we just got back from friendunion 2013 in st george, utah, and boy, was it a blast! this year the mcconnel's were in charge, and everything turned out wonderfully!
back in february was when jenny started planning, and she decided to do it in st. george over labor day weekend. when you are working with six or seven different families to try and find a weekend that works for everyone, things get a little complicated. unfortunately we couldn't find a weekend that worked for everyone, so the walker's and ferrell's couldn't make it this year. we were bummed, but are hopeful that next year we'll find a weekend that works for everyone. i was a little worried that st george at the end of august/beginning of september would still be extremely hot. it was hot, but nothing we haven't been experiencing here all summer long, so we were fine. plus, the house we rented had a swimming pool, so that made those hot days a lot more bearable. :)
i was really worried about how the kids would do on the car ride down and back, but both did wonderfully. why am i always so surprised?? seriously, my kids are the best. :) all i can say is, thank goodness for the iPad. seriously don't know what we'd do without it. finn played games and watched sesame street (the same 2 episodes, mind you) for the entire time he was awake. he did sleep for about an hour and half, there and back. both times he fell asleep with the sucker in his hand! magic sleeping pill, lol. ;)
our time was spent eating, napping, watching movies, playing games, swimming eating, shopping (the girls) and golfing (the boys). the girls went to tuachan one night and saw mary poppins, and one of the days we all went to a neat splash pad. besides that, things were pretty low key. it's funny how, no matter where we are, we always end up doing the same things. sorta makes you wonder why we travel as far as we do to get together, huh? but it's so fun being in new places, and plus i love the idea of looking back years from now, rattling off all the different locations we've gone on our friendunions.
things are definitely bound to get a little crazy with five toddlers and two babies. and that's not even counting when the spencer's were hanging out! add little miss harper to the mix and that's six toddlers, all in one house! we had two black eyes in our first 24 hours there! but you just learn to embrace the chaos and accept that memories of these weekends spent together are priceless, and what will keep our friendships strong in the years to come. it was fun to watch all the kids play together. we had four 2-year-olds. can you san tantrums?! haha actually they all did pretty great, and played together much better than i expected. i'm sure they all picked up some naughty habits from one another (a few that lance and i are doing our hardest to nip in the bud, asap!) but i suppose that can't be avoided amongst toddlers. :) crazy to think that next year there will be one more (that we know of) added to the mix - mary is pregnant with her third, due the beginning of february! woo hoo.
i feel so blessed to have these friendships, and to know that we all go out of our way to make this weekend happen every year. like i said, it definitely isn't easy when you're working with so many crazy schedules, so i'm so grateful that these families sacrifice to make it work. next year, hopefully the walkers and ferrell's will be able to come too.
i'm already looking forward to friendunion 2014. :)
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