The Big Event

 The big event was the celebration for Grandpa’s 90^th birthday.  For all of the family, we had a buffet dinner which was served at the resort.  Thanks to Kim, Ramona’s son, we had professional quality pictures as people came in.  The Woodward family picture was less than ideal since Gabi and Doug had just gotten out of the lake from their skiing adventure. 

 
We also decided to let mom peek into our family picture from behind. .. .which necessitated a redo.  When everyone went outside, we tried another redo, but Rania wasn’t cooperating so well with the ideal outdoor location.  But we did get a picture of everyone.

 The highlight was that everyone had the chance to share something about grandpa, and it was fun to hear the many stories and reminisce about so much of grandpa’s incredible generosity and kindness throughout the years.

It was sure fun to hear about all the stories, remembering times from childhood, different stages of life, and grandpa's impact on numerous generations! What a blessing!

Skiing

 Before the big evening event, Gabi and Daddy got to go water skiing.  Doug had not been in about two decades, and Gabi got her first chance.  Both managed to get up, at least for a little bit.  It took Doug a couple of times before he got up for several minutes.  Gabi got up for a bit, too – which was quite an accomplishment. 

Lazy River

In addition to having fun on Rathburn Lake, the resort had a nice indoor water park – just the right size for our kids.  There was a fun slide, a lazy river, a hot tub, and some fun lilly pads you could try to navigate to get across the pool.

On The Lake

What an unbelievable treat to have Uncle Brian’s boat on the lake.  With the intertube, the kids were absolutely thrilled!  It was a blast getting out on the lake and seeing the kids bump and jump and sometimes go flying.  It was hard not to contain the smiles while going over and around waves. 

At one point Brian took them over an especially bumpy wave and Rania did a flip right there on the tube as she went flying out of the water.  She sure loved it.  Nicholas not so much, but the expressions on everyone’s faces were priceless.  

Honey Creek

How great to be done with the long drive and arrive at Honey Creek!  Thanks to Martha and her family, we had quite a feast ready for us.  Shortly after everyone arrived, we were having a great Midwestern Picnic! How fun to meet up with Don & Lynn, Mark & Marta and the whole gang to celebrate an early grandpa’s 90^th birthday!

The girls had been filled with anticipation about Ally bringing her boat!  (Okay, so it is probably her dad’s boat).  But they had to explore the boat and act as captains pretty soon after arrival! 

Goodbye Indy

We had to say goodbye to Indianapolis and our friends, hoping that soon we would be reunited.  It was so great to have Reeve reconnect with his first friends; a lot has changed since the days of high chairs and baby issues!   But the best of friends remain the same!

Indy Friends

How unbelievably wonderful to be able to see friends and catch up and pick up from where we left off.  Even if five years have passed, it was especially wonderful to see our kids get together in a wonderful reunion.  Granted, the girls felt a bit left out as a result of the 6 boys dominating.  But even with 100+ degrees weather, the kids had a wonderful time, playing around and having a delightful experience.

Supper Club Reunion

We arrived in Indianapolis – and how wonderful to see friends again.  After a bit of a drive, we headed to Forrest and Jeannette’s house for a wonderful reunion of our supper club.  What a delight to see everyone, though the vast majority of the kids were spread around several states – with grandparents, doing their own things, and enjoying times with other friends. 

We came away from the evening so appreciative of the incredible blessings we have.  We heard about the joys of being in the States (being near family) as well as how incredibly thankful we are that our kids have such a wonderful and rich educational experience at ISKL.  How wonderful to catch up with friends and get to hear about their lives.  It was a bit shocking to realize how other kids grow up too – and are not frozen in time from the moment that we last saw them.

Sonrise

How great that we were in town again for the amazing VBS program.  This year’s theme was Sonrise: National Parks, and the kids found all sorts of crazy animals.  Michael was one of the leaders, so the kids were especially enthusiastic about being part of most of the week, at least. (We did have to leave early and miss the final day celebrations.)

Oak Openings

Doug took the girls on a little trip to Oak Openings.  It was nice to take advantage of a slightly cooler day and enjoy the fun of being outdoors.  We made it to the sand dunes trail, which, of course, is a highlight!

Mud Hens

Thanks to Carrie getting some vouchers from some free MudHens tickets, we were able to get some tickets for an afternoon game downtown.  We went on a day that was plenty hot – but thankfully a bit cooler than what was coming the next day!  The boys ended up in the outfield section, which was fun to watch from the homerun zone. 

Once the visitors broke the game open in the 7^th, we decided we didn’t need to stay until the end. 

Quockert Party

We had a great time on a beautiful evening at the Quockert residence.  It was delicious food (of course!) and fun in the back yard.  The kids sure had a great time playing.  The boys having epic battles, the little kids trying to hit the ball, a bit of soccer, and then the Gruffalo came out and everyone got to watch TV OUTDOORS!  What a treat.

But nothing compares with Jason getting to eat the perfect s’more, compliments of Doug’s marshmallow and chocolate skills. 

Family Pix

We tried to be clever and get our own pictures at Sidecut State Park.  Everyone came dressed up and we took some family pictures.  We now have new pictures to frame on our walls, but I’m quite sure that no one will mistake these for a professional photo shoot.  Oh well – good fun.