Reunited

This past week we had the first ever David Reed family reunion. We lucked out and had the least distance to drive since it was here in Colorado (about 3 hours away from us) While everyone else had at least a 12 hour drive. ON Saturday we had a full house. Ziff's brother Jeremy, His wife Heather, and their 7 boys (Austin, Avery, Adrion, Payton, Parker, Kaden, and Landon) all stopped by to see our place, stretch their legs enjoy a Popsicle, and visit for a bit. And then Ziff's other brother Kib, his wife Kari and their 2 boys (Zane and Ryder) came...and stayed for 2 nights. And Finally Ziff's mom and dad arrived and they too stayed for 2 nights. Thankfully our apartment is pretty good sized and was able to fit everyone. It was a bit crowded, but we made it work. On Monday morning we all started to make our way down to Winter Park, but Ziff, Lilly, and I stopped at the butterfly pavilion since we had plenty of time to kill. After the butterfly pavilion we fulfilled Ziff's craving for Jack in the box (which they only have near Denver) and got back on the road. Spending time with Ziff's siblings and their kids was great. I really got to know them alot better. I learned alot of things about them, and hopefully bonds were created as they got to know me. I am the newest addition to the family. Ziff's brother Jeremy and his wife have been married 14 years, His sister Tabatha has been married around 8 years, and his brother Kib has been married 4 years, so I have alot of catching up to do. Although in all fairness Ziff is the youngest of all his siblings...so we are right on track to having a long happy marriage. We shared our room with Heather and Jeremy's oldest boys, Austin 13, Avery 11, and Adrion 9 and they had such a great time hanging out with their uncle Ziff, being boys, and I will admit I had to run out of the room a few times due to unannounced stench. At night Tabatha and her husband and Heather and I would play games, eat candy and chat. We filled our days with roller skating, hiking, biking, white water rafting, dancing, rock climbing, basketball, swimming, eating, sleeping, visiting museums, visiting a homestead, mini golf, horseback riding and making a special shirt for grandpa. So needless to say we were pretty busy although Lilly's nap time and early bedtimes were welcomed. I used those times as a chance to nap or read and so did Ziff. We had our system worked our since Lilly is the only one who was really on a schedule (by her own choice) The only bummer part about the trip is that there was nothing really toddler or preschool friendly, so Lilly had to tag along with us where ever we went, we tried to find as many things as possible that we could make somewhat entertaining for her, and thankfully on our way out of winter park we found that great park to repay her for putting up with all the non toddler activities. We have so many new memories and our friendships with family members have all gone to new levels and our little family has gone to a new level as well. Ziff and Lilly were able to bond on a new level and he and I we able to spend some really good quality time together. It was a trip we won't soon forget. There is so much more I could say about the trip but I will just leave it at that and let the pictures do the talking.

Lilly playing in the sand at a fantastic toddler friendly park we found just outside of winter park

Grandpa finally got to sit nest to Lilly at mealtime, she was checking out his new shirt and telling him all about how they had made it for him. We used the kid's hand prints and turned them into cheetahs, their names are written as the tails and then we added grass. Each Family was it's own heard and since Lilly has no siblings yet we put her solo hand over grandpas heart (yes i kinda planned that) right where it belongs.

Lilly running around...her 2 cousins are in the background somewhere chasing their balls too

Ziff rock climbing with his brother and nephews

Grandpa and 16 of his 17 grand kids. He is wearing the shirt they all made for him

Tabatha, Eric, Me, and Heather
We left our kiddos with their daddy's and went riding

Lilly and I on the steps of Hotel De Paris
It was a grand hotel full of history

Kari, her 2 boys Zane and ryder and in her trailer, Kristi (kari's step daughter), Me and Lilly is in my trailer. My legs hurt so bad that night I could barely walk

My man jumping off the cliff..."no guts, no glory" he had fun besides losing his wedding ring and getting a bloody nose

Ziff, Blake (kib's son), Kib, Ziff's Dad David, and Tabatha only 2 of his siblings the rest didn't want to go, but i heard it was alot of fun