A Family Affair

After another long car trip (though not quite as long, thankfully), we arrived at our cabin in the woods! It was all very official, with entrance gates and codes and hidden keys. Not to mention the reminder in the cabin handbook that just because we find spider webs, that doesn't mean the cabin is dirty. We are in the WOODS, and spiders make webs really fast! So.

Let's just say it was obvious the owners had had some bad experiences with previous renters, and tried to address every. possible. issue.

We stayed for a week in a beautiful, hilly (mountainous? I'm not sure) area with lots of my beautiful, non-hilly family. There were 20 of us, and it was even more fun than it sounds! It had been a while since all of us had been reunited, and I think we made the most of it.

This was the view off the back deck..

And this was when it was made even prettier on a foggy morning..

We had a fun time figuring out how to cook for so many people with limited cooking apparatuses. There were lots of pots involved..

Aed managed to get creative with his dinner on more than one occasion.. this one was photo-worthy..

I looked at this photo and couldn't figure out why I took it, so just in case you don't see it,
check out the pickup truck Aed packed full :)

Possibly my favorite picture of the whole week, the oldest of the little cousins together on the swing!

It was really fun having all the littles together, and made for some very entertaining moments. Not the least of which was when Nena and Papaw were babysitting.. The rest of us had gone river tubing (which was ridiculously fun, and also a little gross, but mostly fun and also hilarious) and came back to hear tales of numerous potty incidents, including possible ingestion of poop. Those five together (just so it's that much more impressive - a 4 year old, two 2 year olds, an almost 1 year old, and an almost 6 month old) would be a lot to handle for any seasoned parent! Fortunately, my parents are brave.

A really fun aspect of the trip that I hadn't considered was that both my sister and Wes and Ian and I had babysitters (thank you family!) and were all together at the same time. Which meant we got to do things together without the kids! It was really fun to goof off and spend time together without the distraction and chaos (and wonderfulness, don't get me wrong!) of our precious kiddos. 

I loved the time with aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't seen in so long. It was such a gift to be together again and really catch up a bit. Such wonderful memories to add to the bank. So thankful!