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.

Easter

Sylvia and Eric woke up early Easter morning so we sat on the deck and watched the sunrise.  We talked about the first Easter morning and then came in to warm up.  Before church at Parkview, the kids enjoyed receiving a few gifts in their Easter baskets.

We headed over the Nana and Papa's and took a ramble in the backyard before hunting for eggs and eating lunch.  The weather was beautiful.

We dyed a few eggs in the afternoon and played in the backyard.

Grandma and Grandpa had us over for an egg hunt where we invited our neighbors who have a kindergartner in Sylvia's class.  The kids made resurrection rolls with me where you dip a marshmallow in butter and then sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar before wrapping it up in a crescent roll.  While cooking, the marshmallow melts and the roll is empty which reminds us of the empty tomb.

Great Nana came over to watch the kids hunt eggs.

The weather was still nice when we got home so the kids headed outdoors to play with a few new water toys.

Sundown and Barnhouse

We visited Sundown Mountain Resort in February to go snow skiing.  Our cousins from Illinois were there as well as Grandma and Grandpa.  Sylvia and Eric got geared up for skiing with mom and dad as soon as we arrived while Drake played with Grandma.  After a little time on the bunny hill, the kids were ready to try out a slightly bigger hill with a ski lift.  Sylvia was quickly going down on her own but Eric stayed between my legs or at the end of my ski pole most of the time.  Later in the day, my brother surprised us by gearing up Drake to snowboard.  I couldn't believe how well Drake balanced on the board while going down the bunny hill.  He also rode the magic carpet all by himself.

The rest of our weekend was spent with family at The Barn House.  Grandma and Grandpa rented it for all 19 of us.  We watched the Olympics, played in the snow, did scavenger hunts, bounced in grandpa's bouncy house, and played board games, basketball, ski ball and video games.  The only thing we didn't get enough of was sleep, but we're willing to pass on that from time to time in order to spend time with family.

Hoefer Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on the weekend before Christmas Day.  The morning started with Christmas stockings and Grandpa read a new book to the grandkids.

I mislabeled on of my boxes and Grandma ended up opening a paintable robot that was intended for one of the little boys.  She was very excited!

Sylvia got a new snow globe from Grandma and Grandpa that she was very excited about.

Eric was more interested in how things work than opening his gifts.

Great Nana wasn't sure what to think of Drake all morning.  He kept using the clementines from our stockings as balls and throwing them to/at her.  They cleared things up when she shared her caramel corn with him later in the day.

Drake did a little sharing of his own too.

There was plenty of time to play with toys/games new and old.

It was a busy day and we were all a little worn out by the end.

Sylvia and I enjoyed a sleepover at our place with two of her cousins over the weekend.  We made popsicle stick snowflakes and drew designs to make our own shirts.  The girls played together well and all slept downstairs.

Grandma and Grandpa also took us to an Iowa basketball game where we all enjoyed some ice cream...and maybe watched a little basketball.  We tried to catch Herky but he was too fast for us.

The Hoefer Family

The Hoefer Cousins