Xavier Figurres Out the Water
Hello everyone.
Today was the end of the reunion. We enjoyed a communal breakfast. Everyone brought their excess food to share. Xavier's great aunt Mary Jo cooked up biscuits. Because the she had bought so many, she imposed on Rebecca to bake up several of the pop-open cans of biscuits.. We also supplied several melons and some biscuits of our own (we went a little overboard provisioning ourselves Friday evening). Grandpa Danny cooked the Southern Gravy.
You had to get there early if you wanted a biscuit with your gravy. With more than sixty of them—enough for one per person with some left over—they still went fast.
After breakfast, it was family photo time. You cannot have a family gathering without the group photograph. Such events must be chronicled! We stood several poses, and made several groups.
Xavier cared little for the photos; he had serious exploring to do. Yesterday and this morning, Xavier had been wanting Daddy to turn on the sprinklers which were around the grassy area the Braaten Bunch claimed for itself. Always, I told him "no" and followed up with an explanation.
Well, the water taps at each campsite did not escape Xavier's notice either. He spent great effort attempting to turn them on, or trying to con someone else into opening one up.
As we broke camp and packed our cars, Xavier managed to turn one on (he is still freakishly strong). I think he was showing off for his cousin Molly, who helped play in the newly liberated stream.
Of Family and Marshmallows
Greetings to everyone.
After stopping by to say bye-bye to Xavier's newest friends, his cousins John, Joey, Maggie and Gracie—and of course, Aunt Jen—we headed off to Electric City for the Braaten Reunion. Taking the trip back into Idaho to farewell the Lockwoods gave Xavier more time to nap in the car; we did this intentionally; we did not know how the night would go, nor how late we would be up.
As a side note, I will point out that upon Xavier's first entry into the state of Idaho, he has officially visited thirteen states. I counted how many states I've visited, only 30 so far. No wonder Xavier goes crazy when he travels—he does it so much!
We arrived at our campsite in the late afternoon. Checking in, we met Xavier's great aunt, Mary Jo (whom he met a few years back). We also made plans to have breakfast with Rebecca's father, Xavier's Grandpa Danny.
It was an added bonus that another of Xavier's great aunts ate with us at breakfast, Aunt Kate. This was Xavier's first time to meet her.
After breakfast, Xavier got to know Grandpa Danny again (it's been two and a half years since they last saw one another). Grandpa Danny took many photos.
During the course of the day, Xavier met more of his extended family. He scored big points by sharing his Party Poppers and Snap Caps with several of his older cousins!
Xavier met a couple of cousins closer to his age. They played together for a while. Then Xavier saw some of the older children waving around willow branches.
That seemed a lot of fun to him, and so off he ran to find his own branch and join the crowd! Most of the kids took little notice of his joining in. They ran here, then ran there. Xavier lagged behind most of the time, arriving with the group just in time for them to set off in some other direction.
At some point, Xavier returned to the shady, grassy area and found an inner tube to play in. Soon, his cousin Molly joined him. She was the youngest cousin there, her years numbering almost two.
There came a little contention between the two as they both wanted to play with the same flotation tube (there were two). They ended up sharing one.
After the big family dinner, several cousins obtained permission to roast marshmallows—if they could find enough sticks to fuel a small fire and to poke marshmallows on.
The search was on, and Xavier fell right in, though he had no idea what all the running around meant. Camille, one of the older cousins, took to keeping a partial eye on Xavier while they ranged around the campground (Daddy followed behind to keep both eyes on him!). Camille took Xavier under her wing for a while, at least through the making of the Shmores.
With much effort, enough sticks got collected. Camille tried for some time to get a fire to start, but it took some adult assistance to get it to kindle and stay burning.
The fire problem now solved, the roasting/burning of marshmallows commenced! Xavier watched his cousins, then grabbed a stick for himself. With some help, he pierced a marshmallow and set it over a flame. He did not know quite what to do with it after it cooked. When it cooled, he did enjoy it enough to roast another.
Jen, John, Joey, Maggie and Gracie
Greetings to everyone.
The family traveled to Washington state yesterday to attend a family reunion on Rebecca's paternal side. The reunion officially gets under way Friday, but we flew in a little early. We have learned Xavier needs time to acclimate to such changes, and break-neck speeds put his teeth on edge. It did give Rebecca time to show me around the area where she grew up. Also, we got visit with the Lockwoods, some close cousins to Rebecca.
We landed in the Spokane Airport, a smaller airport with only three or four baggage carousels. As we headed down the ramp to claim our checked bag, we were greeted with a squeal of joy—Jen and three of her kids drove in from Idaho (about a thirty minute trip) to meet us. It was a wonderful surprise, and a notable memory from the trip.
Jen is not only Rebecca's cousin, but a close friend. She was part of our wedding party. I also remember her calling me the night Xavier was delivered to coach me about what to do and making sure Rebecca and I were on the same page in the delivery room and afterwards.
Jen made quite the impression on Xavier. When I pulled up a picture of he and Jen together to put it into this page, Xavier (who was sitting next to me banging on his own keyboard) looked up, pointed and said "Jen!"
Also making an impression on Xavier were his cousins, In fact, he learned the word cousins because of them. All week he asked where his cousins were or told us he wanted to see his cousins.
One cousin in particular grabbed Xavier's friendship: his cousin Joey. Joseph is seven years older than Xavier, but the two got on quite well. In fact, each looks very similar to the other. In a short time, Xavier grew a bond with Joey.
One night, as we readied to leave from having dinner with the Lockwoods, Jen and her boys offered to give Xavier one of the two toys he found and played hard with.
Jen asked Xavier, "Which toy do you want?"
Xavier answered quickly, unreservedly pointing to Joey standing near him. "I want that!"
Joey was not holding any toy.
After the reunion and before leaving Spokane, we were able to meet with Jen and her boys one last time at a lake. Joey spent much time floating in an inner tube on the water, far beyond Xavier's reach. At one point, Xavier stood on the beach looking out and seeing his cousin. "Joey!" he called out. "Joey!"
Even a week later, Xavier still knows his cousins' names. He recognizes pictures of them and asks about them. We are planning on visiting the Lockwoods more frequently, especially with Xavier having developed such an affinity for them.