Family Picnic

Sunday was the annual Webmaster’s-maternal-grandfather’s-side-of-the-family reunion picnic.  It is held at a specific state park, about 30 minutes away from the Webmaster’s parents, on the last Sunday every July.  While the Webmaster went to it growing up, we first attended it as a family in 2009.  We didn’t go in 2010, for some reason – probably relating to a sick child or tired baby – but we were there this year!

Rerun was the youngest family member there, so naturally he was a big hit.  He was too excited to actually eat much, and he spent most of his time leading Papa on a merry hunt for sticks.  There were LOTS of sticks at the park.

Ane made a new friend… and this one is a many-times-removed cousin.  Ella is four, and had a soccer ball with her.  Ane was only too happy (after a week at our church’s sports camp) to play with her.  This was yet another example of how Ane is very much her father’s daughter – it takes so little time for her to make a friend.  The girls had a very good time playing together, and I was lucky to get them to stand still for a minute to snap this picture.

Tad was a little bored with it all.  After a couple of walks with Ane and Nana through the woods (which we had to keep him from going into on his own – the last thing I need is to lose him in the woods) and eating his lunch, I brought out some new colored pencils and a Cars coloring book that I’d brought along.  This pleased him, kept him in one place, and kept him out of mischief.

There was plenty of mischief being created by Rerun, anyway.  There was a large supply of chewable sticks.

Our cousin The Principal was supposed to be at the picnic… but she came home from a vacation sick, and gave the bug to her younger son, so they weren’t there, much to Ane’s disappointment.  The Principal’s parents were there, and made her excuses for her while I chatted with them.  So, I get to give her jazz about missing the picnic for yet another year.

The weather was quite pleasant, and once the picnic broke up, it was still early enough in the day that we decided to do a little shopping at the outlet mall in Centralia.  With that one stop, we finished the majority of Ane’s back-to-school clothes shopping, and Ressis got a phone call from me that began like this:

“Help!  I’m in a Coach outlet store and I need help picking out a new purse!”

Somehow, she didn’t have any trouble taking that challenge on.  And now I have a much-needed new purse.

Between the picnic and the shopping trip, it was a very full – and fun – day.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 at 2:03 am and is filed under Children, Family, Shopping Stories.
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