4th Annual Wine Family Weekend

Not sure if there is a better combo than 30+ family members and a wine tasting weekend... especially with this family!
First of all I have to give photo credit to Teri... She was great about having her camera all weekend and gave this tired mama a break from busily capturing all of Bennett's magic moments :)

Thursday morning Bennett's dreams came true and his cousin Lily rolled into the driveway and we packed up the expedition to spend the whole weekend away with family. To say that Bennett loves his cousin Lily would be an understatement. He was so delighted she was in the car with us, he wouldn't even close his eyes on the 5 hour drive to Richland (even when Lily was zonked). The kids were nearly perfect all the way over and Bennett was even more excited to be at "lily's Grandma's" house. We had a relaxing afternoon of sitting on the back deck and visiting with family and taking turns taking Bennett over by the pond to see the fish and make sure he doesn't go swimming with them. I am pretty sure he told everyone about the shark he found in the pond about a million times.

On Friday morning our friends Shannon, Hadley and Jameson came from Walla Walla to spend some time with our family. It was so awesome of them to come visit and of course they fit right in with the family. The kids immediately ripped all their clothes off and we playing in the sprinkler like crazy!

Joel and my parents came in Friday night as well as about 30 family members.It was a fun night that ended with a movie night for the kids and a sleepy mama!

Saturday morning we packed up to hit the wineries. Grandpa Jones stayed back to help with the kids and Joel and I loved the free time to spend with the adults! And it was even more enjoyable when we got home and Bennett had taken a 2 hour nap with Grandpa (this mama was a bit shocked that grandpa pulled this off... well done dad!)

It was another fun night of fabulous food, hilarious family and even a competitive croquet tournament that lasted into the dark. The kids all had a "slumber party" upstairs (well until I finally caved at 11 pm to giggling kids that were no where near sleeping and took the little one to bed)

Most family reunions sound like a drag but I must say our family is not one of those families... everyone is so fun and close, I truly appreciate what a great extended family we have grown. I love that Bennett will grow up around such great people! I know we will have this weekend for years to come... we so look forward to it!