Griffeth Family Reunion...A week at the Lake

Six years ago a tradition was started...one week at a Lake with the entire Griffeth Family. Six years ago there were 9 adults and 2 children. This summer there were 8 adults and 8 children (we were missing Grant, Alyssa and Olivia). Every summer we seem to grow in numbers and every summer we add a new element of fun to our family traditions. Last week was our annual Griffeth Family Reunion at Lake Wedowee and as always there was good food, lots of games, lots of time in the Lake, lots of time in the pool, and of course lots of laughter and fun. My kiddos look forward to this week all year long. It is so fun to see cousins that we don't get to see very often and to spend an entire week enjoying their company. It is also fun to see how everyone has grown since the last year and the new dynamics a year in growth can make. For example, this year Trey and Nate got along great and were best buds most of the week. Here are some of the highlights in pictures:

Wes got the award for best spills during the week (this is him biffing it while tubing, he also biffed it with Nate on the tube, and finally he totally drank lake showing off on the kneeboard)

Yep, that is me skiing! Not only did I ski, but I kneeboarded for the first time successfully!

Grandpa and Adison were pals on the golf cart

Wes striking a pose before biffing it!

Kendal also kneeboarded for the first time! You go girl!

Bayley kneeboarding...she is definitely a lake junkie!

Trey on the boat...he preferred the jet ski rides the most last week. He love jumping the big waves that the boat provided!

Jeff and Adison...I wish they made infant life jackets more comfortable. She loved it as long as the boat was moving.

Kendal enjoying smore night!

Nate showing off his marshmellow face!

Bayley and Wes tubing!

Grandma "G" reading bedtime stories to grandkids.The babies were very patient with the rest of us.
Spencer and Spence at the wheel of the boat!

Family Fun

It has been a fun and exciting couple of weeks. Besides the end of the school year activities, we have also incorporated a couple of trips and lots of fun activities into our schedule. The highlight had to be skipping the last day of school and heading to the beach for a couple of days of fun in the sun. We made it just in time to miss the oil and were actually able to enjoy both the beach and the water. We had a great time playing in the sand and the ocean, but when we tired of those we were able to enjoy the nice pool at our hotel. One afternoon we took the kids out to try putt-putt golf for their first times. It was hilariously fun. Bayley was actually pretty good while acting too cool for the sport, Kendal was competitive as usual, and Trey was stubbornly determined to do it his own way. The phrase of the day was "sign him/her up" if someone did a good job on a particular hole. Trey would finish and say "am I ready to be signed up???". So funny. Adison loved the sand and did a very good job of playing in it and not eating it. She only ran into problems when she wanted to rub her eyes, which suprisingly was not very often. We had a great time and enjoyed a couple of fun days together as a family.

After one day at home so that we could go to church, we spent Memorial Day at Lake Wedowee with Grandma and Grandpa "G". We took a couple of different tubes out and enjoyed the lake while the weather was good. And of course, when we were playing in the lake or the pool we were playing games, which is always fun!

To cover some of the other stuff we have been up to I will do a quick update on each of the kids.

Bayley

Bayley finished up an excellent school year. She finished with straight A's and made the honor roll. She will miss her great third grade teacher, but is looking forward to moving up to 4th grade! The last week of school she also had her first piano recital. She did an excellent job playing "Recess Rock" and "Old MacDonald Had to Rock". She has learned a lot in a short amount of time. Yesterday was Bayley's dance recital. She performed in 3 dances as part of the mini-dance team and did an excellent job. Watching her perform you can tell that she really enjoys being on stage...maybe she doesn't always like practicing, but she does like when everything comes together. She will try to keep busy this summer reading books....her goal is to read 10,000 pages this summer. We've signed up for every reading program known to man...as if she needs motivation to read???

Kendal

Kendal completed a great kindergarten year. She had an excellent teacher who absolutely adored her. Funny story about Kendal....as part of her school's field day activities each class chose 2 boys and 2 girls (supposedly the fastest) to represent their class in the "Top Gun Run" for their grade. Kendal was chosen to represent her class. During the week leading up to the race she was nervous about coming in last during her race. Now as a side note, Kendal is a pretty fast runner when she wants to be. However, she is easily distracted and sometimes spends more time looking around then running. So our advice to her was just to do her best, not quit, and try to run without looking around so much. Well, she came home from Field Day as the "Top Gun Runner" for kindergarten girls in her school...She WON! She was so excited. I guess kindergarten was the first race of the day (they race in front of the whole school) and as she ran towards the finish line people were chanting her name! She too is spending a lot of time reading this summer. She wants to catch up with her sister so badly and be able to read big chapter books, but I have to remind her often that Bayley didn't begin reading big books, but had to start out with shorter chapter books before she moved onto the big books. I love that she wants to and is now able to read.

Trey

Trey is enjoying having his sisters home during the day. They both read to him and play with him (most of the time). Occasionally he will complain that they are not including him and his feeling are genuinely hurt. Sometimes its hard to be a boy among so many girls. He has picked up right where he left off as far as swimming. He loves the water and during our beach vacation made many people nervous while we were at the pool. Under my watchful eye, he would occasionally wander to the deeper end to jump into the pool. One particular time he was getting ready to jump in and I watched two ladies stop him and ask him if he knew how to swim. When he said yes, they weren't sure whether to believe him or not, but then he jumped. I think they were surprised that he did just fine. Now for a funny Trey story. During our recent visit to the lake, we talked Trey into trying one of the tubes all by himself....which was a huge step, because until recently he didn't really even like to go tubing. Well, with this particular tube if you don't lean back during "take-off" the tube goes forward and you will end up drinking some lake water. Well, I took off with him holding on for dear life and sure enough he flipped over and ended up in the lake. He was so mad!!! He was screaming and crying and hitting the water. So as I drove up to get him out of the water, I yelled to him "That was so cool...how did you do that?" By the time we hit the dock, he had forgotten how mad he was and thought he was pretty tought stuff for doing a "trick" on the tube. Funny, funny, boy.

Adison

Adison is 8 months old! She is still a funny little girl and every day we get another glimpse into her blossoming personality. She is starting to open up a little more to new faces and will actually smile at other people other than her immediate family. She has learned how to clap and just started to figure out waving bye-bye this week. She is a pretty picky eater and will not open up if she doesn't like what is offered. There is no talking her into it either. She has learned how to drink out of a straw and a sippy cup and loves to drink all of the time. She still isn't a mover...not that I'm complaining, but is getting more brave everyday with how far she is willing to stretch to reach something. Still no teeth...again, not complaining. Overall, Adison is a great sport with tagging along and going with the flow of our busy lives.

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Fun, fun stuff. We love summer and are enjoying every minute.