Pioneer Day weekend

For many years, even before I married into the family, husband’s mom put together a great weekend to celebrate Pioneer Day.  She loved watching the Days of 47 Parade and always put together a day at the lake with her siblings and all of their kids so the cousins could spend time together.  In the ten years we have been married, we’ve gone to the lake every year and the parade almost every year.

Last year, she and I sat together watching the runners as they came down the route, eager to finish the last two miles of their races and formulated a plan.  Her and I would drive down together early.  She would stake out a spot for the family on the parade route while I ran the half marathon. 

Unfortunately of course, none of us knew how fast we would lose her.

As summer approached, the cousins began to talk, wondering about our annual get together.  So I tentatively spearheaded.  I didn’t want to lose the opportunity, just because we didn’t try.  And so we celebrated.

Early (very ridiculously early) on the morning of July 24^th, I drove down the canyon and met my cousin and running partner at the finish line.  We left my car there and drove to the start together.  It was our first race together in ages (despite the fact that he introduced me to Ragnar) and I loved it.  We talked nonstop until the race started and throughout our run together.  We had elected to do the 10K, rather than the half marathon, realizing that we were both undertrained.  We enjoyed the sweeping downhill and then made our way down the parade route.  The parade was hours away but crowds were already gathering and cheering us on.  It was a great atmosphere and fun, happy energy.  We finished in 57 minutes, just barely over our 9min/mile goal.  We celebrated briefly at the finish line and wandered back to my car.  He helped me stake out a parade viewing spot for my family and then we retrieved his car before he had to go.  I stretched and lounged in the sunshine for almost an hour, holding down our spot as the street became more and more crowded.  Then I was joined by husband and my cute kids, plus one of my best friends and her family.  The kids were delighted to see each other and the adults got to talk and catch up.  The parade was great, the kids bounced around playing and watching, declaring favorites and devouring treats.  After it was over, we made our way to a nearby Chili’s to have lunch together, extending and enjoying our time together.

We made it home for some quick packing and readying for the rest of our fun weekend.  We went to Grandpa’s house, thrilled that my brother in law’s family had already arrived and the girls all immediately disappeared to play.  We shared some gifts from our anniversary trip, coffee and vanilla.  And then came the best part.  We employed the girls to help us, lining up the five granddaughters in order by age.  Then, while Grandpa had his eyes closed, we gave each of the girls a wooden letter.  Their five letters, plus the sixth letter that I held, spelled out our last name.   They shouted for Grandpa to open his eyes and he took in the girls spelling out our last name, including the sixth and final letter that I held, with a little note declaring “due March 2016”.  The adults celebrated our announcement and then we slowed down to explain it to our kids.  They are so excited! And terrible at keeping it a surprise so they have spread the word quickly.  We lined up the letters again, this time with husband, myself, our three girls and the sixth letter sitting on a chair.  This adorable picture is how we announced to my parents and other family.  It perfect captures the girls, L grinning, A smirking and E mischievously holding her letter upside down.

For the rest of the evening, the kids ran amuck while the adults visited.  We feasted on lasagna that I had made and Grandpa stayed up late to bake pies.  We camped in Grandpa’s backyard sleeping in tents, much to the kids delight.  They eagerly settled in and we slept fairly well.

We spent the morning lounging and playing.  My SIL and I stayed with the kids while the adults visited the cemetery and then we headed for the lake.  It was very casual and relaxed.  Mom always planned games and activities but this year we were a smaller group so we just let the kids play.  Husband and my BIL took the kids out in the kayaks which they loved.  They got to fly kites and feast on treats.  The beach was too rocky for sand castles but they made games of the rocks all the same.  Once it turned more windy, we gathered our stuff and went back to Grandpa’s house.  That evening we were joined by more of the cousins for a big bbq and spent a wonderful evening together, sharing our news and catching up on each other. 

Eventually, the party trickled away.  The five granddaughters watched a bedtime movie to settle them down while the adults got to talk.  Grandpa had collected rock polishing equipment for each of his kids and we talked tentatively about a family trip for this fall.  It’s been planned and postponed a few times but now seems like a great opportunity to go.  We camped in the backyard again, cuddling our babies in the tent.

And after breakfast, we said good bye to cousins, happy with the busy and fun weekend spent together.