Rebecca, Felicia, and Karina joked that a Buffington family reunion isn't complete until we leave with physical AND emotional scars.
I don't know if anyone left with emotional scars, but my nephew Caleb might have a few physical ones after the nasty fall he took on his bike. When it comes to physical scrapes, I *think* I may have come in second at this reunion. While chasing Lily (who happened to be caked in poo after soiling her swimmer), I ran smack into the door frame and gave myself a good scrape (yes, my grace defies all logic - my mother really should get a refund on all those years of ballet lessons) - bad enough that everyone the next few days kept asking, "What happened to your face?" There was poo, there were tears, it was a great motherhood moment.
Mostly, it was just good to spend time with family and see everyone again. I had such a good time watching my girls run around and remembering all the camping trips we spent up at Tony Grove Lake. It was fun to see my girls making memories of their own.
At one point, we took the kids to the community pool. I was watching Ally and Lily play in the kiddy section and just gazing at my Lily's profile as she played. I am overwhelmed with the responsibilities of motherhood most days, but I live for little moments like that where I can just appreciate how beautiful, unique and capable she is.
Ally had a great time chasing the iguanas, who she all named "Buddy." She made me laugh when we first got to the campsite, though. I had told her that we were going to see Grandma and Grandpa, but I think she is used to seeing my parents (on Skype). After a 3 hour plane ride, spending the night at Aunt Amy's, a 6ish hour drive to Cottonwood, AZ we finally arrived and I said, "There's Grandpa, go give him a hug." She got scared, ran behind the car and exclaimed, "He looks different!!" I guess so.
I explained that she has two grandpas and I think we got it sorted it out now :)
Singing on long the car ride:
Finally! Both girls in the water:
Popsicle at Aunt Amy's:
On a side note:
Thank-you to Aunt Amy for letting us stay at your house. Thank-you Aunt Peggy for the cabins. Thank-you Grandma Debby and Grandpa Tom for the wonderful reunion. Thank-you to Sandy and Steve and Rhonda and Dan and everyone who gave us food. And thinking back to all the fun trips I took as a kid, thank-you to my mom and dad for driving us to Utah faithfully each summer and giving us such wonderful vacations and memories. And for not killing us on the 24+ hour drive.
