Day 344: Family reunion

Zaria had fun at the park in the morning with Grandma Dawn and Aunt Katie while Jamin and I went to church with Dad. She also got a new "princess skirt" from the dollar store that she was pretty pleased about.
In the afternoon, we joined up with a fair number of Jamin's relatives at the family reunion. The above photo shows all of Jamin's dad's siblings in birth order. L-R: Ronald, Coral and Knute (they're fraternal twins, a few minutes apart), Alfred, David, Herbert and Richard. They go by Ron, Coral, Knute, Al, Dave, Herb and Rich. They're all very intelligent and had some great stories to share during the reunion. I was so glad we made the trip up. The youngest family member to make it was Ron's first great grandchild, Emery, who was just a few weeks old.

Day 343: Sunset up north

In preparation for a family reunion tomorrow in Bimidgi, we drove up north to Dad and Dawn's cabin so we wouldn't have two 4-hour trips to drive in one day. Our trip up went surprisingly fast, broken up nicely by us switching drivers and stopping for dinner at Taco Bell, I suspect. One snafu to our lovely trip: we forgot to bring the Pack N Play along for Zaria to sleep in. It was pretty tough getting her to sleep on the floor where we made a bed out of blankets, but she did eventually get to sleep. That also meant we had to switch rooms with my stepsister Katie when she was already settled in, but she took it in stride.

Day 322: Fun at the cabin

Zaria loved having the run of the cabin, and she had an especially fun time when she discovered the shower and could open and close the door. We heard her repeat "open, close" and squeal with laughter. What a fun little girl we have!

My dad seems to be working on a project at all times when we're up at the cabin, so it was no surprise that he was down fixing something on the dock with Dawn's help. I caught this picture just as they had finished and were about to come back up the steps. Today the lake was much more wavy than it had been Friday or Saturday, but I like how the light plays on the waves.

Day 321: Toes ready to dance

Grandma Dawn painted Zaria's finger's and toes, and we all went into town for a community dinner and dance. The dance didn't start right away, so we went to the nearby park to play until the music started. Zaria wasn't up for dancing very long since she'd already spent a lot of energy running around right after dinner.

Day 320: Boat ride

We may have missed Sonshine, but we did make it up to Dad and Dawn's cabin today. I almost wasn't sure we'd make it-- I woke up with such terrible pain in my hip that started hurting when I rolled over in the night, that I could barely move around. I went to a chiropractor to get an adjustment, and felt pretty well by the end of the day. We took a boat ride after dinner, and it was a beautiful evening. Zaria liked watching the water and the loons we passed, and didn't seem to mind wearing a life jacket like she did last year.

Day 301: Family gathering

The youngest and the oldest ladies of the family all sat together at one table. It was very cute. Zaria enjoyed seeing and playing with her cousins Becca and Tricia again. The 3 great grandmas are (L-R) my Dad's mom Alpha, my aunt's mom Judy, and my stepmom's mom Wilma. They're also pictured in the group shot below.
Family picture with all the siblings on my dad's side. Renee and Kurt came to town for a visit, and Jason and his wife Caralee came, as well as my stepbrother and stepsister, Scott and Katie. The last time all 5 of us were together was at my grandpa's funeral, so it was a special day. Mom and Dave came too, and Dave volunteered to be the photographer.

Day 269: Playing with grandfolks

We had my dad and Dawn over for dinner this evening, mostly so Jamin could show them how to use a little mini-computer they're trying out. But Jamin was running late, so we had fun playing with Zaria until he got home.

Day 238: Playing with Grandpa

Zaria thinks my dad is hilarious-- as soon as she saw he was here to visit, she laughed every time she looked at him. I'm not sure what he was doing to her head here, but she loved it. I think he was mimicking one of the animal noises from a book they were looking at.

Day 202: Happy Easter!

We had a fun time with my Dad's side of the family today for Easter, and of course Zaria was having fun in the limelight, being the baby of the group. The above picture shows my cousin Vicki with daughter Lauren on her lap, and then my uncle Tim and Dad on the couch. The kids (Lauren, Zaria and family friend Matthew) had just finished collecting their Easter eggs. Zaria got the idea of putting eggs in her basket, but had the most fun opening the eggs, dumping the contents, and then putting it back in the egg. Probably good she didn't get interested in eating the jelly beans at this age. She was having much too fun walking around and exploring, and fortunately it was mainly her fingers that went in her mouth.

Day 188: Bug walking

Zaria is really gaining confidence with her walk. She was able to have lots of quality dad-time today, especially since he was volunteering in the nursery. I think all the kids, including the bigger ones that don't usually take morning naps, took naps today in the nursery. All their little time clocks were messed up with the daylight savings time today. We also got to visit my Dad and Dawn today. Zaria hasn't seen them much lately, so she was a little shy, but she really got to laughing when her grandpa acted surprised whenever she hit spoons together. I don't know if I've ever seen her laugh so hard.

Day 125: Christmas with Dad and Dawn

Oh no, Christmas is not over yet. We were still sick on the 23rd when we were originally going to meet with Dad and Dawn, so today was a make-up Christmas day. Zaria had already opened all her presents at previous get-togethers, so she helped her Uncle Jason open one of his presents tonight while Great Grandma Wilma watched. It was a fun afternoon and Zaria was in a fabulous mood, even with just a short nap in the Pack-n-Play.

Day 54: Visit from Dad and Dawn

Quite the action shot here: There's Jamin bringing us water, Zaria bouncing, Dawn taking a picture of Zaria, and my dad getting ready for some cake he and Dawn made as a team-effort. It was nice to have them over. Zaria had to get used to them all over again, but she eventually chilled out. Dawn works with babies and gave me a great idea on how to get Zaria to nap better again. This week, she's had a hard time settling down because now she can sit up and stand up in her crib. Dawn recommended swaddling-- she does it with her one-year-olds and it works like a charm.