Miller Family Reunion 2015

It's that time of the year - the Miller Family Reunion! 

Clara chose one exciting outfit to wear, but we thankfully convinced her it would be too hot for it, and that she would be in her swim suit all day anyway :)

Clara is full of entertaining conversation. Here's a snippit from our drive down:

Clara: "Mama, you got too much Jesus."
Me: "What!?!"
Clara: "All the time you be Jesus. Achoo, achoo, achoo, all the time. Leave Jesus alone."
Me: "Clara, you mean SNEEZES, not Jesus!"
Clara: "Oh. I thought Jesus had awergies."

On our way in we saw these Axis Reindeer :)

And there were DUCKS! All 3 of the older cousins were stoked! 

When we got there it was time for hugs, but the girls were pretty much about to jump into the pool fully clothed, so we quickly got their suits on so they could get into the pool.

 

Emma ran out of steam after a little while and then decided to get Meemaw all wet and hang out with all of her other sweet relatives munching on gold fish while Clara and Molly kept swimming like fish.

Pretty soon it started to rain - doh! So we decided to change Emma into her clothes, but Clara said she wanted stay in her swim suit for a little while longer.  

When the rain came everyone retreated under the umbrellas or in the little mini-house where we keep the food.

After a pick-me-up picnic, the rain had stopped! And any guesses as to what the girls wanted to do then? Yep. You guessed it.

Up

and down. Over and over :)

Of course this was a little bit of a problem for poor Emma, dressed again, since she wanted to desperately to get in too.

We tried to keep her content for a little while on a chair, which helped:

But yeah.... still desperate :) So we changed her into her suit again so she could get in.

Headed straight for Daddy

"Yay!!!" haha

Literally "on the ball" :)

Clara making a splash

Molly catching a ride on her Daddy

A Molly-kind of jump! 

Swimming is hard work, especially for babies, so Emma ran out of steam again after a little while and decided to hang out (soaked) on Papa's lap (sorry, Papa).

But she quickly decided to go hang out with Meemaw too.

Discovering Cheetos - yum!

:)

Meanwhile, Bryan and Clara decided to go try the BIG water slide!!!

And they're off!

Ready to go again, always :) 

Cool action shot!

Clara really liked the water slide (we have a couple of dare devil children), but ultimately she ended back in the pool to play with a friend.

Holding hands and jumping:

Clara was SO wiped out. She really needed to rest so we finally called a time out on the swimming.

She took a rest next to Papa

And found a flower on the ground, which she thought was "SO cool and SO pitty":

I took Clara over to see the trampoline while Emma was getting changed, and then Papa brought Emma over to bounce with Daddy and Clara too:

Then we really had to insist Clara get dry clothes on because it was time for dinner!

Emma played pass-the-baby a lot because she wanted to be held by everyone, preferably people with food who would also be willing to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or wave at her indefinitely. She definitely doesn't know how charmed her life is :)

Hanging with Aunt Jana, Papa and Aunt Tricia

 My attempt at a panorama like I did last year during the prayer. Don't look at it too long or you'll get dizzy!

We love our family!

And these kiddos also like their food. Molly opted for a slice of cheese, Clara opted for a one piece of bread - together they ALMOST have a sandwich. Emma wanted to eat everything.

A cousin picnic

 Even Jessie got in on the fun with Lulu

Uncle G & Auntie M came too

 It's hard to keep small children contained for any amount of time so they were off and running again very quickly.

Poor Emma desperately wanted to keep up with the big girls.

But ultimately decided that they would be back and settled down to wait :)

Auntie M lured them back with several founds of Pony.

Of course, what would a cousin get-together be without a cousin photoshoot?!

Emma was the only one who answered our call for a first attempt:

1/4

 Luckily, Jessie is easily manipulated persuaded. 

2/4

Clara and Molly couldn't make it too easy, so they went on the OTHER side of the bridge from Emma and Jessie. 

The other 2/4

 Perhaps a new location is in order?

For 4 tired babies, two without naps, and hours of swimming? Not bad!

 Clara begged to go see the cows with Papa before we had to leave, so off they went.

What kid doesn't love wide open spaces?

Jessie got loved on a little more by Aunt Tricia

 And then it was time for hugs and kisses bye bye.

Awkward toddler hug bye bye

Clara giving Jessie kisses bye bye

 And.... they were out. We left the reunion at 6, both kids were out within 10 minutes, and slept for 2 solid hours. They were FURIOUS the last hour of the drive, but thankfully Emma fell asleep as soon as she got a new diaper, pajamas on and in her crib. Clara was a different story - but eventually she went to sleep again too :)

Such a fun day, and so good to see everyone!!! Love you all!!!