Family Reunion

Today our minivan headed to Fayette for a Kaser family reunion at my cousin Jenny's house. They have a huge house and a nice pool that keeps the kids happy, so it has been the ideal spot for the reunion the last two years. Gracie felt the pressure to learn to swim without her life jacket since she saw her cousin Abbie (4) swimming unassisted without hers. As soon as she saw that, her life jacket came off!

Gracie's form may not be the best, but her head was above water, so I'd say she was swimming.

Brent helped Gracie swim for a long time and gave her some pointers, so she was a very happy little girl.

Success! Gracie really came a long way in one day. She probably swam for 4 hours straight, and even resisted getting out at that point.

My older cousin Jill planned a series of pirate themed games for the kids after supper, so they all got dressed up in pirate gear for the occasion. Here is our big pirate giving me an "Arrrrr."

Our little pirate didn't participate in the games, but did wear a hat for a short time.

Gracie and Abbie were the cutest little pirate girls I have ever encountered.

The kids were given about 45 minutes to perfect their outfits. This was Gracie's final result. She's a pretty stylish pirate in her green striped sundress!

More laughter from the goofy little pirates!

Jesse, Gracie, Callie, Abbie and Chase.

The pirate gang anxiously waited on the deck for all the adults to get ready so they could play their games.

Gracie's team for the games consisted of Chase, Callie and Gracie.

Ella tried to join their team, but was definitely too young for these games!

One of my cousins Jamey, with his little boy Seth.

The first game: The kids had to throw a ball into a hula hoop that was floating on the surface of the water. If it landed in the hula hoop, their team got a point. Gracie got 2 points for her team.

Ella finally just kicked back and watched the games from a lawn chair.

I guess she did sneak a closer seat at one point. Ella watches Gracie doing things and really wants to be doing the same thing, but sometimes realizes her limitations.

It was too hard to get pictures of each game since I was usually packing Ella around too, but the kids had a good time at each event. There was a game where they had to run down a slip 'n slide, walk the plank, then turn around and do the same thing back to their team. Also a water balloon fight, scavenger hunt, and a puzzle activity. The above picture shows them wet from their water balloon fight.

Win or lose, each participant received a 2009 Kaser Family Reunion medal to take home.

The final activity was digging for gold in the sand boxes. We had all chipped in our change and it was buried in the sand boxes. Gracie came home with a good baggie of change for her bank, so she was happy!

Time to go home Gracie...we have to pack for vacation tomorrow!