Let The Games Begin!!

We kick started the family reunion with a family Olympics on the front lawn.

Ryan was the “Cool Uncle” of the day.  Somehow his job of mowing the lawn turned into being the Tractor Model with the kids. 

      

Thanks Ryan!

 

 

And of course there always needs to be a Nerdy Uncle…

 

The kids were drenched before the games even started!

 

 Uncle Rich gave everyone a tutorial on how to use the marshmallow shooters. 

First the kiddos gave it a go…

 Then the Sister in laws  gave it a try…

(I tried to hide the fact that I’m half pirate)

Next it was the Brothers turn to give it a shot

Various techniques were tried…

The women were very impressed by it all…

and soon the targets became each other.

Next up were the water balloon games…

Did I mention that this family is EXTREMELY competitive??

It makes me chuckle even now remembering all of the couples whispering different strategies around the kiddie pool.

This was my favorite moment caught on camera.  It is of Ryan and his sweet wife Karla.  She was laughing so hard she went down.  So Ryan leaves her to make sure he gets his balloon!

 

 

 Who knew Ron is part pirate too! 

 

 Ray and I setting a new resolve to win the next game.

Next up was the ball toss.

Then we had a good Ol’ fashion three legged race!

We made it about 1 step before we hit the ground!

 What an awesome day it was!

                                                

Whew!  And that was just the morning festivities!

Henderson Family Reunion 2010

 

We just got back from an AMAZING family reunion in North Carolina.  I am going to steal my sister-in-law Karla’s idea and post about the reunion 1 day at a time because there was too much fun to write about in 1 post.

Here we are at the airport waiting to fly to NC to see cousins that we haven’t seen in 3 1/2 years!

I was stoked that we are finally at the stage where the kids were able to sit in a row ALL BY THEMSELVES on the plane!  Ray and I actually got to sit next to each other!

 

Well, it was really because this little man needed 2 on 1 defense!

 

After a full day of flying, we finally made it to Raleigh.

(Benny meeting his cousin for the first time)

 It always amazes me how everyone just “clicks” right away as if no time had passed at all.

 

As soon as we got there, all 18 of the cousins formed one big band of kids and I swear I never saw my kids again!  Their routine was, trampoline, run through the house, Wii, get jars for bug catching, repeat. 

John and Carolyn are remodeling their house and so the brothers helped get things in order before the reunion officially kicked off.

 Ryan and Randall working hard to make sure we had light.  I am not sure where Ray was……...probably in the bathroom!

      Carine and Randall cooked up some delicious NC  pulled pork.  

 

 

 

The rest of us hung out chatting, excited for the upcoming week.

    

 My sweet sister in laws Karla and Carine.  (I am not sure who the muppet is in the back)

 

Who knew that an old curtain rod would provide hours of entertainment for a mob of kids?

 

 

 

 

Whew, and that was all before the reunion even started! 

The Newest Henderson

As if 4 kids isn't enough, we decided to throw another girl into the mix

And by "we" I mean ME. About a month ago I picked up Will from school and thought it would be fun to visit the Animal Shelter. It was just supposed to be a quick visit, until I came across her...

Ray then got a call that went something like this:

Me: Hi Ray......I am at the animal shelter right now....

Ray: Oh no, what did you find....

Me: I found the PERFECT little puppy for our family. I know she will be great. I promise to take full responsibility for her. (I basically had one breathy run on sentence for about 2 minutes straight)

Ray: She sounds great. Bring her home.

And that is just what I did. I brought her home to a place where she is being loved up!

Maybe a little more than she would like.

Summer is here!

Summer is finally here. And with Summer comes playing outside, and with playing outside comes critters!

The first day of summer last year bulldozed me over! I was in the kitchen ALL DAY fixing various snacks, sandwiches, drinks, etc! Toys were flying everywhere and I was refereeing fights every 3 seconds.

This summer I wised up a bit and started "The Henderson Family Camp".

Sounds pretty cool huh?

Ya, the kids think it is pretty cool too.

Want to know a secret?



"Henderson Family Camp" is really just a schedule!

Shhhhhh

Every day the kids wake up, have breakfast, do chores, pack a lunch, and then we hit a different park each day.

We definitely have some happy campers this summer!