Henshaw Family Reunion

Friday morning, we headed down to San Diego for the first ever Henshaw Family Reunion. John and all his sisters and most of their families met up for a weekend of fun in the sun. After we got to the hotel, the girls and I took a walk while Daddy rested. We watched pelicans dive for their dinner and found some bunny rabbits. The festivities started with a casual dinner in Camille and Max's suite (that opened up onto a patio and then a huge lawn area). It was a great chance to visit with everyone and get to know one another better. There were even second cousins exactly the girls' ages; they had tons of fun playing frisbee and running around. Rachel also kept people entertained with her personality. After the dinner, we went to the pool for a late swim. They were showing a movie at the pool, but the kids just ended up swimming with their daddy and cousins.

The second cousins!

Everyone there on Friday night.

Teri, John, Pat, Judy and Camille (the siblings).

The cousins!

Saturday morning, we ate donuts and watched TV in our room for a bit. Then we met up with the other kids to play some games. The hotel was right on the bay, so the weather was gorgeous and the water was right there! Jim's cousin, Michelle, had planned a bunch of water and relay games for the kids. Then we did Polaroid pictures and decorated frames for them.

Around noon, we headed back to our room to change into swim suits. Nana and Papa had rented a pontoon boat, a wave runner, and kayaks for the afternoon. The hotel was on a marina and the sandy, beach area was across the bay. Jim and I took one kayak, Christina and Mary took the other. We were supposed to meet up with the pontoon boat on the other side. Of course, we all lost each other and the pontoon boat never showed up where it was supposed to. Jim and I paddled back to the marina and called Charlotte. They came back and got us with the boat and took us to the 'new' location. Everyone had turns on the wave runners and the kayaks. Even the girls got a short, slow ride inside the buoys. I also took them out on the kayak. They had fun hunting for shells and playing in the sand in between their turns. Jim took me out for a super fun ride around the bay. I can't remember the last time I was on a wave runner, but we had a blast. Everyone had a fun afternoon, but we all got a bit sunburned here and there.

We turned everything in at 4:30 and just went back to our rooms to rest and get ready for dinner. Jim and I were pretty exhausted. Luckily, there was a good movie on TV and we all had some much needed down time. Dinner was at the hotel restaurant and was very nice. We had been there an hour before they started taking our orders. We were hungry!! Rachel ended up falling asleep at the table with a french fry in her mouth! The girls still wanted to swim that day, but we also wanted to do some hair tinsel and feathers. There wasn't really time for both, so I promised we would swim first thing in the morning if we did hair that night. Nina and Mary did feathers and tinsel for the girls and some feathers for me while Rachel snoozed on. I was really unsure about the feathers at first, but I have to say that I love mine!

Sunday morning, everyone slept in amazingly enough. When they finally all woke up, we put our suits on and went to the pool. Our room had an enclosed patio in the back that opened right up to the pool, it was pretty sweet. Lizzie kept telling me she wished we could live there. (Really, you want to live in this tiny room with two beds and one bathroom? How about we just visit?) The pool was also heated and felt GREAT! The girls and I had a wonderful swim while Jim gathered up some of our items that had been scattered during the course of the weekend: sunglasses, shoes, etc.