing, eating (Robert brought over the left over food from the party the day before ;) and relaxing.

The other families started coming about 1:00 with the majority showing up at 3:00.  We were planning on leaving at 3:00...so we stayed for a bit and left at 4:00 wishing everyone a good trip back home and happy for the weekend to reunite.

Beach day with the Popkow family

While we were at LPA we met another family with a daughter about Ashley's age (there aren't any in our area) we talked about getting together and maybe meeting up at the beach...then I forgot about it.

Luckily Mirjana texted me and reminded me.

So we arranged to meet at Hermosa beach and since Jacob Rosser was scheduled to come over and play with Jacob we brought him along too :)

The air was a bit breezy but the water was great. The kids were loving boogie boarding in it over and over.

They loved it so much that 2 of our small boogie boards broke and are now in the trash....well they were given to us free when someone was going home from their vacation so we got 3 or 4 years out of them for free ;)

Taylor exhausted after running 8 miles this morning.

The Popkows hit traffic so we actually beat them by a bit. I told Ashley that Chloe was coming and when Mirjana and the kids walked up Ashley said "Ooohh I didn't know THAT Chloe was coming. I thought it was the OTHER Chloe"  (Chloe Allen that lives in Oregon)

I asked her if she was happy that it was this Chloe she said "YES! We can play in the waves and she won't go too far out and leave me behind"   (which is always the issue with girls her age)

They collected seaweed (they played jump rope with this piece) and played in the waves. They both like to go out in them just the right amount (no higher than their waist which is just how I like it)

And they found sand crabs and tried to dig themselves a big hole.

The boys had fun hanging out together, Taylor, Jacob, Jacob and Matthew.

Ashley told me that when these two are together everyone asks them if they are sisters ;)

Nope just a good friends. They had a lot of fun together and I enjoyed getting to know Mirjana better. We'll have to get these two girls together again :)

The next day we went to our first pool day of the summer at the Paige's house. There was quite a few people there, lots of fun.

We got our trees trimmed because the neighbors were having problems with leaves from the trees on the side of the house blowing into the pool. Since we were getting the side trees done we had our tree guy do the front tree which needed it...not realizing what a bad idea that was in the middle of summer. Our house is now hot! I didn't realize how much this tree cooled the house!

We went to a LPA recap taco/pool party for all the people that helped at the convention. They were giving away extra stuff...we got this surfboard that they used for a sign.

Taylor was very disappointed when we brought it to the car and it was just a plywood piece cut into the shape of a surfboard (he thought he was getting the real thing...ha ha)

The rest of the week we were preparing the house for Jeff's cousin Robin and her family to come stay. There was a Post family reunion coming to town and we were looking forward to seeing family we haven't met before.