Labor Day & Family Time

Last weekend, we took advantage of the holiday & turned our visit to Knoxville into a mini-family reunion! My cousin, Betsy, along with her 2 boys and parents (my Uncle Tom & Aunt Melissa), came from Cincinnati to Becky's house for the long weekend.

My parents were there as well, and the only one missing was Lora. (We missed you, Bones!)

 

We got to Knoxville around 3 pm on Saturday and I could not wait to get my hands on my favorite nephew. Oh those sweet cheeks and beautiful lips.....I could not get enough of him!

 Betsy's two boys are close to our kids in age. Ollie will be 4 in December (though he's as tall as Nate!) and sweet Henry is turning 2 this week. So each kid had a playmate, and they hit it off immediately. We put some toys in Bec's office/sunroom, and let the kids have at it. They played, jumped, danced, colored, played hide-n-seek, had races with Nanny outside on the driveway, and (below) threw acorns off the back porch.

 Anderson had a minor crush on Betsy and was very smiley around her!!

 My brother-in-law, Mike slaved away and smoked some pork (Boston Butt??) for 12 hours. It was DELICIOUS, and even the kids thought so. He  & Bec put together quite the feast for dinner, and the kids loved having their own table.

 I think Nate's favorite part was dessert...thanks to Poppy, the kids got ice cream sundaes with chocolate chip waffle bowls! And then poor Anderson didn't even get a chance to digest.....he was subjected to his first helicopter ride from his Uncle Greg. Even I got dizzy watching!

 Thanks to Aunt Melissa for trying to calm the kids down before bed. Abby & Henry both loooove books and suckered Melis into reading this one.

 Abby offered to give Poppy a head massage, and for some reason, she thought using her elbows would be the best approach...

Our little family went to a hotel to stay the night, as well the Briner family. We thought it'd be best to spread out all the kids in order to get a good night's sleep! Nate & Abby did great at the hotel and loved sharing beds with us. I slept with Nate, and after he kicked me about 10x in the butt in the middle of the night, I decided I would be switching partners the next night. Everyone slept well though, and we all met back up at Aunt Bebe's house Sunday morning for a big breakfast.

 

 We lucked out and the rain held off for most of Sunday. We were the first ones/only ones at the pool for most of the morning. I thought the water was a little chilly, but thankfully I was the only wimp and everyone had fun swimming & jumping & playing at the pool.

 Uncle Tom & Ollie having some serious discussions through the noodle-phone....

 We brought a picnic lunch and Abby was NOT happy that I made her sit in the shade. She wanted to be in the sun with everyone else, but that was just not going to happen for my little white princess. She let it be known that she was mad at me:

 My sis is the best little mommy!! She just simply adores Anderson, and clearly, the feeling is mutual. I love watching her from afar...

 Mr. Fancy Pants

 Worn out from all the sun & swimming. Sweet baby boy!

 Miss Hollywood, showing off her best moves...

 Uncle Mike splurged and let the kids pick out some ice cream at the snack bar. Nate had a death grip on his, but Abby walked around and offered bites of her crunch bar to everyone.

 After long naps back at Becky's house, the kids woke up refreshed & ready to play. Well, play the Leapster at least...

 Cousin love! (Minus Lora!)

 The kids were anxious to wake up Anderson to "play" (or rather, be manhandled....)

 I know this is a weird picture since Abby's feet are randomly in the air - she is upside down on Greg's lap - but I think it's a really good one of me & Greg, so I had to post! :)

 After a yummy pizza dinner, we headed outside to blow bubbles and use some leftover poppers from Fourth of July (thanks Poppy). The little ones stuck to the bubbles...

 I think this is my favorite picture of the whole weekend. It just sums us all up: smiles, alcohol, and kids! :) (Don't hate me for posting this, guys!!)

 Some of the gang, throwing poppers on Bebe & Mike's driveway. Please notice poor Abby - she HATES loud noises and covers her ears at every one of them.

 These two goofballs became BFF fast! I loved playing with Betsy as a kid, and I'm so glad Nate has a fun cousin too!!

 Aunt Bebe tried to sneak Anderson away for a bath before bedtime, but Mommy Abby just had to "help"....

 I didn't really realize how much Abby was on the Leapster until I looked at all of these pictures! I swear she did other things other than playing on that thing all weekend, ha!

 Sunday night was another good night in the hotel with the kids, once the (random) Labor Day fireworks show at UT was over. Poor Abby sat in bed with me for close to an hour with her hands over her ears, waiting for them to stop.

 

Monday we all met up one last time at Bec's house to eat breakfast and get in a few last cousins' pictures....

It warms my heart to see my kids playing with these amazing cousins, and hopefully we are going to make this reunion over Labor Day an annual thing. We owe it to our kids!! In the meantime, I guess Nate & Ollie could be pen pals....

 

Bec & Mike, thanks for letting us invade Knoxville for 3 days! We had so much fun and appreciate all the hospitality & yummy food. Briner clan - we love you guys and can't wait till Asheville 2013!