Evans Family Reunion Trip

I just can't do this trip justice in words. No number of photos could accurately express my feelings about the significance of this trip.

*sigh*

So, I give up.

I will share this, though, and perhaps it will capture the essence of what I'm trying to express...

There was one coolish evening after dinner when all the kids were playing in the huge backyard of the house on Lake Champlain. Robert and Chandler were sharing wagon rides down the little hill on the back end of the property. James and Benjamin were chasing each other, pushing each other down, and laughing their guts out. Alice and Jessica were playing with a cluster of smaller cousins and singing a slightly modified variation of the Daniel Tiger theme song (the beginnings of their "Annoying Kids" variety show). A few of us adults were sitting and chatting on the back deck. Matthew was squealing with glee, sampling random bits of plant matter he found on the ground. My heart was full. I watched my kids play with cousins. I looked around at all these awesome people I barely knew and truly loved. Bobby turned to me and said with a half smile, "This right here kinda makes it all worth it."

Well-spoken.

It started to sprinkle a little, then the rain moved off a little to the east and suddenly there was a full rainbow in the sky...bright, brilliant, and absolutely impossible to photograph properly. It captured the feeling of the moment just perfectly. One beautiful, ephemeral moment.

The whole trip wasn't like that. Oooooooo boy. No way. In fact, most of the trip was more difficult than regular life here at home. But I like to think about the things that I felt on this trip...the kinds of memories my kids will have about these places and these people...getting the chance to connect with my kids, reconnect with extended family, and revisit old friendships...it was totally worth all the stress and sacrifice and time.

Now to a few pictures...

James, enamored with the view from a 6th story window at one of our hotels. Yup, he's a flatlander.

Alice skipping rocks on the lake.

Alice and Robert at the entrance to Tyendinaga Cave in Ontario.

James looooooves hotel beds.

"Me no eat mine weggies!"...30 seconds later..."Zzzzzzzzzzzz."

Alice and Spencer B find something in common after all these years...a love of reading.

Hooray for finger walking! I owe Katy about $40 for all her loving, attentive babysitter-like care of Matthew.

The ocean! The for really real ocean!

Rhode Island lighthouse at Beaver Tail State Park.

Robert taking in the view.

Our "silly" family portrait. Alice cracks me up. Thanks, Michelle, for taking these pictures.