It's been a while. Jamison was 6 months old, Lily had just turned 3, and the twins were 4 months old. Now look at them!! L-R - Carter, Maddie, Ruthie, Jamison (looking very confused), Harrison, Madeleine, and Lily. The two babies, Charlotte and Patrick, are the only two missing. It probably wouldn't be safe to put the babies on a stone ledge anyway.
The Meeks side of the family all gathered in NC to celebrate my grandparents 60th anniversary. Mammy and Grandpops had four children, who all had two children. And now there are nine great-grandchildren. It was very crowded but so much fun to all get together.We decided to drive from New York to North Carolina. In preparation for the trip I bought some cheap toys, some movies, and made special snacks. And then I wrapped them. Because who doesn't like to unwrap gifts?! I even wrapped rice krispie treats and banana bread. They thought it was great and I forgot what a mess wrapping paper made.
I spaced out the treats with the toys. Every hour I threw something from the front seat to the third row in the minivan and hoped that it would satisfy the beasts until the next rest stop. Note to anyone who likes the toys in the picture below:do NOT, I repeat - DO NOT, purchase the stupid wooden toy cup with the ball attached. It is not safe in the car - especially if you have a son named Jamison. He almost gave himself a black eye and we came very close to losing a window in the van.
The headsets for the DVD's created an especially unique hairstyle on Jamison.
I was determined that Jamison should wear pull-ups in the car so we wouldn't have to have as many potty breaks. Jamison was determined to not wear pull ups. As a result, we had to make a few emergency pull-overs.
When we all finally converged at my grandparents home we quickly discovered that shoving the kids in the motor home and turning on a movie was a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, it took about an hour to get the movie going. But eventually it worked and we had peace for almost 30 minutes.
On Saturday, we took advantage of this cute park with kiddie rides. There were boats, trains, and cars for the kids to drive. Lily and Maddie holding hands in line for the car ride.
All the cousins (minus Patrick-6 weeks- and Charlotte-7 months) lined up, in no order. Carter and the twins are a week apart and they were all about to turn 3. Jamison turned 3 in June, Harrison will be 4 in December, Madeleine turned 6 in July, and Lily will be 6 in December. Such a fun group! And Lily and Madeleine turned into best friends. We barely saw them when we were all together.
All of us crammed onto a very tiny train.
On the last night we took some professional family pictures before our big family dinner. This one was not professional. Lily was done smiling and I had to bribe her with gum.
And Jamison was REALLY done with pictures.
Patrick (thankfully) fell asleep and stayed that way for most of the night.
I spaced out the treats with the toys. Every hour I threw something from the front seat to the third row in the minivan and hoped that it would satisfy the beasts until the next rest stop. Note to anyone who likes the toys in the picture below:do NOT, I repeat - DO NOT, purchase the stupid wooden toy cup with the ball attached. It is not safe in the car - especially if you have a son named Jamison. He almost gave himself a black eye and we came very close to losing a window in the van. 
The headsets for the DVD's created an especially unique hairstyle on Jamison.
I was determined that Jamison should wear pull-ups in the car so we wouldn't have to have as many potty breaks. Jamison was determined to not wear pull ups. As a result, we had to make a few emergency pull-overs.
When we all finally converged at my grandparents home we quickly discovered that shoving the kids in the motor home and turning on a movie was a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, it took about an hour to get the movie going. But eventually it worked and we had peace for almost 30 minutes.
On Saturday, we took advantage of this cute park with kiddie rides. There were boats, trains, and cars for the kids to drive. Lily and Maddie holding hands in line for the car ride.
All the cousins (minus Patrick-6 weeks- and Charlotte-7 months) lined up, in no order. Carter and the twins are a week apart and they were all about to turn 3. Jamison turned 3 in June, Harrison will be 4 in December, Madeleine turned 6 in July, and Lily will be 6 in December. Such a fun group! And Lily and Madeleine turned into best friends. We barely saw them when we were all together.
All of us crammed onto a very tiny train.
On the last night we took some professional family pictures before our big family dinner. This one was not professional. Lily was done smiling and I had to bribe her with gum.
And Jamison was REALLY done with pictures.
Patrick (thankfully) fell asleep and stayed that way for most of the night.
Until big brother came along to love on him....
All the kids were at one table and kept somewhat occupied.
Madeleine and Lily - I'm so glad that they bonded over the weekend. They were very cute together.
And this picture was randomly on my camera while I had left the room. Mark and Stewart - I hope you're proud of yourselves.
Mammy and Grandpops sat at the head table with their children and the spouses.
Mom and Dad
The head table from left to right - Aunt Vickie and Uncle Jim (Daytona Beach, FL), Uncle Nick and Aunt Kathy (Little Rock, AR), Mammy and Grandpops, Mom and Dad (Albany), and Uncle Paul and Aunt LuAnn (Albany).
I am so thankful that I was able to be there to celebrate my grandparents 60th anniversary. I love them so much and it was a beautiful way to honor them and their lives.
All the kids were at one table and kept somewhat occupied.
Madeleine and Lily - I'm so glad that they bonded over the weekend. They were very cute together.
And this picture was randomly on my camera while I had left the room. Mark and Stewart - I hope you're proud of yourselves.
Mammy and Grandpops sat at the head table with their children and the spouses.
Mom and Dad
The head table from left to right - Aunt Vickie and Uncle Jim (Daytona Beach, FL), Uncle Nick and Aunt Kathy (Little Rock, AR), Mammy and Grandpops, Mom and Dad (Albany), and Uncle Paul and Aunt LuAnn (Albany).
I am so thankful that I was able to be there to celebrate my grandparents 60th anniversary. I love them so much and it was a beautiful way to honor them and their lives.
2 comments:
.....aaaand there's my husband, doing his weird "throw-my-head-back-and-smile" trick whenever a photo gets taken. He basically looks like he has no neck control in our wedding pictures.
Fun weekend anyway. ;-) Your kids were fun and I especially enjoyed chatting with Lily. She is delightful. :-)
Okay that was me, Sharon, just there.
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