July 2015 – Johnson Family Reunion at Bear Lake

Two years ago at the end of July we had a reunion with my family at Bear Lake.  There were 48 of us: my parents, 8 of the 9 kids (my youngest brother was still on his mission in Finland), spouses, and 31 grandkids, and we all stayed at a big vacation rental lodge near the lake. 

I mentioned in my last post that right before the reunion Henry learned from his great-aunt Carolyn that homemade root beer is a thing.  He was so, so excited about this that he made her tell him the recipe over and over again until he had it memorized, and then he was all set with big plans to make it for everyone at our reunion. And he did.  Probably one of the proudest moments of his life. 

After root beer, we spent the rest of the reunion doing all the fun reunion things. 

PLAYING AROUND OUTSIDE

The lodge had a huge open backyard, with lots of fun space for playing with cousins:

It was also great for riding strider bikes around.  Or sitting alone on the porch reading Harry Potter.

Since there weren’t beds for everyone inside the lodge, we set up a few tents out back for some of the kids.  Happy kids and happy parents – win/win situation.

HANGING OUT INSIDE

There was still plenty of room inside for hanging out, though.  A lot of hanging out hours were spent working on Perler bead designs.  I don’t think I even knew about these before this trip, but one of my sisters brought a huge bin of them and they were the best thing ever to have around for a reunion.  There were always different groups bonding over fun bead designs:

Big groups:                

Small groups:               

Girls:                            

Boys:                             

Uncles (ha!).  Fun for everyone.     

There were games of pool:

Spaz:                             

And ping pong:            

And here is some bonding going on just because my brother’s wife is awesome and all the girls love her:

There were also lots of game nights:

And if you got tired of hanging out with all the people, you could always escape to your room for some alone time with a backpack full of toys:                                                                                        

EATING

Meals were fun.  There was a huge side garage area that had been turned into a dining room.  Perfect for lots of people making lots of messes. 

Plus great porches for afternoon snacks and popsicles:

And one special drive into town for fresh raspberry shakes:

THE LAKE

When we weren’t hanging out at the lodge, we were down at the beach.  Bear Lake is great for big groups with lots of little kids.  The water stays shallow forever and ever.  Perfect for doing so many things:

Standing around being cute:                                                                                                                    

Canoeing:

Paddle-boarding:

Canoeing and paddle-boarding over and over again:

Playing around on this bouncy thing that my parents rented:

(that’s Henry mid-jump trying to make it from the bouncy thing to the boat.  I’m not sure how that ended for him)

There was also a lot of sitting around relaxing in chairs:

This is my mom with her dad (my grandparents came up for a day to see everyone). 

And sitting around relaxing in the sand:

And a little bit of relaxing with Harry Potter in the shade:

Plus lots more cousin bonding:                                                                

And cousins burying each other in the sand:

Or riding strider bikes together out into the lake:

Out of all that, Cindy’s favorite thing might have been sitting around in puddles playing with dump trucks:

Mott family picture on the beach:

And the whole Johnson Family (minus the brother on the mission).  I like these people a lot. 

Other things:

FISHING

Daniel, Tristan, and Oliver did some early morning fly-fishing on the Logan River.  They caught fish and snakes, and took their cousin Weston along with them on one of the mornings.   

Kids crowding around Daniel to see pictures of fish and snakes on his phone:

S’MORES

TALENT SHOW

Oliver and Henry’s talent: knowing lots of countries.  They played a game where they named any country in the world, and the other person had to name all the countries surrounding it.

Rachel’s talent: A super cool dance with cousin Gretchen

Tristan’s talent: magic card tricks.  He really is good at this.  Some of the cousins might still think he is magic.

Cynthia’s talent: reading                                                                                                                        

Lizza’s talent: drawing

BONFIRE ON THE BEACH

The last night we put the little kids to bed, put the older kids in charge, and then headed down to the beach for a bonfire.  We talked and laughed and it was a perfect ending to a perfect reunion.  This year we’re having another reunion at Bear Lake, and looking at these pictures has made me so excited.  Maybe in two years I’ll blog all about it!

The end.