The kids spent some time exploring and getting reacquainted with cousins.
And of course… got started on building their boats for the boat races held at the end of the week. This is one of the traditions that the kids most look forward each reunion. Getting to saw, hammer, glue, and paint their very own boat to race down the river against everyone else’s homemade boats.
Aerobics Class ?!?… now this is a sight I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed at a Rose Reunion before, but I did today :) Uncle Roger rounded up his siblings for a morning workout. He brought a Dr. Oz workout DVD with him and played it on the wall for the whole family to do.
While the big kids were working out, Brianna and I took all the little kids outside to give them a workout of their own.
“Kid’s Field Day"
We split into teams and then competed against each other at the 10 different stations that were set up.
The funnest relay for the kids was racing a can of water with holes in it across the field and trying to be the team to get the most water in their team’s tub.
After lunch the kids spent a few hours in the FREEZING cold pool.
Then fishing in the river.
Later that afternoon, Jared was in charge of providing a little fun on the field for the “Big Kids”. First he divided everyone into teams of 4.
All of the teams stood around in a big semi circle. Each player on each team was given a color. Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green. When Jared would yell a color then the one player from each team would run out to grab that color ball for their team. Problem was, this game is just like musical chairs. 9 balls, 10 teams. If your team comes up short and doesn’t get a ball then that’s a strike against your team. 3 strikes you’re out!
Let the games begin. “YELLOW!” A bunch of the little kids from each team run out and show us how it's done.
“RED!” Oh crap… that’s me. It’s all adults this time. The one big advantage I have is that my teeny tiny cousin Brianna is running out onto the field from her team right next to me. Now I’m no dummy, I’m not going to wrestle my uncles down to the ground to get a ball, I just give her a little nudge and grab the ball. Sorry Brianna, It was just too easy :)
I know what you’re probably thinking… Man you big bully. But it wasn’t just me taking advantage of Brianna’s size. Aunt Pat wrestled her to the ground to steal the ball she had shoved down her shirt. Brianna may be little but her fingernails are sharp, I left the game with a few war wounds of my own.
After a few rounds the kids got a little more aggressive themselves and followed in the adults footsteps. Ky tried tackling his cousin Kendal, who is twice his size. It didn’t turn out so good for Ky though. Ouch.
Don’t mean to brag but I do have to report the winner of the whole thing. Team #2 all the way!
After he got that out of his system he brought in a real Hawaiian (his wife), to show us how it was really done. Katie and her girls demonstrated and then all of the kids and a few brave teenagers got up to give it a try.
The rest of the evening was spent playing games, sitting by the camp fire telling stories, and a few hard core boat builders (Gary and Dan) stayed out in the rain and in the dark, finishing up their boats for the next days big race.
Bright and Early… it’s BOAT RACE Time!!!
The boats were raced in heats, only racing 5 or 6 boats at a time. A few Uncles and Dads braved the icy cold river to set the boats a sailing.
The Finish Line.
After the boat races it was time for Grandma’s 90th birthday celebration. She was so excited to get in and start celebrating that she “popped a wheelie” off the bridge and took off ahead of the crowd.
Pat recreated one of grandma’s favorite radio/TV game shows from the past… “Queen for a day”. To bring it to life Pat brought up 4 contestants who wanted to compete to be Queen for a day. Each contestant had to give their best sob story and explain why they deserved to be crowned with the title of Queen for the day. (My Grandma actually did write into this show back in the day. They never responded back to her letter but if she would have won back then the prizes she would have asked for were a rifle for her husband and dancing lessons for herself.)
Contestant #4- GRANDMA
For her sob story today, she told a few of her saddest moments from her childhood. Like the time she thought she had the lead solo in a choir performance only to find out that they were talking about another girl in her class named “Phyllis", or the time when she hid a knife overnight so she would be sure to have one when it was time to help her mother cut corn off the cob for canning. But because there weren’t enough knives; despite her best efforts to sneak one of her own she had to give it up and go and dust by herself instead…. So Sad.
It was a no brainer who was going to be “Queen for a day”, with that many sob stories and a 90th birthday… Grandma Rose is crowned the winner!
And that ended our family’s time at the Rose Reunion. Thanks for all of the FUN!
