Webster Family Reunion

I am such a sucker for family. Growing up in a family that valued being together, creating family traditions, and making memories together, it is no surprise that I fell in love with Mr. Level-Headed's family as quickly as I did. They value all of these things as well, but unlike my family, his cousins are all close in age and grew up within close proximity to one another, which lead to very close relationships, hilarious stories, and a ton of mischief. 

One of the funniest things about Mr. Level-Headed's family is that I already knew a bunch of them. As a young girl, I went to school with his cousin, Lindy, and spent many years attending her birthday sleepovers and playing at her house. And guess who also attended all of her birthday parties: Mr. Level-Headed! How cute is that! Sadly, he does not remember looking at any of Lindy's friends and falling madly in love with them, but he does remember there being a particularly loud friend of hers, who drove him a wee bit crazy, and guess what: that was probably me! Like my boys, I was never quite able to master the use of an inside voice . . . tee hee!

Anyhoo . . .

So, from the very first annual Webster Christmas Eve party I attended, when I was a mere fifteen years old, I felt like I belonged in this family. They are loud, fun-loving, quick to tease, highly competitive, and very family-oriented, just like me and my family (okay, not so much the competitive part, though. Come on Skovs!) Even at that young age, I loved getting together with all of them,  and I  knew that this was the type of family I wanted my own kids to belong to. Thanks again, Websters, for welcoming me into your clan, and for being so darn awesome!

Me and two of Mr. Level-Headed's handsome cousins:

The kids played in this inner tube ALL DAY LONG. Thanks, Jonathan, for being such a great sport!

My monkey boy teaching his younger cousins all of his cool tricks:

Lining up for the infamous three-legged race. Uncle Ian, the boys are still fuming. Beware!

The grand kids playing the Skittle game (Avery and Elliot won!)

The Original Five playing the Skittle game and Avery watching very closely (Grampy Webster won!)

Some of the spouses of the Original Five chill-axing on the porch swing:

Team Gerry:

The cousins:

The Original Five:

Best game ever: toss a marshmallow in your partner's mouth! Zoe and I had terrible luck with this one. The team who won did more of a drop than toss, but we'll let it go . . . . this year!

Don't let this picture fool you! He is not that cute or cuddly. In fact,  Uncle Ian is my boys' number one arch-nemesis . . . tee hee!

And just in case you have had your head stuck in the sand over the past three days and somehow missed this next photo, here we all are . . . again!

Awwww . . .  I really love you guys! 

Webster Family-Palooza

Wow! What a couple of weeks it has been! Derrick's sister Christina flew in on July 24th with her husband and three daughters. We have not seen them in four years, and it was wonderful to get reacquainted with everyone. It was also fun playing tourist for two weeks in our very own province. We had lunch in the market, we hiked at Irving Nature Park, we visited St. Andrews, we explored the caves at Hopewell Rocks, we enjoyed the sun, sand, and surf at New River Beach, we went to the movies, we played games, we shopped, some of us zip-lined, some of us drove go-carts and played mini-putt, we ate, we ate some more, we took photos, we posed for photos, we shared stories, we laughed, we hugged, and in the end, we all collapsed . . . phew! 

Like all family vacations, this one had a few glitches. First of all, Mother Nature was not feeling cooperative and decided to douse us with far more rain than we all thought was fair; however, we did not let this stop us from having fun and we all chalked it up to just being part of the Atlantic Canadian experience. Secondly, our pool heater crashed just days before they arrived, and thanks to the cooler temps and rain, our once very toasty pool water plummeted to the low 70's . . . eeek! Only a few crazy ones jumped in after that. 

 In the end, our adventure-packed two weeks culminated with a gigantic family reunion at the MacNeill family cottage here on the Peninsula. Amazingly, every family member was in attendance, and it was awesome to see so many faces that we have not seen in years and also to meet some brand new faces. It was a loud, wet and wild afternoon, but man, we sure had fun. The one thing I love about the Webster clan is how competitive they all are, and in true Webster fashion, the reunion was filled with games, where the only rule was that you could not get caught cheating . . . tee hee!  And trust me, we all took this to heart! ;) Oh, and I should mention that Team Gerry (yes, our team) took home the gold! Man, I love my family!

I must say that these past two, family-filled weeks have truly made this one of our most memorable summers to date. Thanks to all you Websters  out there for being so darn fun! We are going to miss you, and hopefully, we can get together again real soon.

And now for the photos: 

Moncton

Where the older girls and their daddies ziplined through the woods, while nanny and Christina watched Emma play on the playground, and grampy and I took the boys to the Magnetic Hill Boardwalk.  We had a blast!

After our morning activities, we headed to Champlain Place for some lunch and shopping, where I had the BEST poutine to date. Thank you, New York Fries! The boys were not so keen on shopping; therefore, Mr. Level-Headed and Jeremy took them and Emma, the youngest of our crew, to Crystal Palace, where the boys were given two free bracelets from a kind gentlemen who was leaving just as they entered. Awesomeness!

I can't say it enough: I love this girl! She is so much fun.

St. Andrews

Where we introduced our desert cousins to the ocean floor, they slipped on seaweed and touched ooey gooey sea creatures. The boys thought it was hilarious! We also played with every cannon we came across, had lunch at the Harbour Front Inn, where I had some mighty fine poutine and had the epiphany that a poutine's merit is not in the cheese curds or the fries, as I had once naively believed, but lies solely upon the gravy . . . mmmmm! And the Harbour Front Inn had some fantastic gravy! We then ended our day with a trip to the Huntsman Aquarium, which has been newly refurbished and is well worth the visit.

Irving Nature Park

Where we hiked through the "boring trees and threw boring rocks into the boring ocean" (Elliot Webster). Ya gotta love him!

But on a positive note, we did end one of our excursions to the Irving Nature Park with a stop at the Freak Lunch Box. Now that put a smile on his face. 

Candy!

New River Beach

Where the kids swam in the ocean, played on their boogy boards, played soccer, buried their baby cousin/sister, made sand castles and destroyed sand castles, while I sat . . . and chatted . . . and ate. No wonder New River Beach is my favourite place in the whole wide world!

Hopewell Rocks

Where we drove for what felt like forever (which by the way, totally blows the mind of our Utah clan who are used to having everything within close proximity . . . welcome to New Brunswick!) to get stuck in mud, see some more boring rocks (again, ya gotta love him), and explore some caves.

And now it is time for some much needed rest, but . . . I do think everyone would agree that we should do this again next summer. Perhaps in Utah? Hmmmm . . . 

Such a good looking crew!