Sunday, August 3, 2014

Lake Reunion 2014

"Deep Roots, Many Branches" was the theme for our Lake Reunion this year.  We all gathered at LLL Ranch for three days of fun.  While we mostly played, we did plan a few activities that centered around our families heritage, such as a kids game of "Do you know your grandparents?", skits about different ancestors and a "Heritage Dinner" potluck where everyone brought a dish from a country we come from or an ancestor's recipe.
The Super Slides
The great thing about the LLL Ranch is that there is plenty to do and open space for kids to run without parents having to worry.  The kids played with their cousins all day, every day and had a blast.  They also never got into any arguments, which I thought was amazing for three days of playing nonstop.
Great Grandpa Lake eating with the kiddos
 I wish I had taken a picture of the food at the "Heritage Dinner."  We had a wide assortment of dishes - green pepper lemon jello, cream of wheat supreme, streussel kuchen, spaetzle, enchiladas, english scones, and carrot cake.  It was fun to hear where the recipes came from and also memories of eating many of those dishes at Grandma Velma's house or growing up in the Lake family. 

 Seeing the skits each family presented was very fun for adults and kids alike.  I learned many fun stories from our ancestry.  One of the more memorable stories was of Fisher's German grandfather who escaped from a Russian P.O.W. camp by pretending to be a Polish soldier.

The weather was beautiful and everyone the most courageous kids (and adults) braved the freezing, cold waterslide.  Ba and Ryan made a "blob" which was like a big waterbed that kids could play on.

Besides the waterslide and big slides, there was ziplining, paintballing, s'more roasting, golfing, game playing, crafting, make-believe, ping pong, pool, and lots of fun.  We really did have a wonderful time!

Paintball casualties

mmm s'mores
A plethora of cuties!
Family Tree artwork
circle o' cousin love
Oma and Grandpa



Cute Bow n' Arrow craft (Thanks Stacie!)
Service project - Staining the shelter

Visual family tree

1 comment:

amominneedofadvice said...

Hey Elaine. I might be in charge of finding a location for our family reunion next year. This looks amazing. Is this a family ranch or did you rent it out? I'm in need of ideas. If you could message me via facebook that would be awesome. Thanks!!! Looks like you had a blast.