It is that time again for our annual family reunion. We decided to have a "staycation" at our home due to the latest economic times. Rather than spend the money on hotels we stayed here and ventured out each day.

4 of our children and 7 of our grandchildren came along with my brother and his family. My parents live near by so it was great to have all of us here. Our son and his family in Dallas could not make the trip this year and were greatly missed!

We have a new dog and I was concerned how she would react with the grandchildren, ages 1 - 11. She is a two year very rambunctious lab that LOVES to play. Other than a few knock downs as she would pass by she did very well. I was amazed at her patience when the kids would drag her around the house while on her lease. Her favorite place however was under the high chair where she was able to find many treasures. She learned quickly that Syler's lap was the best place to find food!

The kids spent many days at the beach riding the waves, building sand castles and just having fun in the sun and water. We are so fortunate to be so close to the beach.

We decided to have a pool party in the back yard on Sunday. We invited some of our friends and each of the kids invited old friends. The pool was full of little ones and we were constantly counting heads. Since we had so many we hired a neighbor who is a life guard to make sure the kids were all okay. Last thing you want at a pool party is an accident. It was a beautiful day and fun was had by all.

On Monday the entire family went to Disneyland. We arranged to spend the night so that we could go for two days. The hotel we stayed at helped us arrange to get discounted tickets. FYI if you have 20 + people you can get a pretty significant discount from Disney.

On Monday evening everyone came back to the hotel so that the kids could cool off in the pool. The hotel set up a buffet of pizza, salads, breads and desserts for us which was just the perfect break from the hectic crowds of Disneyland. We returned to the park that evening and were able to sit on the balcony of the train station on Main street, thanks to our son's Disney connections, to watch the fireworks.

It was sad to see everyone go home. We are so far away from each other it is hard to get together often enough.

Now that they are all gone I am spending hours doing laundry and cleaning. You can imagine with 17 people in the house how every towel and sheet was used!

We are now back to the quiet and frankly I miss the chaos of having them all here! Well until next year!