Morris Family Reunion 2008

So, we've had a pretty crazy month. There are about half a dozen posts I've wanted to do since the month began but lol it wasn't to be. I guess some of them will have to wait but this one I had to do! On Father's Day weekend, the Morris' had their annual family reunion at White River. White River is a really pretty camp spot near Honda up in the mountains. I believe they have been going there for over 50 years. The Morris' are crazy with their traditions, you have no idea! Anyway, besides the fact that it took us away from town on Father's Day and half our family wasn't able to be there this year, it was really fun. My kids turned into river rats the moment we got there, so Wes and I had lots of time to be together and relax. Here are some fun photos from our trip.
Here's Wes on the "zip" line.

Jalon got "raked" across the face with a leaf rake by one of his cousins. This was after he gashed his foot open on a twig. He had a rough weekend - poor guy.
The little ones got to enjoy a "redneck pinata" - toys and candy hidden in a bale of hay. It was so cute.
Emily with her Grandpa riding bikes together. They had a summer Olympics theme for the reunion this year. Emily won a gold metal for the shot put and a silver in the long jump. Way to go honey!
The cousins being goofy. Emily and her cousin Hadley.
Cole played on a dry, sandy island in the middle of the river the entire time building all kinds of interesting things with the mud. It was fun to watch him concentrate so hard on his work.I have to tell you about one scary part. When we got up there, we were given an informative warning about the bears, mostly black bears, that were in the area. We were reminded to make sure we clean up our kids before putting them to bed and to keep our food away from our tents. You know, the usual. Well the first night we did good but the second night...not so much. After sitting around the camp fire until around 11:30, Wes said he needed to hit the outhouse before bed. It's always a little creepy wandering around at night, especially by yourself. He admitted to being a little nervous but set off anyway. Okay...I'm not the kind of person who can resist and opportunity like that! Shortly after he set off, Wendy (Wes's sister) and I creeped after him to see if we could give him a little "bear scare". We tip toed up to the outhouse and at the same time slammed our bodies against it and shook it as hard as we could. We could hear Wes drop the flashlight and say, "WHAT THE ..." We were laughing so hard we couldn't stand up straight. It was VERY, VERY funny! He was so mad at us but it was totally worth it! He's still sore about it if I bring it up. Anyway, shortly after that, we set off to bed not even thinking about making sure everything was put away and that our kids were clean. An hour later we heard SOMETHING tearing into our cooler not a foot away from our tent. Man-o-man! I shot out of bed without thinking and grabbed Jalon and Cole, ready to lick their faces off if I had to (they were still covered in marsh mellows). I was sure it was a bear! If you could hear the sound of the grunts and the strong jaws chewing the plastic, you would too. It was a terrifying sound! It ended up being a bull which one of Weston's cousins chased off for us but I was told they really do sound just like a bear. Never again will I be so lazy about clean up! Lesson learned!