Smith-Gabbart Tahoe Reunion

We went to Hawaii with our family friends the Gabbarts in 1997.

We were a good looking group then, but look at us 19 years later.

We had overlapping family reunions at Lake Tahoe last week.

Our combined families had 8 new babies in the past year.

Add them to the 11 older siblings and we have a pretty big group: 19 kids and 18 adults. The kids out numbered us, but just barely.

(If you counted you will notice that there are twelve kids in the pictures of the 11 siblings.  Lucy got in both pictures because she is the oldest of the 8 babies and can walk)

Their parents are a pretty terrific group of people and we love every one of them.

An evening at Tahoe

Rosie and Jay and kids stopped by on their way to a roommate reunion and we got to spend a fun day with them on Saturday.  The weather cooperated and we spent the evening with them and the Gabbarts at Sand Harbor.  

Visiting Lake Tahoe was always a fun thing for our families to do, and now another generation of Smith/Gabbarts, the Wrights and Mulliners are sharing the fun with their kids.

Rosie and Kelly were about the age of their daughters when they first met.  They grew up to be two beautiful women. 

Now they are sharing the fun with their kids.  Jimmy and Vivian get acquainted.

Jimmy gets a taste of Tahoe sand.

Alice looking good in a retro suit

And one more of these wonderful mothers.

A weekend visit with Sarah and Nick

Sarah and Nick made a second trip to Reno in June for her 20th high school reunion.  That is a long trip to make with an 8 month old, but we were so glad they came.  The first event of her reunion was a Reno Aces game, and since it was such a nice evening the rest of us came along.

Nick is apparently not a baseball fan.  Sarah showed him off to her friends then he cried for about an hour and then I took him home where he immediately fell asleep.

We had a lot of cousin time, it was fun watching a seven month old and and eight month old interact.

They meet

they retreat to separate corners and think about it

Nick decides to check out Sylvan's teeth... yes two on the bottom just like me.

Standing tall...with a little help

Nick in despair because Sarah is taking a shower.

All better

 Hanging out in the backyard.  It is amazing how difficult it is to get 5 people to open their eyes at the same time.

Nick showing off his toe sucking skills

Sylvan showing off his new teeth

What a great family we have.

Lake Tahoe June 2016

When the weather was a little warmer than it is today we had a couple of fun days on Lake Tahoe.  Thursday we took the kayak out to our usual beach.  It was an especially pretty day. This is my view as we headed out of Sand Harbor.

This is my favorite Calvin picture when we are kayaking, taken by putting the camera on the top of my head and hoping I get him. It almost always works.

Calvin usually just looks at the back of my head, but this is what I see in the front. Just beautiful.

The next day we met Peter, Roque and Sylvan at the lake for an evening sail.  It was Sylvan's first sail and he seemed to like it. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether he likes it or not.

Calvin loves sailing all the time.

Up close with nature

A few days ago Calvin was getting ready to go on a bike ride when he came in and said "Come quickly and see this."

I would  have been just as happy not to see this very long gopher snake. It is harmless, and probably eats rodents, but I was not thrilled when slithered under the closed garage door.  For all I know he is still living in the garage somewhere.  I took a number of photos of the snake when Calvin said "Hey I'm better looking that that snake."  So I took his picture and he is better looking.

Puerto Morelos May 2016

We recently spent a week in Puerto Morelos where we didn't do much of anything but relax by the pool and on the beach.  It is a lovely town with lots of great places to eat.  We've been to this area of the Mayan Riviera a number of times, so we didn't do a lot of sight seeing.  We did visit the Popol vuh cenote.  It wasn't the cenote we were originally going to visit, but when we couldn't find the first one we took the next cenote available.  Calvin loves cenotes, I'm a little less enamored with them but I did dip my toes in.

Calvin explored it more thoroughly and then tried the zip line.

We looked at the top 10 things to do in Puerto Morales and visiting a spa was right at the top of the list so we tried something new and had a spa day complete with steam room, mud rub, milk bath and massage.  It was a VERY nice spa, completely outdoors, but I think Calvin will want to go to the spa all the time after that experience. 

My number one thing to do in the Mayan Riviera is to visit Tulum beach and have lunch in a palapa restaurant. I love that beach.

Calvin loves a palapa lunch

I even took a couple of exploration walks along the beach, but not quite as many as Calvin.

Not a bad way to spend a week in May.

Alexandria May 2016

We visited the Bordelons in Alexandria earlier this month. We went to attend the christening of Nick and Sarah and Toby's convalidation, but as usual we did a lot of other things while we were there. Friday we all went across the river to National Harbor.  It was a rainy day, so we didn't spend a lot of time there, but we had lunch and rode the giant Ferris Wheel.

It was pretty rainy but Nick didn't mind when he was snuggled up with Sarah.

After lunch Sarah and I went with Clare to ballet and Calvin and Garrett played trains and trucks. We came home a delicious dinner that Toby cooked for the assembled Bordelon/Smith extended families.

Saturday we started out with two soccer games and then a there was a trip to the park for Clare and Garrett while Sarah and I got pedicures.

And after all that fun we headed to the church for Sarah and Toby's convalidation ceremony, which was a very nice renewal of vows and they still looked like happy newly weds after nearly nine years.

This was followed by Nick's christening, where Nick's cries might have outdone Alice's at her blessing.

Dan Higginson was Nick's godfather and he made a one day trip from New Jersey for the event. He showed off a little baby handling experience and announced that he and Margot are expecting their second son later this year.

Sunday we took a walk in a nature preserve along the Potomac.  Clare and Garret are intrepid hikers and adventurers.  It was a great place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. So fun to spend time with their family.