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.

Devil's Lake

This summer we took the kids to Devil's Lake, WI.  We were joined by some good company which made the trip even better.  Our family stayed in a large cabin which made our "camping" trip much easier on all of us.

We did plenty of swimming at the beautiful sandy beach.  Eric really wanted to go on a "pedal" boat but it didn't work out on this trip.

Thanks to Yuani and a buddy of his, we were able to take all the kids rock climbing.  It was so fun to share this experience with them.  Plus, Dan took the kids for lunch at the park and I was able to stay up and do some climbing myself!

We went on a hike through Parfrey's Glen with the Lanes.  The man-made trails have all been washed out so we got to walk through the creek and up boulders.  It was much more exciting that way.  Sylvia and Eric even got to stand in a waterfall with mommy.

We did some meals in the cabin but we also roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire.  The kids all participated in a talent show organized by Beth.  Sylvia sang 5 Little Monkeys and called on Eric to help her with the actions.  Eric made up a song and dance on the spot for his performance.

Before heading home, we hiked to the the top of the east bluff.  All the kids made it to the top on their own.  We stopped for some pictures by balanced rock and Devil's doorway.

Oklahoma

We started our summer of with a trip to Oklahoma to visit Aunt Ginny and Uncle Stephen.  School got out at 2:00 and we were on the road by 3:30.  

The kids were thrilled when Ginny or Stephen would take them into the music room to play the tuba or flute.

The girls got to enjoy a little time out to celebrate at Ginny's baby shower.  Sylvia appreciated being invited to help open gifts. 

We took a trip to a cute little children's museum in Stillwater.  The kids had a blast and it got us out of the house for a bit.

Time at the house was spent playing with the dogs, going for walks and reading lots of books in the book nook. 

The kids helped Dan and Stephen get started on the new deck.  A lot of work was done in a very short period of time.

The kids traveled very well.  We watched movies, played with toys, ate meals, read books and made a long stop in Kansas City on our way home to break up the trip. 

Indianapolis Trips

I believe it is mostly family who follow our blog at this point, so I won't apologize for the number of pictures.  Dan and I had been wanting to take the kids to Indianapolis for quite some time and Sylvia was even asking us when we'd go.  Granny has come to visit us many times recently so we hadn't made the trip there in quite some time.  We knew that Granny wasn't feeling well, so we planned a trip in January.  The kids enjoyed watching movies in the car.

We played and explored at Granny's house while we were in Indianapolis.  Riding the elevator chair was by far the favorite thing to but other top runners were looking at the snow globes, carousel and other decorations, watching TV, jumping around and playing harmonicas in the basement, and playing outside in the snow.

We toured a bit of the city, spent an afternoon at the children's museum and took the kids to the circle monument.  Sylvia and daddy climbed the stairs to the top while the boys and I rode the elevator.  We also visited Granny in the nursing home and later at the hospital.  We read books, sang songs and Sylvia stopped us at the gift shop before leaving so she could buy Granny a balloon.  Before leaving, the kids all gave Granny hugs and kisses and she once again told Dan to take care of all of us.

Granny's health didn't improve and we returned to Indianapolis at the end of February to celebrate her life.  Although it was a difficult time, it was wonderful to see family.  Sylvia wanted to share during the service that Granny loved watermelon and gave good hugs.  Dan also shared when he took Sylvia up.  He talked about how he'll always remember how in love Granny and Granddaddy were and that she didn't have a critical bone in her.  We love her and miss her very much.

Before leaving town, we took the kids to The Indianapolis Museum of Art.  The fountain was on despite the cold.  We checked out an art bag which included drawing paper and crayons as well as some shape blocks.  Sylvia studied a picture of a horse and made a drawing of it.  We also played in the interactive kids room.  On our way home, the kids shared a red slushy during a gas station stop.  It was a bit of a race to see who could get the most before it was empty.