Okoboji Family Reunion

The Hoefer family celebrated Great Nana's 95th birthday with a family reunion in Okaboji.  It was fun to spend time at the lake with my kiddos since I have so many memories from past family reunions.  I don't even know where to begin describing the week so I'll stick with captions on the pictures for this post.  We are so thankful to be a part of such a wonderful family.

Drake and Eric on the dock with Grandpa.

Lilly, Sylvia and Phillip on the boat with John.

Enjoying the waves with my boys.

Uncle John patiently helping Drake drive the boat.

Extended cousins pile-up on the slide.

Eric likes to help Great Nana with her walker.

Enjoying some sticky s'more's with Adam and Grandpa.

We spent a lot of time on the Noah's Ark/Pirate Ship playground.

Eric and Noah attempting a game of Connect Four.

An evening out with my cousins.

The Hoefer Family 5K participants.

Eric investigated the boat lifts multiple times during the week.

Family "pedal" boat ride.

Eric and daddy's kayak trip.

The cousins all built flashlights with Uncle Lee.

Daddy is good at swings.

Sylvia's kayak trip with daddy.

Lots of cards and games were played in our lounge.

These two enjoyed the water all week.

Great Nana is good at sharing her snack with my boys.

Filling up buckets of water to take down to the beach.

End of Season Boating

Grandma and Grandpa took us out for a final boat ride of the season back in September.  Drake did a little navigating for us (while we were parked).

 

Sylvia loves swimming and even started jumping off the back of the boat while we were out.

 

Eric liked to guard the door and let people in and out of the boat.  He seems to like the water when mommy is around.

 

Sylvia tubing with Grandma.  They like to go about the same speed.

 

Eric tubing with Grandpa.

 

Tired out from boating.

 

See you next summer.

A Visit from the O'Briens

Our good friends, the O'Briens, came to visit in August.  It was so fun to have them back in town.  Seeing Sylvia and Henry together again was so much fun.  They truly are great friends and love being together.  Calvin and Erickson also seemed to click a little better this year now that Eric is a little bit older.  We'll have to wait and see what Drake and Charles think of each other when they get a little bit older.

 

Grandma and Grandpa took Henry and Sylvia out on the boat.  They enjoyed getting some special "big kid" time.

 

We spent quite a bit of time just playing in our backyard.  My dad brought over his new waterslide and it was a big hit.

 

Eric and Sylvia trying out the baby pool.

 

Drake and Charles getting to know each other.

 

Some craft time for the bigger kids.

 

We made a quick stop at the apple orchard and learned they do not have tractor rides during the week.  We took a quick walk around, bought some apples and headed to City Park.

 

We started off with a group ride on the train.  This is the only shot of all 10 of us.

 

These two are inseperable.

 

At first glance, it's hard for me to believe this is Drake and not Sylvia that Linda is holding.

 

Can you tell who wasn't a fan of the fish ride?

 

Linda and me with all the kids.

 

Good thing Dan will do underdogs because I'm too scared to try.

 

Lining the kids up for a group picture.

 

We spent some time playing downtown for old times sake.  The fountain is still a favorite.

 

Calvin was a fan of Drake.

 

We made handprint (and footprint) shirts with the kids to remember our visit by.  They love their shirts!  One last shot of all the kids before Linda and Jesse hit the road with the kids.

 

One last goodbye for Henry and Sylvia.

 

So thankful for these friends and the time we got to spend together.  It sure was hard to say goodbye.