Who's Got Cabin Fever!

My parents decided to try and get all of the kids together with their families for a little family reunion.  One of our favorite places to go growing up was to our grandparent's (Mom's parents) cabin in Munds Park, Arizona, just about 15 minutes or so South of Flagstaff.  We all enjoyed spending time up there and we have wonderful memories of being with our grandparents and the rest of our extended family at the cabin while enjoying the surrounding pine trees and mountains.  A little while after the passing of my grandmother, my grandfather sold the cabin to some people that have made a few changes to both the inside and outside.  Since then we haven't spent much time in that area except to pass through on our way to visit my parents, but I have only stopped a few times to drive past the cabin.  Since it was such a fond place my parents thought it would be the perfect area to stay in.  My sister Emily found a large cabin that was for rent just a block away from our grandparents cabin.  On line it sounded like it would be perfect with plenty of room for all of us, but we wouldn't know until we got there.

Michelle, Drew, Rachael, and Steve all piled into our car on Wednesday afternoon after they had gotten off of work and we planned on driving half way down to Arizona.  I had made a reservation online for a hotel, but then found out that it wasn't in the location I thought and had to cancel it.  With no hotel plans and having got word that most places were full in most of the smaller cities we decided to just drive until we were tired and then press our luck at finding something.  Luckily we found a nice little place with a decent rate for us to sleep.  Thursday morning we took our time getting ready before hitting the road.  We stopped in Flagstaff for a few last minute items, treats, and then made it to the cabin just a little after most people had gotten there.

The cabin was a great size.  It had probably been a smaller cabin at one point and then doubled in size with a major renovation which most likely happened in the 80's since it had that vibe in terms of decor.  It was all one story and had a huge backyard with a tennis course and a fenced in area perfect for the little kids.

It had two kitchens, two eating areas, two family rooms, two two car garages, two laundry rooms, six bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a large back porch with tables.  Everyone, but most of the grand kids had beds to sleep on, but they loved sleeping on the couch and in sleeping bags.

Christin's family was the last to arrive on Thursday.  Scott and Megan along with Brian would come up on Friday after they were done with work.  Most of the rest of the day we spent getting things situated and making sure we had all of the food for the rest of the trip.  Friday we had a lot of fun playing in the backyard.  The kids played a little baseball on the tennis course.  Everyone was having a good time.

Jacob found a small snake that was hiding in some boulders near the play area.  I tried to get a good shot of it, but it would always go back in the hole if I made any noise.

One of the kids favorite things to do at the house was to use the zip line.  only the kids could use it or those adults that were the size of kids because if you were like me and tried to use it your butt would hit the ground and it would hurt, trust me I tried.

Friday night Scott and Megan arrived and all of the kids were excited to see them.  They just got married two months ago and it has been great to have Megan in the family.  Saturday was another fun filled day with lots of activities with the kids.  The highlight of the day was our evening talent show.  Each family had to participate in at least one thing and then any other members could do something extra if they wanted.  There was whistling, drawing, and yoga by Taylor, Jacob, and Joshua.

Summer wrote a great script for a mustache growing infomercial that she wrote for school.  It was amazing.  She has a lot of creativity.  The little kids even wanted to participate in the talent show, but got stage fright.

Ryan showed off his poetry skills by writing a few lymrics that we all thought to be pretty spot on and very funny.  I wish I had them to share.

Michelle performed her popular pirate joke and even though I have seen it many times it is still so funny mainly because she always has a hard time remembering how it goes.  Rachael, Steve, Michelle, and I showed the group how to become more limber with exercising.

Scott and Megan did a great rendition of "Poor Wounded Soldier" of which is a favorite of Michelle's family get togethers.  I gave them the idea and taught them all their parts.  I wish Megan was a little louder at the end, but Scott played a great Good Samaritan.  Scott also had to show off some of his wicked rapping skills by showing off a little something he wrote himself.  I think he could be the next Eminem.

My mom and dad both had to get up and give a little speech about how wonderful it is to have everyone together and how it make it a special time for them.  You know all of the normal parent stuff.  It was nice and we agree with everything they had to say.

At the end of it all we took a flash back to our younger days when we would perform as a family in our ward talent shows.  We would also have little talent shows on the golf course across the street from this cabin when the whole Gaisford side of the family would come up for the forth of July and watch the fireworks.  My mom insisted that we got up and sang this song from an American Tale.

Sunday was pretty relaxed.  We did manage to get up and ready for church and headed up to Flagstaff for sacrament meeting.  It was a nice group of families and a lot of students studying at NAU.  After getting home we made sure to take a family picture in front of the cabin to help remember this trip.

The rest of the afternoon the kids played and the adults sat around and talked.  Rachael brought airplanes for all the kids to have.  We enjoyed the fresh air for a little while and let the kids explore a little then rested around the house and played card games.

 

In the afternoon a bunch of us decided to go visit the old cabin and get some pictures.  It was fun to walk the old streets we use to as a kid and remember all the fun times we had walking to the "candy store" which was actually just a gas station, and going to the pool, or even hitting a few golf balls at the club.

At the end of the night we had to get a little more zip line time in and we thought that Drew would like to give it a try.  Not by himself, but with a little help from Steve.  The night was beautiful and the sky looked majestic.

We packed up much of our stuff Sunday evening and when morning came we made sure everything was cleaned up and ready to go.  We had a wonderful time with the family up in Munds Park.  It would be nice to have a cabin up there again.  Emily and Ryan always talk about getting one there and if they did I think I might try and use it a little when they're not.  It was a great weekend and I hope we do it again in the future.  The drive went pretty well, but we were glad to be home at the end of it.  Thanks Mom, Dad, and Emily for putting together  this reunion.