Grandma and Grandpa join us at the Games

Between soccer and t-ball, Bentley is keeping our Saturdays busy!  I love watching him play and being outdoors. It's a beautiful time of year.  

On this particular Saturday, Bentley's two games were back to back so grandma and grandpa joined us in the cheerleading section.

These girls all managed to share grandma pretty well.

Bentley was very focused and had some great hits!

I like to call him "Dash" like the boy on the movie "The Incredibles" because he is little and fast.

I love that he sticks his tongue out when he concentrates, it's so cute!

Then once that game ended, we were off to soccer!  He was a running fool that day and loved every minute of it.  Good job Bentley boy!

Thanks for coming grandma and grandpa!

Friends + Summer = Joy!

There's nothing quite like long summer days, spent entirely in swim suits and hanging out with friends. 

All our cousins may live far away now, but we have adopted new family to help us feel joy.  :)

Silly Faces

Sometimes it's the random, little moments in my days as a stay at home mom that turn out to be the best.  Dirty faces, messy house, crazy hair.... but joy and laughter.  I want more days like this, and less days where I'm stressed about how to get everything done.

Karly Meets the Kitty

I'm not sure Karly had ever seen a cat up close until this day.  She squealed with excitement and repeated over and over again, "Oh hi kitty.  Hi.  Hi kitty"  She just couldn't quite get enough, and had to check out Judy the cat from all angles.

As a random side note - this is a seriously old cat still wondering around down at grandma's house.  I think I was a sophomore in high school when we got this cat, and the name Judy came about because of a nickname of one of my guy friends.  Funny times.

The 4 Cutest Kids Around...

Sometimes it still baffles my mind that I actually created these four human beings.  First of all, am I really that old?  Second of all, wow.... what a miracle life is.  

Malarsie Family Reunion in Durango

I think it's pretty neat that my dad's siblings and all their kids continue to get together every year.  I grew up with these cousins, and it's awesome that we can still hang out and catch up each year while our children now play together.  This year there was a noticeable difference with it being the first reunion since Granny Moe passed away.  We missed her in all the festivities, but we were able to dedicate one of the afternoons to her when we held a memorial for all her local friends and neighbors. It was a great tribute to a wonderful lady.

The Durango KOA has turned out to be a great reunion spot.  We have now taken over the whole back half of the KOA with all our rental spots and it's awesome to have the space to play and hangout.  And surprisingly, no children fell into the big ditch that runs right along our camp sites!  Win!

No Malarsie reunion is complete without several Mexican Horseshoe tournaments.  It's always a highlight to see the competitive side come out of some family members.

Grandma and grandpa keep a few games stored in their trailer so the kids enjoyed some down time hanging out in there.

The swimming pool was also a hit, as usual.

The duck races on Saturday night are always a highlight of the reunion.  Unfortunately, none of our ducks won but we still had fun cheering away.

On one of the afternoons we got caught in a huge downpour that kind of came out of nowhere.  We found shelter by the breakfast caboose and had to wait out the storm. When we left, Karly was asleep in the cabin so I was just antsy the whole time hoping the rain didn't wake her up and she was wondering where everybody went!  Turns out, she slept right through it all so she never knew she was abandoned for a bit.

More Mexican horseshoes!

The Durango VFW has been the home to many Malarsie family events.  It was also the place of Granny Moe's memorial. They had tons of pictures of her throughout her life and it was neat to see her story play out through her photos.

My dad even introduced us to a few of his childhood friends who were there.  

The kids entertained themselves by building a fort with the stacked chairs in the corner.  It worked out great!

It was another successful reunion and I'm so glad we are close to Durango and able to take this weekend to connect with family.  We always enjoy this little getaway and staying in the cute cabin at the KOA.  I'm grateful for all these fun adventures and building relationships.