2012 Beattie Reunion

Well, it's that time of year! We had the annual Beattie reunion this weekend and it was AWESOME. The couple of vacations trips we took up past Castle Mountain to prepare were totally worth it, even though those trips were so much fun too. It was our (Ryan and I) turn to organize the troops, find our venue and delicate tasks/meals which was kind of intimidating at first thought but with everyone doing what was asked it was easy. The technical start time was breakfast Friday morning and all but 1 family was able to make the trip up Thursday night getting the cousins all pumped up for the weekend. Friday morning the sun was out, breakfast was great and we were ready to play! The kids were riding bikes and quads while the adults followed on their quads. After everyone had arrived the party was really able to start and we had some lunch, got sweaty posing for a family picture and then got the kids in the water. The men had made a rope swing off the big trees into the river which was a big hit with the little kids and Uncle Derek!

After the men were finished building the rope swing they were back to work building a sweat lodge for later that night. That required some collection of special rocks, chopping down a few dead trees, a big tarp and a HUGE fire to heat the rocks. It seemed that building a big fire was no problem for these men thanks to the help of a propane tank. In the evening after Grandma's night games we started heading across the river to the sweat lodge. Jess was the only girl courageous enough to tackle the boys in there and I'm sure if she didn't enter in her sweats she could have outlasted each and every one of them! When it did get to hot you would see the tarp lift up and out someone would run into the river to cool down before going back in for another bought of the extreme heat.

The next morning all these men were boasting about how amazing they felt after their hot/cold experience the night before and were already talking about how they could improve on the lodge for that night. After breakfast we played some Minute to Win It and had a lot of laughs together at everyone else's expense. We played around, packed some lunches and loaded everyone onto quads for a ride up into the mountains to check out West Castle Falls. So pretty!

The boys did some fishing and the kids explored in the shallow waters and around the little paths close to the falls. There were deep parts and the water was freezing cold but the kids didn't really seem to notice it all. Sort of makes me jealous how they are so tolerant to things like that. I was more of a wuss, stayed close to the shore and just snapped the pictures and let everyone else get wet and cold.

As soon as we got back to camp late in the afternoon the kids got straight into their swimsuits and attacked the water. I have no idea how they get so much energy but I was so ready for a nap and a lazy evening. I got out my book and sat in my comfy chair and read while my kids splashed and the men worked at improving their sweat lodge. After dinner we all gathered around the fire pit for an evening of performing. Grandpa started out talking about fire and how awesome it is (in a controlled environment of course) and lit it up for the night. He had earlier placed a small copper pipe with rubber hosing inside it into the top of the fire and as the fire burned it started lighting up with different colours. It was pretty cool and looked amazing. After the fire was lit and warming everyone each family got up and rotated through a skit and song performing in front of the family. It was fun and our kids really enjoyed learning and practicing our little performances. Even the next day on the drive home they were repeating one skit and laughing uncontrollably. It was great. Sunday we had a short Sunday lesson and the kids each got a sling shot from Grandma after learning the story of David and Goliath. Slowly people started to clean up and pack up to go home but we didn't end up leaving until almost dinner time. It was such a fun weekend it kind of sucked to pull out of the perfect spot and say goodbye to everyone. It was such a success and I know the kids will be talking about it until next year so ... mission accomplished!