Strobel Family Reunion Days 3 & 4

Day 3/Saturday: We woke up and had breakfast and then recreational activities scheduled for the morning. Devin, Steve, and some others had an ATV ride scheduled that was supposed to be an hour long. They left and returned within a half hour looking a little disappointed. They said that they never left second gear and the ride was rather boring. So, after a little complaining by myself and my aunt Angela, their ride was rescheduled for 5 pm with a different guide. That time, they both came back caked in dirt and looking a lot more pleased. Gotta get what you pay for!

The kids spent the morning doing all sorts of things, such as bungee trampoline, ziplining (Hallie only), and riding a clown car/golf cart thing. We had signed them up for a "mini ATV" ride where we were told that an adult would ride with them on a 4-wheeler. Well, we showed up and the only 4-wheelers were definitely not adult sized-- they were kid sized and the lady told us that only kids 8 and up could ride them. Thus, our kids all got turns riding around on this golf cart thing with Devin instead. Around and around in circles....yippee. The kids all seemed to enjoy it, though, and that's all that matters! Jennifer and I sat in the shade under a tree and watched while Devin rode in circles for an hour. Fun stuff. 

That afternoon we went swimming again and of course the kids loved that. The pool was pretty great, though a little on the chilly side. There were two levels and each level had a slide flowing in to it. I think it was actually the day before that Devin sent Flor down the slide ALONE without a life jacket and I about had a heart attack because she flew to the bottom of the pool (in the deep end) and I couldn't reach her. I had to dive down and grab her by the hair to retrieve her. I was so mad at him. I had told him to go with her. But he gets his own ideas and well, good thing we diverted a disaster. Flor came up laughing, luckily, so I was much more scarred than she was. But, you know, every parent's worst nightmare! 

That night we had a bunch of games that were hilarious and fun. Clue Charades again, the Name Game, and the Smurf game. All fun crowd games if you need some ideas. :) We are game loving people; that's for sure. 

The games were all fantastically fun until about 10:30 when I felt the sudden urge to throw up. I retreated to our room and began barfing violently. I sent Devin out to warn everyone that it was bad and he came back with the news that a few other people were throwing up too. Oh great. What is it with us spreading viruses like crazy when staying in cabins for family reunions? This was probably the worst I have EVER been sick, second was the time we got sick at Bear Lake with my mom's family reunion. UGH. We were sharing a bathroom with my cousin Sarah and her husband Daniel and Devin just told them to stay clear. However, it was lovely that that bathroom was between our two rooms because they got a front row audio show to my throwing up all night long. Just lovely. I threw up at least once every half hour, all.night.LONG. It was horrible. I thought I was going to die. I eventually just moved to the bathroom floor and stayed the night there. I stopped throwing up by 5 am or so, but we had the dilemma that we had two cars down there. Luckily, my sister volunteered to drive our van home with the kids split between the van and Steve driving their car and Devin drove me home in his car. I got to sleep most of the way home and that was nice. I didn't do anything all day that day, Sunday, or the next. Hallie got the kids cereal for every meal and it was just great. Over the course of the next few days, we got word of more and more casualties from the dreaded thing, but luckily no one else in my family got it. Huge blessing since we ended up moving the first day I was up and going again (Tuesday), but that's a really long story for another day. So, what a way to end an awesome reunion, eh?

Now some pictures: 

Flor taking her turn on the clown car. The helmet seriously weighed her down. It was funny.

Swimming. Always a good time!

Shawna and Anneka sunbathing

Jace coming off the slide

And Hals

The second day she didn't get in- she just looked pretty by the pool instead

Pretty cool picture if I do say so myself!

Hals on the trampoline bungee having the time of her life

Jace didn't like it quite as much. He was scared of the height eventually. 

Getting ready to go zip lining. Little dare devil. She loved it.

There she goes!

Every night we had a family devotional and prayer. The first two nights we had family history lessons by my aunt Heidi and my dad and the third night we had a family talent show. Always a good time.

Some of the kids joined together to sing songs from "Frozen"

Totally random picture and out of place, but this is the outside view of the cabin we stayed in. It was really nice and a fun place.

Sarah and me- retiring ourselves from any future planning committees. Love the photo bomb, Kenna.

Me and Jen.

Oh yes, this is lovely. Don't you love that I am totally willing to post hideous pictures of myself? This is the morning after barfing all night long. I felt much worse than that....just for the record.

Until next time, Strobels! Looking forward to it!