FOX FAMILY REUNION 2010

25th Anniversary

In late July we camped on the Oregon Coast near Coos Bay for our annual family reunion. The Oregon Coast is a very beautiful place especially when it's sunny and warm. The week we went was cold, misty, and overcast. We all survived. This year was an especially important year because it was the 25th anniversary. We had reletives from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Utah, California, and I think that is all come this year. It was the largest reunion I can ever remember. The campground was barely big enough. My cousin Cristi and I were in charge of activities. Mostly kids but we did a few that involved the adults too. For several years when I was a kid we did pinatas, night games, dinosaur egg hunts, hay searches, etc. Then there was  a decade where we were all grown up and there weren't any little kids anymore and all those fun little activities dissappeared. Now all of us kids and cousins have kids of our own that are old enough, so this year was the first year we brought back all these activities. It was fun for them...a lot of work for us :-) My camera is still on the fritz and I haven't bought a new one so I got some pics but not a ton.

Tanner and Preston (Cousin Brenda's son) playing with tools.

Molly helping Daddy fix her bike. It never got fixed and we ended up having to buy her a new one.

Honey Girl

Cousin Vince's big bubbles

McKade LOVED it!

Tender moments with Papa. This is what happens when you are the only granddaughter so far....

Papa has a soft spot for his little girl

PINATA!!! Okay so the pinata I was trying to make wasn't coming along fast enough...so I bought some. We should have reinforced the tie like we did for the big kids but we didn't and Tanner hit that thing down in one swipe. But instead of stopping he just started to beat the heck out of the poor fish.

He sure was proud of it too! Thumbs up dude!

They tied it back up and McKade got a turn. Thank goodness too cuz we would not have heard the end of it!

THE WINNINGS!

Tanner and Cousin Parker. Tanner is just so tall. He is about 2 years younger than Parky. Everyone that doesn't know Tanner thinks he is like 6 when he is only 4. He gets the Chapman genes I guess.

Sand Castle contest. Every year we are at a beach reunion we have a sandcastle contest. My dad used to make the most amazing lighthouse castles. I wanted to make a castle but the kids wanted to make a car. Okay, easy and simple enough. Fine with me on a cold blustery day at the beach.  A Car it is!

Kade was proud of it!

But couldn't wait to smash it! Before they even judged the contest, silly boy!

Molly and Kourtneys (a cousin's friend who comes every year) little girl.

Don't let this beauty of a beach fool you. The Oregon/Washington coastline is known for its tremendous undertow. That is my Grammy in the corner there :-)

Mom and Dad went into town to wash clothes one day and while there waiting they hit up a Goodwill store. and came out with a total SCORE! They found 1 humongous box, and 3 large containers of legos for $20 total. After buying legos for McKade (which are always a set like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc and cost a fortune for a small amount) I knew they probably got like around $1000 of legos for $20. AMAZING!!!! It was so perfect too because it was sooo cold outside we could see our breath and they just snuggled up in my parents trailer and played and played with those legos.

Dinosaur Egg Hunt...Group2

This is my cousin Tristan. We don't get to see very much of him or his family. The boys just LOVED him! Tristin played legos, went on bike rides, and just hung out with them. He's just a nice, cute kid!

Kade...sitting on his dino egg.

My mom's cousin Lohnnie was married to a Tongan man at one time and their children together dance Polynesian up in Alaska. This is one of their daughters and two other cousins that are dancing a hula. It was fun to watch and she definitely has talent.

Reunion was fun. Cold, but fun. It was just so great to see all our family we don't get to see that often. Next year we are headed back to the Oregon Coast but inland a few miles and hopefully warmer :)