Family Reunion

Saturday was the Hill family reunion where all my mom's sisters and brothers get together once at year at my Uncle John's. In the past it has been mainly just a sibling thing, but this year the kids & grandkids were invited. We were supposed to go, along with Steven and his family and Kari and her family, but we backed out at the last minute due to extreme hike in gas prices. Then I started feeling bad about it and changed my mind at the last minute and we all piled in the truck and headed to Baltimore. Turns out Kari and Steven both backed out too, but it was still great to see all the aunts and uncles some who have never met the girls, some I haven't seen in years, some I just don't see enough of.

I had called ahead and let Uncle Dave know we were coming and apparently he didn't tell anyone. As James and I were getting everyone shuffled in Hope ran to the back door and just stood there looking in until grandma spotted her. I think grandma loved that especially cute entrance.

Uncle John has a big pool in the backyard and despite the fact that we ran out without bathing suits, it wasn't long before the kids found their way into the pool. I think Aunt Darlene would be the primary instigator here! Next thing I know Hope is knocking on the backdoor completely naked and having to go potty.

"What are you doing? Where are your clothes? Where are your underwear??"

Hope "I'm not riding home with wet 'un-wear-wears'!."

Aside from my little streaker I walked out to discover boxer boy aka Roman, and the soaking wet, I'll just jump in with my clothes on, B. They did have a blast though and eventually I did manage to convince Hope to put her underwear on at least. It took a lot of coaxing from everyone, but Roman soon discovered that he was tall enough to walk around and play in the shallow end. By the end he was even grabbing hold of pool noodles and letting Uncle Roy pull him around in the water. Hope wouldn't leave the steps area and Bethany enjoyed laying on the raft and being pulled around like a little princess. Then, out of the blue, Roman decides he wants to jump off the diving board just like Uncle Roy! Roman - the boy who is petrified of water was entertaining the idea of jumping off the diving board into the deep end. It took him more than 5 minutes to work up his courage, but with a lot of cheering and a dollar bribe from Uncle John, much to my astonishment he did it!!! He jumped off the board onto a raft below and Uncle Roy helped him kick to the edge. He didn't fully go under because he had grabbed the raft on the way down, but still... MY BOY! Jumping off diving boards! Man has he grown up this summer! James and I couldn't be prouder.

Then as if that wasn't big enough, my often shy in front of groups of people, little boy proceded to join in on karyoke. When we would have expected Hope Elizabeth to grab the spotlight, nope, it was totally Roman's day! He sang his heart out for everyone, microphone and all. ABC's, Row Row Row Your Boat and so on. With Row Row Row Your Boat he scored a 97%, or an "A" as Grandma informed him and he was quick to let anyone who would listen know. This means that he kept up with the music and sang the right words through 97% of the song! He is quite the singer.

All and all we all had a fabulous time visiting with everyone and hope to be able to do it again soon!