1st Ever Blake & Diana Purcell Family Reunion

Over a year ago, Cindy started telling us that we needed to have a reunion with just our family in 2013 when Jared came home.  She started planning and we decided to have it in Michigan near her home. 

It kind of happened in 3 parts, so I'll start with Part I.

Part I

Friday, July 19

Blake and I got on a plane in Salt Lake City, then landed in Cleveland and rented a minivan and headed for Erie.  Randy, Courtney and Jared loaded up in the red Escape and started driving east, stopping in Adair, Iowa for the night.

Maden waited up for us, can't get enough of those hugs!

Saturday, July 20

Randy, Courtney and Jared continued on their trek east and made in to Cindy's new house.

We got acquainted with Annie again.  It didn't take her very long to warm up to us.

We went for a ride, I guess Maden wanted to make sure that it didn't rain in the car.

We went to a house that has a big blueberry patch, can you see Celia and Blake picking blueberries?

Can you see Annie's 2 little teeth?

Happy kids.

Brian had been having some trouble with his white Escape, but it finally gave up the ghost, it was parked in front of the blueberry patch. A guy came and loaded it up on the truck to take it to the junk yard.  Kind of sad to see the car Brian got when he was a senior go.

We went to Cici's Pizza Buffet for lunch. Maden and Grandpa got to play some air hockey.

We did a little exploring in the river that runs in front of their house.

We played in the yard, Maden and I even measured a tree.

Celia and I attempted a little photo shoot with Maden, he was much more interested in climbing on the rocks.

Then we tried to snap a few shots with me and the kids, it was pretty funny actually. We did get some that are ok.

Happy Annie girl.

Later on, we went to Krispy Kreme, and to Rita's for some treats,  YUM!

Sunday, July 21

We went to church, then just hung out with Brian, Celia, Maden and Annie.

We played a little baseball and hugged those cute kids!

Part II

Monday, July 22

We loaded up in the van and headed for Cindy's. Brian had to stay in Erie and go to school, but the rest of us headed out. Cindy had reserved a Chalet on the Lake in Stevensville, so while we were driving, they got us all checked in.  Maden called it the triangle house.  Sadly, I didn't even get any pictures of it. Celia, Maden, Annie and Blake and I stayed in the Chalet. Cindy, Ken, Sydney, Randy, Courtney and Jared stayed at Cindy's house.

The van had a DVD player, Annie had to crank her neck to find the screen, and Maden loved watching Mickey Mouse! They were such good little travelers!

We arrived at Cindy's house, and had the grand tour of her wonderful new home.  It is beautiful! Then we went to Silver Beach Pizza!

It's the best pizza ever! Just typing this makes my mouth water!

Jared and Annie get to meet for the first time!

There's a spray park on Silver Beach that Syd, Maden, Courtney and even Annie got a little wet. Maden loved it! His shorts wouldn't stay up after he got wet, but that didn't stop him one bit.

Maden loves my Ipad, and it looks like Annie might too!

There were tennis courts at our Chalet, so Cindy, Blake, Randy, and Jared and got some good playing time in. 

Tuesday, July 23

We went to Cindy's for breakfast, then some more tennis time. Cindy had planned a beach day for us, too bad the weather wasn't exactly good beach day weather. But we had fun anyway.

You can see how windy it is! Syd loves Annie, I think because their hair is almost the same color! Annie loved the sand.

Here we are just hanging out in the sand and wind. Jared was growling and coming to get Annie.

Maden and Grandpa dug a deep hole.

The wind made for some pretty big waves. Randy, Jared and Syd played in the waves for a long time.

They found another use for the boogie boards, I think Jared is confused with sand and snow!

We went back to Cindy's and did a water balloon and sidewalk chalk activities. Then Cindy cooked a nice meal for us, then we watched a movie.

Wednesday, July 24

After breakfast and some more tennis, we loaded up and went to Saugatuck, MI for a Dune buggy ride. They didn't allow babies, so Annie and I went shopping instead. They  all loved the Dune ride and would do it again.

We had to wait a little while for our turn on the ride, so we had a little picnic, played some hide and seek, Maden got some airplanes rides from Jared. I took this opportunity to get a family photo of Cindy's family.

The dune vehicle!

Looks like all the smiles mean they are having fun! See the photo bombers behind Cindy and Jared?

They got out and played in the sand for a bit.

I took a few snap shots of Annie sitting in the zebra chair in Syd's room, and in front of the triangle house. Isn't she just the cutest little thing?

We went to this wonderful Italian Restaurant owned by Ken's friend. The food was divine! Maden and Courtney had fun playing with the papers off the napkins!

After dinner, the boys went fishing in the little pond by the Chalet.  There were just little tiny fish, but they had fun catching them and throwing them back into the pond.

Part III

Thursday, July 25

Everyone except Ken loaded up in 3 cars and headed for Erie.  It's about a 6 hour drive.

Syd joined us in the van for the trek to Erie. The kids were all really good for the drive. 

When we got to Erie, we saw the hot light was on at Krispy Kreme, so we stopped in for some more donuts.

Reunited with Brian!

Somehow all of my four kids had blue shirts on, and somehow Cindy skipped out of the picture!

More tennis time! Celia got to go this time, but she had to take the picture! Courtney, Syd and I stayed home and got the kids ready for bed.

We all stayed at Brian and Celia's house, it worked just fine for the 11 of us. We didn't even fight over the one shower.

Friday, July 26

The boys went and played some more tennis in the morning. Then they had a race up and down the hill.  Everyone was so nice to allow some time for some group pictures. I know they hate that, but they all behaved very nicely! Then we went to Texas Roadhouse, and to the mall then we went to an indoor water park and finally to Rita's.

The race up and down the steep hill. Jared claims he won the race. Funny thing, Randy didn't run up the hill, just met Brian as he came down and ran with him then, making it look like he ran the whole time.

We went out and tested some picture taking areas. This is all in Brian and Celia's yard, it's like living in the woods.

You may notice some stubble on Blake's beard, well, his shaver was not charged and he didn't bring his cord, so he didn't shave very much. I guess it's the rustic look.

More trial shots.

The 4 Purcell kids all together again! Pretty funny that oldest to youngest is also shortest to tallest.

There's proof in this picture that my red Escape made it to Erie. Pretty nice looking people, love their smiles.

Just us and our kids.

The whole group. Not too bad for an Iphone on a timer and tripod. All that's wrong is that Ken is not there.

Blake and I and our cute grandkids!  I love being a Grandma!

Brian's cute little family.

Randy and Courtney

Cindy wanted to document that Syd is NOT taller than her yet, and some snapshots we had fun with.

Splash Lagoon, Erie, PA.  Sorry about the blurry pictures! We had a great time at Splash Lagoon.  There were 6 big slides, a lazy river, wave pool, and lots of kiddy pools. Maden even went on 2 big slides. Annie had a nap on Grandpa in the lazy river.

Saturday, July 27

Blake and the boys went fishing on Lake Erie. The weather was bad, windy and rainy making real big waves. They caught some fish though. The girls and Maden went to Presque Isle to the Beach. We didn't know they were having some kind of celebration there and got to see some really cool sand sculptures. Then we went to lunch at a fun little diner.  The boys made dinner from the fish they caught, it was really good.

The big fishing experience. They witnessed a beautiful sunrise over the lake. They caught 4 or 5 Walleyes. The green dot on the land is where I am at Brian's house, the other green dot is where the boys are on Lake Erie. Yes, the bottom picture of Randy is what you think it is, the big waves didn't make him feel so good.

Here we are at beach 8 on Presque Isle, turning Courtney into a mermaid. There was this half car at the diner that was a perfect photo op.

Sunday, July 28

Cindy and Syd left about 9am to head for home. The rest of us went to church, then just hung out at Brian and Celia's house. Blake, Brian, Randy, Jared and Maden went for a walk in the river, they saw some fish and frogs.  The time together was winding down, and people were already leaving. That is the hard part of reunions, when they have to end!

Playing Uno with Maden. How many people can fit in one recliner?

Ended the night with some good laughs and a game of Egyptian Rat Screw.

Monday, July 29

Blake and I flew home, getting home about 9:45 pm.  Randy, Courtney and Jared stayed at Brian's Monday night and headed for Cindy's on Tuesday. They stayed at Cindy's Tuesday night and headed west on Wednesday, they stopped in Cheyenne, WY for the night and came the rest of the way on Thursday, Aug. 1.

It was a fun filled 10 days, I'm like Maden and wish it could have been 100 days. Thanks, Cindy for planning this reunion! I'm sure glad everyone could make it! Family is the most important thing to me! I love you all!