Family Reunion in Alabama

In early June, we headed out to Granny's house in Alabama for the Nelson Family Reunion. We were there from Thursday to Monday. It was a short visit, but we all had a great time. It was nice to be able to see extended family members who we hadn't seen since Skinja was a baby.

Playing on the swing in Granny and Grumpa's yard

Even Daddy had to get in on the fun!

Of course, all the kiddos just wanted to go swimming. And, they loved every minute of it, even when they started turning purple because it was still cool.

The first day of the reunion we went to the Tiffin factory where they build RVs. It was neat to see all the work that goes into one of those colossal things.

The chassis and engine of one before anything is put on it. This is how they come to the factory, and the workers build and put together pretty much every little piece of it.

Some of the finished ones.

Pateetee was pretty tired and ended up falling asleep.

Most of the group

Three of my loves. :)

She really wanted to get her picture taken, and I couldn't pass it up.

That's all of us! (Well, all of us who were able to go.)

I had to post these two pictures because it amused me how different the signs look. I don't know if that tells you anything about those states, but it makes me smile. ;)

Love this little man! I think he was singing.

My big girl!

More swimming

Trying to warm up and dry off after a couple hours of swimming

Visiting and just lounging around

See how her lips are purple? That's because the water was still pretty cool, but there was no way to keep them out of it. 

My little miss being silly.

She was making faces at her reflection in the bumper. It was pretty amusing!

I like this picture of Pateetee and Great-Grandma Ruby. She says Grandma Ruby, and I just think it is so sweet.

On our way to another tourist destination, we saw this procession of horse drawn buggies driving down the highway and thought it was pretty neat. The kiddos love animals!

This is a lock dam that we went to see. We thought we were going to be able to go on a tour, but they don't do tours anymore. So, instead, Granny told us about it and then we went to have a picnic lunch.

After lunch, all the kiddos were able to go play in the splash pad next to where we had been eating. They had fun, but none of them had clothes to change into or towels.

So, this is how they tried to dry out and warm up.

After drying off for a little but, we all decided to go on the mini train that was in the park.

Love Grandpa's face in this picture!

Then we headed over to Ivy Green, the birthplace and home of Helen Keller. I found this place particularly fascinating because I remember reading about Helen Keller. She was an amazing woman, and I am still astounded at how she was able to learn all that she learned despite being both deaf and blind. I cannot imagine being without one of those senses, let alone both of them. Her's is truly an inspiring story!

Love this giant tree!

The small house where Helen and her teacher, Anne Sullivan lived most of the time while at Ivy Green.

A paper Helen wrote

I like this picture for two reasons. One, Skinja looks amazing when he is running! And two, I like the perspective of the grounds and the house. The property is only 10 acres now, but it used to be 640 acres.

The tradition of the family auction to help raise money for the next reunion. I think almost everyone will agree that this is probably the best part of the reunion! ;)

Great pic of Grandpa with his new hat

It's a blurry family pic, but it's the only one we have.

Three generation pic

It was a great time, and we are excited for the next reunion in two years!