Charles Family Reunion 2011

Wes and I planned this year's Charles Week-o'-Fun in beautiful Park City, Utah.  (I know, we're really branching out.  We're in a recession, okay?)  I had the difficult job of making sure Wes budgeted everyone a few hours of sleep in each 24 hour period.  This family likes to really pack it in; seven days of concentrated Charles togetherness would certainly appeal to anyone, am I right?  Or perhaps I wasn't the only one who wanted to sleep for the next seven days and go into hiding.  But really, as you will see from the 70+ pictures, we created awesome memories that all began with dinner at Aunt Charlotte's house in South Jordan where we were able to ogle shamelessly over the brand new Baby Gavin Hatch.  Congrats to Ambree and Derek who will make such loving parents!  

Yes, there was some ogling over Baby Dominic, too.  

And ogling over Uncle Wes who may be turning forty this month, but who has the energy of a twenty-something...

Midget Olympics 2011:  Thank you, Uncle Mike, for organizing such a hilariously competitive event complete with a Bucket Toss, Foot Race, Human Hurdles, Egg & Spoon Race and Pool Kickball!  No mercy from the leadership, I tell you.  

Camping at Timpooneke:  Okay, so maybe the weather report said to expect severe thunderstorms and maybe no one really listened to reason and maybe we barely got the tents set up before the Storm of the Century hit and maybe we all thought we were going to die... Priceless.  Or maybe what was priceless was Liam screaming at 12am because he had never been camping and didn't understand sleeping in a tent with Mama and Dada and quietly packing up the small piece of dirt we were hoping to call home for the night and making the hour+ drive back to our comfy beds.  I'm not sorry.  Liam has plenty of years to adapt to the unforgiving wilderness.  

Lagoon: I took a much-needed mid-week break from the festivities and let Dada take Liam on the Lagoon adventure.  Although I wasn't there to witness it, I heard about the Dragon Rollercoaster from Liam for the next couple of weeks.  He was in heaven.

Day at Jordanelle Resevoir: As close as one can get to a day at the beach in a landlocked state, Jordanelle did not disappoint.   And as far as the kids were concerned, it was the beach.  We wakeboarded, surfed, and tubed.  Wes and I tubed together (is that what you call it?) and I may have laughed my liver and lungs out.  Probably not the smartest thing to do in my delicate condition (more on that later.)  Liam was not a fan of the boating experience.  If we were not going fast, he made sure we knew he was unhappy.  I think this week must have been all about expressing his individuality (does he get that from me?) because in the weeks following, he was an angel.  

There are just so many things wrong with this picture, I don't know where to begin.

Singles Tennis Tourney 2011 and Wrap-Up:  Could you just eat this face?  Brooklyn stole everyone's hearts during the week, which made it impossibly hard to say goodbye.  It is always such a treat to see the Travis Charles family;  they are probably the biggest reason we subject ourselves to such close-quarters for long periods of time each year.  Cute family!  As Liam's closest-in-age cousin, Avery and he were able to bond over similar interests, language skills and bath routines.  Wes wrapped up the week with a fantastic Charles Family History movie, Mike presented the midgets with medals for the Midget Olympics, Travis shared his Reunion 2011 Top Ten, and Papa John informed us of family plans for the next decade or so.  There is no such thing as over-organization, is there? 

Until next year, au revoir!