Weeble-Wobble

Look who's walking!

Asleep

Piper has fallen asleep in the most awkward positions lately!

Albion, Take II

This is Miller Hall where we stayed on the old Albion College campus.
It was built in 1901 and served as the men's dorm until the college closed in 1951. It sat vacant and fell into extreme disrepair until a forward-thinking group of people bought the campus in 2007 to restore it. And boy did they ever restore it! It is amazing. The architecture and design elements were beautiful to begin with and I love the brick walls, the huge windows, the archways, the weathered radiator on the front porch, the original wood floors, and everything else about Miller Hall. The grounds are nice considering how big the campus is and how long it sat vacant. There is a hot tub, a pool, a sand volleyball court, fire pits, and plenty of shade.

What I loved most about staying here was the sense of togetherness. Instead of getting together just for the day then returning to our respective houses or hotels, we were able to be together without interruption or distraction from our outside lives. We chatted while preparing meals, playing games, cleaning up, getting kids ready for bed, roasting marshmallows, doing hair, chasing peacocks, feeding babies, going on tractor rides, chasing kids, doing crafts, playing ping pong, you name it. It was fun to see my cousins as parents and a little shocking to realize how old we are. If only Grandma and Grandpa could have been there to see what a great family they raised. They would be proud.
Thanks to my parents, aunts, uncles and cousins for making this reunion so memorable.
Here's looking forward to the next one in 2013!

The entrance to Miller Hall (I'm totally digging that archway)


The radiator on the front porch


The main hallway between living areas and dining area

The dining/gathering area of the kitchen

The kitchen


The entry to the living areas from the kitchen

A bad picture of the cool room where my parents stayed


Stairs to the second floor

The second floor hallway (again with the bad picture - sorry!)

I didn't get a picture of the third floor but it is a huge media/game room

Axline Gymnasium - I'm looking forward to the remodel of this building

I cannot wait to see what they do with the rest of the campus. You can read more about the campus here.

Those Were The Days

I have such fond memories of going to my Grandma's house on the farm to play with my Bowen cousins. The adventures were endless: exploring the windbreak, playing in the ditch, pine cone wars at the old outhouse, running back and forth (and back and forth) on the flatbed trailer trying to balance it on its two wheels, touch football, games of Horse, the 'fort' at the top of the swing set, playing Inny-ai-over (Bowens, help me out - how do you spell it?), snow forts, ping pong. Even at 31 years old, there are days I wish I could go play with my cousins until sunset.

Last weekend I got my wish. We had a three day family reunion in Albion and we had so much fun talking and laughing and watching our own kids play with each other until sundown when we put them to bed and we stayed up until midnight re-living old memories and sharing stories of what has been happening in our lives since the last time we were all together. I found it difficult to hold back the tears the first night we gathered for dinner as I thought of my heritage, of my Grandma and Grandpa Bowen and the legacy they left behind. They were amazing, hard-working people who raised five incredible children. Their five children raised 22 of their own children. Those 22 are currently raising 39 (and counting) of the cutest kids you've ever seen.

At Grandma's in 1988
(minus one cousin)
I'm the fourth kid from the right

22 years later
The gotta-do-at-every-get-together cousins line up from oldest to youngest
(minus four cousins)
I'm 9th from the right and looking like a total nerd


Here are several pictures from our reunion.
The family tree my Mom made - isn't she awesome?


Bowen soup! At one time we counted 20 kids in the not-so-hot hot tub.


Cousins playing in the volleyball court


Our little family - I never realized how much our girls look alike until I saw this picture


My family - minus one niece


Playing peekaboo with her new buddy


Enjoying the bouncy water slide


Two of my three loves :)


Stay tuned for pictures of where we had this awesome reunion.

One Candle

A first birthday in pictures:

Happy birthday little sis!

Tadpoles

Piper and I just finished up a mommy and me swim class and she loved it. I wish I had more pictures of her playing in the water. She was the center of attention at the pool every time we went. I mean, look at her, how can anyone resist a roly poly bikini-clad redhead?

Island Park

My in-laws are awesome for so many reasons.
The most recent reason they rock?
They rented a cabin on the river in Island Park for the summer.

So if we aren't home we will probably be doing the following:

Making "Salt and Pepper Soup" out of river water, flowers, leaves, grass, pine cones, and rocks

Exploring

Fishing until dark

Snuggling in bed while devouring Cheerios

Enjoying fireworks