Grivendell

We made it out to MI this year for Grivendell! As usual, it was a week whirlwind of activities and fun. And as usual, we had flight delays, so Dave and Brian picked us up at the airport at 1 a.m. Yeah, they're the best kind of brothers.
Really, it would take way too long to write up everything, but since I'm currently more than 3 years behind making a photobook of our adventures, I'll try to remember some moments.
The girls were always wanting to go swim in the lake, no matter what else we had just done or were going to do, or if their suit was wet.
Blueberry picking tuesday morning Reese took over the job of taking care of Renée, since he never likes picking them. Cameron doesn't like them, but was a great helper, and Grace and Aubree were as well. We picked 11 lbs, and ate them all by Friday. RD finally got to try their blueberry jerky, after 4 years of waiting. It didn't live up to the hope; it was actually kind of gross.
RD went fishing whenever he could, and got all the kids a chance to reel in a fish. Two little nephews B. and J. were the most interested, waiting patiently for their turns.

Of course, the lake, but most especially, the trampoline launcher. Grace and Ava were sent epically high, but all the kids got great air. I was pedaling around in the paddle boat with Aubree while RD, Dave, Grace, Ava, and Cameron kept going and going. Someone had a rather funny hard time getting out to the launch pad, but kept trying and was a good sport about it. It is a LOT harder than it looks.

Wednesday RD took the older three to the waterslide/amusement park while I went with Aubree and Renée and most of the families to Lewis Farms. Petting farm was popular, Aubree loved the pony, and named her Princess. Barrel train, carousel, corn pit, mini bikes, were all fun. We went to the new aviary, and got a seed stick before we went in. Anyone with a seed stick got covered by the birds immediately upon entering, which thoroughly panicked Aubree. Once the initial frenzy abated she enjoyed having them come one or two at a time. We were hanging out at the massive barn-sized corn pit when the Beans looked to have car trouble, and Dad, then the other guys, went to help them dig out of a deep sand pit they were in.
The older kids had a great time at the water/coaster park. I heard the Funnel of Fear was the craziest ride; they were in a raft that dropped about 10-12 feet into a funnel. RD said he wished he had a camera to get the face of the kid he was across as they went over the edge!

Most of the guys went shooting rifles that night, which RD and Reese really enjoyed. 
Reese's favorite day was sports day, playing tennis/soccer/wiffleball and playing on the antiquated metal playset. Aubree got the only injury I knew of, getting pretty big bump on her head from the metal bar placed across the end of the playset walkway.  Naptime was always hard with Renée, but she finally fell asleep with me and Levi consented to hanging out with me. Reese had brought our portable goal all the way from home, so he was very happy to have a big game. Aubree liked hanging out with Kate and coloring with her. 

Shooting the pellet guns was also popular. The balloons filled with various tasks/prizes was pretty exciting for the little kids.

I loved the girls night, picking up treats (Liz found a great deal on a $3 purse,) and watching the Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society movie on Netflix; Dave kept calling it the guernsey on a gurney movie. I sure love hanging out with my mom and sisters!
We missed the state park outing with everyone else to take care of some errands, let Renée get some sleep, and work on getting proof of her birthdate to be able to board the flight back home. yeah, Southwest wasn't going to let her board as a lap infant unless we could prove she was under 2; even though as a 5 month old she clearly wasn't over 2 years.
We had a couple awesome times out on the jet-ski. Cameron and Grace mostly liked getting rides behind people. Cameron seemed to always hit the rough water, and Grace got a lot of air. I had to drive back early and didn't know there's so reception by the park to get a map, so I had to call my sis to get directions back.

Dave and Liz taught us how to play Codenames, which was a lot of fun. They made being gamemasters look fairly doable, so RD volunteered to do it next with Brian. Turns out it's a bit tricky, and I laughed so hard I cried. I also realized I do not know at all how RD thinks. ;) We talked mom into a third game as a gamemaster, and it was a lot of fun.

Our last night was rather frustrating; the kids were fighting a lot during dinner out and swimming afterwards, so we put a stop to the swimming and campfire/smores, which they were upset about. Honestly, we were as disappointed as them.  Guess they were done and needed to get home and ready for school.