Feelin a little Crispy!!

This past weekend, we spent Thurs night to Sunday at Lake Wenatchee for Derek's Family Reunion which hadnt been held in about 22 years!!

I was almost dreading the trip because of the heat we were having in Western WA with record breaking 103+ weather, I thought Lk Wenatchee would only be hotter! Pretty bad when you have to go to Eastern WA to cool off.. lol It had been soooo long since we had seen some of the family, there was some slight anxiety I guess building up too.

The Weather:
It was not in the 100's, well I dont think it was. :) We had a very nice shaded campsite and although at night when we laid down to sleep, we were pretty warm at first, for the most part it was really perfect weather in the shade and plenty warm enough to get burnt in the sun while swimming! I swam twice on Friday, twice on Saturday and then at 7am Sunday morning!! Yes I braved the water first thing in the morning, it was beautiful with noone else in the water and crystal clear smooth. It was a great way to start the morning of our last day. I think everyone in camp thought I was a little nuts. Next year I may just do that every morning and see if I can snag someone to swim with me.

Dereks nephew Ricky, he and I swam to this island on Friday afternoon, it was exciting to push myself to swim that far, I did not get tired (I didnt swim hard/fast either) and the water was fairly calm although it was at the base of the inlet to the river, so we did have a little current to deal with on our swim back to the main beach. Saturday the water was very choppy and it was fun to float and bobble head through the rolling waves. :)

The Dogs:
Russell & Scout did really well! It was really sappy on the ground over there, so they have some sap stains on their bodies and our shoe bottoms got full of sap, so the dogs stayed in the camper quite a bit, but they seemed fairly content. We had a runner rope for them to go on at times when we were sitting by the campfire and we walked them a few times each day. Poor kids were misarable last week dealing with all the heat at home, they just couldnt get comfy anywhere! The camper didnt get as hot inside as our house was last week.

The Family:
The anxiety of seeing the family after maybe 10+ years for some, was diminished over the weekend. We met husbands we hadnt met before, met lots of children we didnt know. Derek's family is the opposite of my family. In my family circle we have 3 children, oh wait we have 5 kids (2 belong to the girlfriend of a cousin). One of Derek's neices has 5 of her own! Then there are 4 more here, 2 more there, 2 or 3 more here, 2 more there, 1 with Crystal... those are just some of the kids that were there, not to mention the MANY more that were not there! Literally, children everywhere! lol It was great. There were a few family situations that created some tension, but by the end of the weekend, relationships were on the mend and starting fresh and new with hopes for the future. I was very proud of Derek's nephews Rick & Rob who met their brother and sister for the first time ever and I really enjoyed my time with them, bonding and learning more and looking forward to the future.

The Next One:
I believe this will turn into a yearly event that is re-established. Derek's family used to gather every year at Lk Wenatchee and it fizzled out but I am hopeful that this past weekend proved how important this family is and how much it is needed for us all. Derek's mom flew in from AZ, it was really nice to see her (Hi Nouna!) Another brother flew in from Georgia I think is where he lives and then Dee came up from OR. Dana who just lost his wife came with his daughter. There was lots of talk of next year and I know I am already excited about it and looking forward to going back. I have no idea how many were actually there, but including children there were definately over 50!

I Cant Believe:
I wore my bathing suit in PUBLIC with NO shirt over the top!!!! What the heck was I thinking! lol I guess it was so nice and warm and I didnt want to be restricted by a tank top in the water, so I just went all in w/o worrying about what I looked like.. I mean I was in a bathing suit in front of people I know even, which is what usually bothers me more than strangers seeing me! ;) Oh well, right!

Exhausted:
We were worn out by yesterday afternoon, we came home and crashed in our chairs, we were lucky to even have unloaded the camper! Tonight I'll have to do the camping dishes and wash the wet clothes. Derek got quite the sunburn, he was going to swim in his t-shirt but the guys teased him so he thought.. what the heck, how burnt can I get, I'll be underwater mostly.. He'd have been fine if we had put sunscreen on him! Ooops.. ;)

Pictures:
Right! Yeah, I took a few of our dogs in the camper.. but I was too busy swimming and socializing and cooking to deal with taking pics.. maybe I'll snag/steal some pictures off other peoples facebook pages once they post them and then repost them here for you to enjoy! lol