The Eyler Family Reunion 8-22-10

Yesterday we attended the Eyler Family Reunion in Rocky Ridge, MD. Before we started holding the reunion here, we held it at a park in Taneytown, MD where I provided children's games. With the reunion held at Rocky Ridge, there is no need for children's games because the park provides enough fun of it's own!

The main attraction is this large wooden slide. We had heard that someone recently received a large splinter from using the slide, paramedics had to be called! We feared the slide would be closed! We were thrilled when we pulled into the parking lot and saw that it was open!

Bryson and AshtonKenzie

Kaden

My niece Jennifer and her youngest son Logen.

Kaden enjoys the horse swings just as much as the giant slide!

Brady

Kassie

Kaden and Ashton on the large merry-go-round.

Brady has a talk with Nan Nan, Dale's mother.

Kassie and Nan Nan discuss art and music.

Brady has a chat with Uncle Jesse, the brother to Dale's father.

At the end of the afternoon while cleaning up, Dale's Aunt Rosy gave us the leftover foods she had brought. She said it was only her at home and it wouldn't get eaten. It was the same for others who also gave us their food! I came home with more food than what I brought... lots of hot dogs chopped up into a special sauce, 13 hot dog rolls, 77 hamburger rolls, pasta salad, two packs of unopened cookies, 34 Little Debbie snacks, and lots of individual serving size bags of chips! This Wednesday when school starts I'll be packing seven lunches a day, I now have a good supply to get me started!

More work at Dad's

Today Ashton and Avery went with me to Dad's house where we met up with my two older brothers Mike and Dave. Ashton and Avery spend three hours matching Dad's Ertls with their boxes, and the job is still not done! I spent a few minutes going through some kitchen drawers, but most of our time was spent cleaning out the garage, carrying things down from the garage attic, burning papers and boxes in the burn barrel and piling larger burn items into a pile at the edge of the garden to be burned later. I found a bag of letters written to my grandmother back in the early 20's when she was still single. I brought them home to go through. They should be interesting to read! Next Saturday we meet at Dad's again. Our plan? The basement!

Just me and Dale

On Dale's last day of vacation (Friday, August 20th) before beginning his new job, we decided to spend some time together, just the two of us. We started out at TGI Fridays for lunch. We both ordered the all-you-can-eat soup, salad and bread sticks with free appetizer. The salad was nothing special, but everything else was DELICIOUS! I really liked my tomato and basil soup. The bread sticks were good, but became REALLY good dipped in my soup! The appetizer was homemade chips with dip... yummy! After lunch we drove to down town Gettysburg and walked the streets of town stopping in the little shops and museums. I especially enjoyed the scrapbooking store, and found a few bargains there! By late afternoon we were hot and thirsty, so we stopped at McDonald's. Dale tried a strawberry banana fruit smoothie and I got a diet soda. After that it was more walking, and a yard sale before going home. What an enjoyable afternoon! Dale and I got to talk without interruptions, walk without being held back and just enjoy each other's company!

A day at the Fair

As a child my parents took us to the fair each summer. My father would enter produce and flowers from his garden under the names of my brothers and me. My children have never been to the fair. Since Dale had off work this week, the week of the fair, we decided to take them.
There was a man on stilts at the fair when I was a child too!

Kenzie, Ashton, Kaden, Kassie, Dale and I took a wagon ride while Brady, Bryson and Avery walked the fair grounds.

Bryson gets his gear on.

Bryson, Kenzie and Avery spent some of their own money to climb the rock climbing wall.

Kenzie wore flip flops to the fair so she and I switched shoes so she could climb the wall.

Avery, waiting his turn.

A large chunk of our time was spent watching the horse pulling contest. Kaden was bored with that after ten minutes, so we had to take turns walking around the fair with him.

After a couple of hours Uncle Sam traded his stilts in for a monkey. The monkey took a quarter from Kaden's hand, gave him a high five and "kissed" him on the nose!

I ran into Mr. Carver, a friend of the family that I hadn't seen in many years. I also ran into my mother's cousin and his wife, Mike and Lisa, who I also have not seen in years. The fair seemed much bigger to me as a child, perhaps it was. It was still enjoyable. On the way home we stopped at McDonald's to get ice cream cones. We had already spent enough money at the fair, so decided to save a little by getting our evening treat elsewhere.