Days 8: Travis Family Reunion

I awakened in the weee hours of Saturday morning with some of the same "stomach bug" Caleb had--I'll spare more graphic details. I didn't feel great all day, but it wasn't awful either, until the wee hours of Sunday morning. Why is it that stomach viruses always seem to peak between 1 and 5 am????I don't want to experience those "symptoms" at anytime, but in the middle of the night when I'm already exhausted and add to that I'm in a hotel room.....I wanted to cry"I want to go home!!!"

Besides that little setback, it was nice to visit with everyone. The boys had fun swimming, playing horseshoes, "hillbilly golf", and playing in the river. In the afternoon, Caleb, Aaron & I went on a horseback trail ride....IN THE RAIN!!! We were definitely making memories! It was originally planned for 2:30, but was rain delayed till 4. At 4 while we were all getting on our horses, it began to sprinkle. The further we rode, the harder it rained! Mind you we are in far northern Michigan and it wasn't a warm Arkansas rain. Yes, it was nice not to feel like you were sufficating in a sauna, but we were so chilly, that a sauna sounded pretty good. Just as we were beginning to ride my cousin Babara offered me a poncho. Initially I declined, but thankfully I changed my mind and accepted just before the rain began in earnest. Once our trail got into a wooded area the trees protected us from the heavy rain, but we were still getting wet. All in all, though, I think all three of us are glad we did it. I think there were 11 of us from the reunion on the trip. My nephew, Bradley, commented after the ride that he didn't understand how the cowboys made it on long rides--something about body parts being uncomfortable....

I am the youngest of my grandparents' 15 grandchildren, and consequently my kids are the youngest of the great-grandchildren. I was suprised to realize how many great-great-grandchildren there are. My grandfater passed away when I was 5 or 6 years old and my grandmother passed away in May, 1990( if you are trying to calculate my age at that time, I was 10;)). I'm sure they would have been proud though to have seen everyone together. Actually we began having the reunions after my grandmothers funeral, when we had all 15 grandkids together for the first time since I had been very small. We decided then not to let funerals be the only time we saw each other. Being there, though, sure made me miss my Mom. I heard more than once (just like I knew I would) "You look just like your mother/Aunt Bev!!" Oh, how I wish she had been there to keep everyone in line, and to enjoy the kids running everywhere.

Lizzie was quite a hit with everyone. My cousin, Mike, told me at one point I'd better keep a close eye on her because she is so darn cute someone just might want to take her home with them!

Saturday night, Aaron joined his cousins in decorating his Papaw's RV with some toilet paper!
Josh(18) and Bradley(18) had fun leading a crew of younger cousins in the act, all while Janet was up reading and Caleb and Noah were inside watching a movie with her ( I think Pawpaw was fast asleep!). Dad wasn't the happiest in the morning, but the funny part was that Janet immediately guessed that Josh and Bradley were the culprits!

On Sunday morning we left fairly early for our trip over to the Silver Lake area on the western side of Michigan and on Lake Michigan.

I'm in the van typing this again and I'm not even going to attempt posting pictures now. They will come later, as well as a post of our time at the sand dunes.