Busy days with that Hawkins fam

Scenes of mealtime and playtime craziness...

Breakfast! Look how calmly all these kids are waiting to eat their Cheerios. And look at all those plastic cups on the table. We all labelled our cups with masking tape (Jenny Hawkins style) and used them the entire time.

 Yes, there are a lot of boy cousins in this family! Eight of them, from age 8 months to 8 years old.

the upstairs hallway/playroom area for the AMAZING fisher-price toy collection!!

Timo was quite enamored of Lillian, and she was very patient and sweet with him. Throughout the day he would repeat, "Where's Lillian?" and "Look, Lillian, look!" to draw her attention to whatever he was doing. It reminded both Jim and I of how much Gemma had adored Lillian, following her around and wanting to sit on her lap.

Mattias is the youngest cousin, and his older boy cousins in particular were gentle and kind with him, paying attention to him. Unfortunately he's a bit heavy to be carried around ... but watch out, soon enough he'll be running after them, too!

Samuel (5) and Daniel (4 1/2) with Mattias

Adella driving while Abram (10 months) rides in back - good balance! - and Adah Joy pushes

Lunch! Mom/Jaja was amazing at having SO much food and so many options on hand for our meals. Lunchtime we had all kinds of sandwich and salad fixings, fruit, plus chips & salsa and a variety of cold salads. Yes, those pickles were hand-sliced. With love. In a small batch.

Afternoon playtime usually meant a game of baseball or tag in the yard, or a trip to the river for wading. Timo discovered t-ball for the first time, and was surprisingly good at it. He would hit again and again and didn't want to stop. Since coming home he has continued to ask to play... I need to look for a t-ball stand at a yard sale. 

At his own initiative, he bats left-handed.

Grandpa pitching for the baseball game

Another grilled dinner - this time Craig and Kyle laboriously cut up and grilled RABBIT (previously slaughtered) from the Frey's "urban farm"

The men got in a couple of basketball sessions - Dunkball and Horse games - over at the church next to the house. Amazingly, none of them complained about being sore after these sessions... Maybe we aren't too old for this yet.

In the evenings after the kids were all in bed, the adults talked and ate dessert and played games. One night was Men vs Women in Charades. We were all a bit rusty... and it was hilarious.

"Small word"

Hawkins Reunion Craziness!!

What's this, what's this, another family reunion (one week after our Gieser get-together)! And a Hawkins family reunion?! Yes, it's true! The Hawkins family finally agreed on and planned a reunion of all five siblings and cousins (and the patriarch and matriarch, of course) - our first reunion ever. That's 12 adults and 12 children, as of 2014. I could almost stop right there with the description because it already sounds so impressive, doesn't it? We even had matching t-shirts. More on that to come.

We gathered in Sylva, NC at the Woody home (sister in-law Hannah's parents' place, and the location of Matt and Hannah's wedding exactly 9 years ago), an 1880s farmhouse in the Appalachian mountains. It turned out to be a terrific home for all of us - bedrooms and bathrooms galore, and tons of outdoor space to explore and play: kickball & baseball, bicycles & scooters, swings, a hippo sculpture to climb on, firepit, spooky ancient basement/cellar to explore, garden with abundant squash and tomatoes, an incredible Fisher-Price town collection, and board games. (It helps that the Woodys have 11 grandchildren of their own so they had plenty of toys and games to keep the kids happy!). We were close by to numerous rivers and natural parks, so there were also some fun times exploring the mountains.

We Giesers flew to Durham a day ahead, and then helped Grandpa and Jaja pack up the cars with foodstuffs and drove out together to Sylva, where we met up with the rest of the family.

Front of the house, and the beginnings of a first baseball game (Lillian at bat and Grandpa catching)

Back of the house, taken from the vegetable garden

Uncle Matt and Mattias - I just love their expressions!!

first dinner - Timo and Adella (4 months older) had their own special table

The morning of our first full day together, a big group went to the Smoky Mountain visitor center and did a hike along the river. Here's Grandpa with his 3 granddaughters. This photo makes me miss Gemma so much. She would have been the second oldest at 4 1/2 years, and what boisterousness might she have contributed!

That afternoon/evening we went to a public park along a river for wading, tubing, and a picnic supper. So fun! The water was cold at first but none of the kids minded, so eventually we adults warmed up to. The tubing was gentle and a short ride, great for kids. 

Timo was very focused on carrying and throwing rocks

Jaja and Adah Joy, age 3 1/2

Grandpa and Daniel, age 4 1/2

Phillip, oldest grandson, age almost-8

Mattias was genuinely really excited to get in the water and splash and grab rocks. It was a workout holding onto him!

this little guy (Abram, 10 months) was happily occupied while we ate our picnic

HoneyRock family shots

Thank you, Dad and Mom G for an amazing week together!!

Noah and Katie

Steve and Tiffany

Jim and me

Granddad and Nonna with the grandkids! This is what you end up with when you wait until the last evening to try for a grandkids photo...
 

Water time

The boatmaster (father and grandfather) once again spent many hours on task - but of course with much enjoyment by driver and skiers and riders! Despite feeling nervous and rusty, four of us adult siblings regained our ski legs and got back out on the water. Man, it was awesome! Boy, were we sore! And for the grandchildren, we also all got out for at least one boat ride touring around Long Lakes and the connecting lakes.

Avery and Bella heading out to accompany in the boat and watch the skiers.

Timo LOVED going out for a ride!

Looking good, Jim

Jul

Beautiful early morning ski for Jim

Five of the cousins down on a floating "raft" at the camp's swim area

HoneyRock with Gieser family - yee-haw!

Six days at HoneyRock with our Gieser family - 8 adults and 7 children (age 5 and younger). Wow! What can be said to thoroughly describe it! Such a peaceful setting on Long Lake. It was wonderful to be away from typical daily routines (and internet access). We were split between three cabins, which surround the facilities of the ongoing summer camp. Mostly we kept to ourselves but it was fun on occasion to visit the horses or the camp store or the chapel or the beach or the trails.We had beautiful weather - mostly in the 70s but cool at night with a bit of rain on a few afternoons. Thus we could put on swimsuits for morning swims and make campfires in the evening. 

Amazingly it had been NINE years since Jim and I had been up to HoneyRock. He grew up spending summer vacations there with his family, and I got to join them once in college and three times when we were married. Lots of happy memories, and now Timo and Mattias can hopefully start making some memories and having fun there, too. Timo was SO excited all week leading up to the trip, and in the car as we drove, he must have asked 30 times, "Go HoneyRock now?"

Timo and David get along really well now! These guys are only 2 months apart in age!

Here is the back view of the main cabin where two families stayed, with the waterfront. There is also a dock at this cabin, and Dad/Granddad rented a Ski Nautique for the week. More on that in the next post...

I think this photo needs to be framed for the Gieser hallway at 516! So cute!

Down at the camp's beach area, which had a nice sandy swimming area. This was the day before campers arrived, so it was very quiet.

Mattias at 7 months, and Katie with Millie, who turned 1 the previous week.

A favorite spot for the cousins to look at the lake and throw in sticks and rocks

Early morning at the waterfront lagoon area outside our family's cabin.

One of the highlights was seeing and riding - for the older granddaughters - the horses at camp. The wranglers were very kind to give us extra time. Avery and Bella spent three or four mornings having riding lessons, and one evening three of us siblings did a trail ride, including me. It was just a walk but boy it's fun to be on a horse!

Timo was quite interested and not scared by the horses.

It's not camp if you don't cook over a fire at least one meal!! That's how Jim and I feel anyway! So "Eggs McDeerfoot" it was - English muffins, eggs, cheese, sausage. (Veggie sausage and non-dairy cheese for some of us.)

Two evenings the siblings got to hang out and talk - much needed time together because the days were full of activity and children and meals! One night we had a fire down at our cabin's fire pit. Wow, just perfect. Love it. Except the mosquitoes.