We hit the road again in early July - back to Iowa again! This time, we were gathering for a Strutt family vacation. I haven't had a vacation with all of my siblings in a long, long time....maybe the last time was when we spent a few days in Martha's Vineyard after Jon's med school graduation in '09? And the last thing I can think of before that was a road trip to Washington DC in 1997?? It was also the first time we've ever had all 10 grandkids together (the two youngest were born last November). In fact, the only who wasn't there....was Brandon :(
The kids and I actually drove up to Iowa a few days early, since Brandon was working night shift all week. Aunt Jenny was already there with Carly and Layla (they stayed in Iowa after the anniversary party, rather than make the long trip up from Texas twice in less than a month). So we got a few extra days of cousin playtime in. We sure kept the kids (and Grandma) busy with story time at the library, play time and a picnic lunch at the park, a trip to the zoo, "swimming" in the hot tub (cut short when my kid puked in the tub....true story), and lots of chalk and bubbles and general running around outside.
On Saturday, we headed down to Honey Creek Resort to meet up with the Weldons and Jon and Rob, plus families. All together, there are 22 of us now - but with Brandon gone, we were 21 for the weekend.
We stayed for 4 nights and had 3 full days together. And it was so much fun! There were EIGHT kids age 3 and under. It was a little crazy sometimes. The resort is located in Honey Creek State Park, which includes Lake Rathbun. We stayed in two adjacent cabins, but there is also a hotel-style lodge with an indoor water park. This was a big hit with the kids. It was HOT during our stay. We spent our mornings trying to keep cool, then crashed for naps in the afternoons, and enjoyed our evenings hanging out together in and around the cabins. And the good news is, there were SIX different cameras floating around, so I have LOTS of pictures to share ;)
We spent one morning at the beach. The water was a little murky (we were in Iowa, after all), but the kids didn't seem to mind. Except for my kids. They took quite a while to warm up to it. Jonah, especially, could not stand his toes in the sand. Grandpa eventually got him swimming, though.
The water park was included with ou stay, and we made a couple different visits. It wasn't too big, but it did have enough variety to keep kids of all ages entertained.
Most of our time was spent hanging out by the cabins. Aunt Katie had the insight to bring bikes, scooters, and all kinds of balls and games. There was a nice concrete patio in front of each cabin with lots of space. Grandma also brought bubbles and chalk, so we had plenty to do to keep us entertained. The kids had fun running back and forth between the two cabins. Josh kept Grandpa pretty busy with batting practice and playing catch. Fortunately, adults still outnumber kids (at this point!), so we were able to keep things under control.
It was quite the undertaking to plan and prepare for this, but so, so worth it! Hopefully this can become a regular thing for us - especially now that we all live in different states. It was especially fun to watch the cousins play together! And it will only be more fun as they get older. I have great memories of vacationing with my cousins, so I hope this will be a reality for my kids, too.
The kids and I actually drove up to Iowa a few days early, since Brandon was working night shift all week. Aunt Jenny was already there with Carly and Layla (they stayed in Iowa after the anniversary party, rather than make the long trip up from Texas twice in less than a month). So we got a few extra days of cousin playtime in. We sure kept the kids (and Grandma) busy with story time at the library, play time and a picnic lunch at the park, a trip to the zoo, "swimming" in the hot tub (cut short when my kid puked in the tub....true story), and lots of chalk and bubbles and general running around outside.
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| Stories before bed with Grandpa |
At the zoo!
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| Sittin on the porch - Jonah, Layla, Cora |
On Saturday, we headed down to Honey Creek Resort to meet up with the Weldons and Jon and Rob, plus families. All together, there are 22 of us now - but with Brandon gone, we were 21 for the weekend.
We stayed for 4 nights and had 3 full days together. And it was so much fun! There were EIGHT kids age 3 and under. It was a little crazy sometimes. The resort is located in Honey Creek State Park, which includes Lake Rathbun. We stayed in two adjacent cabins, but there is also a hotel-style lodge with an indoor water park. This was a big hit with the kids. It was HOT during our stay. We spent our mornings trying to keep cool, then crashed for naps in the afternoons, and enjoyed our evenings hanging out together in and around the cabins. And the good news is, there were SIX different cameras floating around, so I have LOTS of pictures to share ;)
We spent one morning at the beach. The water was a little murky (we were in Iowa, after all), but the kids didn't seem to mind. Except for my kids. They took quite a while to warm up to it. Jonah, especially, could not stand his toes in the sand. Grandpa eventually got him swimming, though.
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| Cora and Mama |
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| Josh and Peyton playing in the sand |
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| Grandpa finally got Jonah warmed up to the idea of swimming :) |
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| Weldon boys working on a sandcastle |
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| Grandma and Bennett playing |
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| Safety first! We finally got Cora in the water, too :) |
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| The preschool/toddler set.....puddle-jumpers galore! |
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| Smiley guy, Bennett! |
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| Bennett was feeding himself a bottle while we packed up to leave, but was too worn out to finish :) |
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| View from the porch - lots of space to run around |
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| Patrick and Jonah playing catch! |
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| Bubbles! |
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| Cora was loving the babies! Playing with Aunt Whitney and baby Autumn |
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| The newest little Strutts - Autumn (7 1/2 months) and Bennett (8 months) |
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| Daniel, Josh and Patrick |
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| Cora was loving Patrick's scooter....she just couldn't figure out how to make it go! |
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| Josh, Grandpa and Daniel - enjoying some Iowa sweet corn for dinner. |
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| Pretty Vargas gals :) |
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| Hanging around with Uncle Jon/Daddy |
Thanks to my family for making the effort to make this happen!!! Where should we go next time??
1 comment:
So much fun!!! Love all the pictures!
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