Outdoor Fun

Most of our family reunion company left last Monday and it was sad to see them go, but my sister Sharon and her family stayed all last week, so it was nice to have them stay longer so that not everyone left at once as I tend to get the blues when company leaves!

I love spending time with Sharon! We have a lot of fun watching TV or movies together and she's always so great about helping me with projects. I also love being able to spend time with my nieces and nephew. I got to meet my newest niece, Emily, who had her two month birthday while they were visiting. She's so soft and sweet and smells so good. I'm hooked on little Emi already! Here's the sweet little angel:

This is Emily taking a nap in the baby swing that my grandparents bought for my mom when I was born in 1984. My mom has kept it all these years and it still works. It's definitely not like the fancy baby swings you can get these days, but it gets the job done! I'm also posting a picture of me in the swing from back in the day.

We didn't really do anything exceptionally exciting with Sharon's family while they were here, but we just had fun playing and hanging out together. The girls love watching The Price Is Right and Let's Make a Deal, so it's a treat for them to get to watch it in my room while I work on my computer. It's so cute to see how excited they get when the contestants win prizes.

The girls really enjoyed playing croquet for the first time. I have such fond memories of playing croquet as a kid, so it was fun to watch them discover the magic of the game. Here's Elizabeth:

and Kate:

and Sarah and Rachel (who wasn't really interested in the game):

and Matt who loved going around the yard hitting things with his croquet mallet:

After dinner we all went outside again to play some more croquet with Laura and Brett's family. The weather was gorgeous and it was a perfect evening!

Here's Rachel, just chillin':

The kids also played outside in the water one afternoon. We've had the same tiny wading pool for the past eight years that my sister Annette and her husband (then fiancé) Joseph bought for two dollars at Walmart. It's small and beat up, but my nieces and nephews still love using it when they visit in the summer, so my mom keeps it around just for them. It's probably one of the best two dollar purchases ever!

 

I just love getting visits from family members since most of them live so far away. Fortunately Sharon's family will be back in July, so I won't even have that long to miss them!