Blanchard Roundup 2015

Our big Blanchard family reunion (aka "The Great Buffalo Roundup 2015") was one for the books.  We had a fantastic few days together with all of Gregg's siblings and parents and nieces and nephews in Island Park, Idaho from July 23-27th.  We rented a (ginormous) cabin that fit the whole clan, with plenty of room for lounging, reading, playing, swinging, hot-tubbing, eating, and sleeping.  We visited Yellowstone, canoed in the Buffalo River (so fitting, eh?), explored around the cabin, and basically just enjoyed being together.  What a great time we had!

Idaho is pretty nice, really.  This was taken just
outside of Ashton, on our way to Island Park

Arriving at the cabin in the woods.

Hugs all around - Cal humored Uncle Ryan with a semi-hug, anyway.

The living/cooking/eating quarters taken from the upstairs landing.

Snuggles with Grandma and a pile of stuffed bears
that came with the cabin.

The first of many story snuggles.

Callie especially loved to hang around her pal, Dray.  He was
so great to humor her by reading stories, too.

Now that's a mighty fine lookin' bunch o' Blanchards right there.
(In reverse age order, even: Laurel, Gregg, Ryan and Heather,
though I'm guessing that was unintentional.)

Shooting the breeze (and snacking on salads) while the steaks cook.

Twoo Wuv

Gregg got to eat at the "kid's table" the first night.

Let me just say right here that we ate like kings on this trip!

PJ party!  Grandma bought all the cousins and the moms
new Lazy One jammies.  (She figured, correctly, that the boys
wouldn't be as thrilled about "matching" pajamas as the rest of us.)

Cal's say "Born to be Wild".  Pretty accurate.
And darn cute!

Snuggles.  Awww.

Just a little Friday morning fruit-snacking (yes, it's a verb, and
yes, it's the one thing Cal brings up when we talk about the cabin:
"Cabin?! Eating fruit snacks!")  Note the new matching family
reunion shirts designed by our dear Gregg.  Look pretty sharp, I say.

Another morning view of the front door of the cabin.

The deck was equipped with two swings on extra
long chains - these were definitely a hit with the
younger crowd.

The littles gathering for a morning stroll down the road.

Can you handle the cuteness?

"Kage and Dray sit by you?"

Oh man, was she in heaven having two doting
cousins to entertain (and be entertained by)
her on our extra long journey into Yellowstone.

Hard to see in this pic, but the traffic was horrendous
getting into the park and beyond.  So we went slow.
And enjoyed the scenery.  And lack of animals.

Time for lunch at the Old Faithful parking lot.

And it's always time for snuggles with Grandma!

Just a little he-man tree lifting contest after lunch.

I think Cal has real potential here.

All seven cousins playing together in the fort.

Hitting a tree with sticks.  Must be a two-year-old thing.

Arm wrestling with Grandma - all kinds of feats of strength
happening here.

"Teeter-totter!"

Giggles from everyone.
(Note Elisabeth hanging on for dear life on the back.
Cracks me up!)

Of course we had to stop in to visit the Old
Faithful Inn.

Pretty impressive structure!

Waiting, waiting for Old Not-So-Faithful.

False start.  At least the clouds were great that day.

Lovely Inn.

And thar she blows!

Here are a few from Gregg's angle - he had walked around the
boardwalk with Cal in the stroller while she slept, so he got
a different view of the geyser.

Thar she blows!

I wandered around to meet him and had to snap
a few of the river.  I just love the colors in
Yellowstone!

Sleepy baby.  She slept for a good 40-45 minutes,
which is more than we hoped for, but obviously
not the ideal.  But you know your child is tired
when she asks to get in the stroller and lay down
for a nap.

Trying to get comfy.

Meeting up with the rest of the group before heading back "home".

That's Katie getting a piggy-back ride.

Bret has a couple helpers in the ice cream-making
department.

Friday was our turn to be in charge of dinner - and Friday means
pizza at our house.  So we whipped up a handful of Papa Murphy's
take-n-bakes and they were mighty fine indeed.

A common occurrence - I'm so glad our family loves to read
and be read to.

Hot tub party (day one)!

This pregnant momma liked these reclining chairs
on the deck.

Good mornin' stories.

Good mornin' corned beef hash (his mother
really does love him).

Lots of crafting went on during downtime.  Cal
is showing off her doorknob doo-dad, which came
in handy for making sure everyone knew whose room
was whose.

Coloring is always a hit.

We did a little nature scavenger hunt around the cabin.  Cal
didn't totally get it, but the older cousins rocked it!

Kims in stripes.

Saturday afternoon we found a nice, slow, shallow stretch of
the Buffalo River, accessed via a quiet little campground.
Turns out a momma and baby moose thought it was a great place
to hang out, too.

Gettin' a "yife jacket" on - Cal was so thrilled about
this adventure of riding in an actual boat!

Riding in a canoe-boat!  She did great, too, about sitting still and
enjoying the ride.

A lovely day in lovely country.

Time for another outing, this time with Uncle Ryan and Elisabeth.
(Katie joined, too, sitting on the floor.)

And they're off.

Grandma snuggles to get toasty warm.

Just a little game of Twister when we got back from the river.

Two-year-olds are definitely entertaining to watch attempting
this game.

Hot tubbing party (day two)!

And after the wee ones were in bed, we enjoyed
a lovely little campfire.

Complete with snack bar including all the fixin's for s'mores,
banana boats, cones, and, my favorite, homemade ice cream!

Sunday best.

All the girls got matching dresses in the springtime from Grandma
and Grandpa, and this was the perfect occasion to wear them
since we were all together for church.

Beautiful ballerinas.

After church we all changed into our BlanchHerd shirts again
and gathered on the deck for some family photographs (a must
of any reunion!).

Not a bad lookin' Herd.  Actually, this is one of the best pics
of this family that has ever been taken (in my humble opinion).
Good show, everyone!

After pics and lunch, we had some quiet-time activities.  Cal was
napping, so I had all her cousins help me decorate her new family
reunion commemorative pillow case.  They did a great job and
Callie loves it.

We pretty much had a 24-hour dessert bar going on.  This was one
of my contributions, and as you can see, it was a hit.
Peanut Butter S'mores Seven Layer Bars.  Oh yeah.

Some expert paper airplane makers, hard at work.

It's harder than you think to hit those targets below!

After naps and quiet time, we had a nice little family home evening,
complete with a song on the guitar, a game about our family, and
"skits" telling stories of how families can implement certain
values and traits.

Grandpa brought a cool new toy: a metal detector.  He and the kids
had a grand time discovering and digging up various metal
objects around the cabin.

We set up a little beauty parlor out back for all those interested
in a little mani-pedi.  (Notice Cohen was totally in on all the action
and he left with a lovely set of fire-engine red fingernails!)

One nail artist for each hand for Melia.  Nothing less, of course!

More swinging!

Two things to note in this photo: Yes, Minnie came along on the
trip - she is part of the family, after all.  And two - Cohen seems
to be admiring his lovely nails.  :)

An evening stroll around the "yoop".

Just a view of the deck from the side of the cabin - notice one of the
swings and the awesome two-sided fireplace (which we only used
one side - the inside - of).

Cal and Dray - best buds.  This was right before we all said
goodbye and headed our separate ways.

We decided to take the scenic byway on the way
home and made a little stop at Mesa Falls.

Cal thought the waterfall was cool.  As was the
rainbow.

"Look at mom and smile!"

Pretty impressive and beautiful!

Gotta pose by the snow pole.  Cal liked the numbers.

Two like Callie!

The inn at Mesa Falls - now a gift shop and museum.

And then it got really cloudy and threatened to rain on us while we ate a few snacks on the picnic tables in the parking lot.  The threat was good after we got in the car and got pounded on for quite a few miles.  Luckily that was the most exciting part of our trip home.  We sure had a great time and look forward to many more BlanchHerd gatherings in the future.