The first time we've all been together since Tyson and McKall were married four years ago. In case you figured much hasn't changed since then, here's a comparison:
We've added 3.75 grandchildren to the family since then.
The trip turned out to be a little more perilous than I had imagined; we got our raft stuck on several rocks, and one time we T-boned a fallen tree in the middle of the river. It took three crafts to get us down the river. The other raft's occupants spotted moose. Our raft's occupants saw a snake. Good times were had by all.
The next day (August 3), the Wirkus clan gathered at a local park to catch up and celebrate Grandpa Wirkus' 90th birthday (his birthday isn't actually until October, but we figured it would be easiest to get everybody out during the summer break).
All the kids/grandkids/great-grandkids who could attend. We had an excellent turnout, but missed those who weren't able to come.
The day of eating, playing, jumping in the bounce house and having our own Olympics was marred by only two things:
The sprinklers, which were supposed to be turned off throughout the park for the whole day, suddenly came on and doused a fair number of Wirkuses who had set up camp with their canopies and lunches on the lawn. This picture is hilarious to me for many reasons: you've got running people, you've got water being sprayed everywhere, and you've got a photographer who decided to capture the moment rather than help the poor soggy sandwiches. (Shout out to my father, the man behind the camera. :-))
While we were eating, a gust of wind blew through our reunion, which quickly became more than just your ordinary gust. A mini-tornado of sorts picked up several paper plates, cups, streamers and a camp chair bag and lifted them hundreds of feet into the air. Most of those items you see in the picture never came down. My guess is that they blew miles away before reentry. One poor canopy was broken. The "Wirkus Olympics" sign my aunt made got ripped off its stakes and taken away. Analee's giant orange ball she won in the Ucon Easter egg hunt blew into a distant neighbor's yard.
I kept expecting gremlins to pop out of the ground next and start eating the young ones. Gratefully, the rest of the day turned out to be quite un-freaky.
My mom, siblings, cousin, nephews, and cousins' children visiting at the reunion.
As my aunt was handing out name tags for the great-grandchildren to wear, I joked that I should get one for Gwendolen. Susan dared me to do it. I couldn't back down.
The day after that (August 4), we drove to Tetonia for the Egbert reunion. I love the Egbert reunion because we get to visit with family and see beautiful country, but the best part of all is the food. We get to have the BEST Dutch oven chicken, ham and potatoes in the world at this reunion. That alone is worth the trip.
Andrea blowing bubbles to entertain Miriam and distant cousins.
Seth singing/playing "Dead Man's Will" and "Falling Slowly" at the reunion. They put out a request for people to participate in a talent show, so Seth brought his amp, guitar and mic.
It was quite the gamut of reunions for us. Seth probably spent most of the time thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?!" Maybe he'll forget before next year's reunions roll around.