Family Games

Every time we get together we love playing family games. This year we added a few new ones to our favorites. We played "Minute to Win It" for the first time. It was a huge hit and I'm hoping we get to do it again. Everyone got to participate. Hailee got to stack 5 ding-dongs on her head. She was so pleased that she was able to balance them for 3 seconds. When she was done she was so excited and told me, "At first I thought I was going to have to eat them." I replied "that would have been hard." She quickly replied, "but it would have been fun too."

They were so many fun challenges like pulling out all the kleenex out of the box. I also got a great video of Grandpa, Kevin and Ted shaking ping pongs out of a box that is tied to their backs, but I was told I couldn't post it :).

Next up was the "Red Nightgown Game."  I'm not sure when this games started, but it's probably almost as old as I am. It all started with a red nightgown that my grandma used to wear and on occasion (although my grandma still denies) was worn to chase the bus when the kids forgot their lunches. One time it was put into the present exchange game and the rest is history. The main point of the game is to avoid getting the red nightgown. If you get the red nightgown then you are in charge of it the next time we are all together. There have been many tricky ways of hiding the red nightgown over the years. It's been hidden it a hollowed out book, a glass chicken, and hidden in all manner of things to hide it's true identity. There have been many laughs of who has gotten the red night gown. This year Kevin and Tami were in charge. They did a great job. There were a lot of laughs, stories, and fun all around. In the end the red nightgown was hidden in a water bottle (one Todd and I thought was definitely safe) while all the presents were still wrapped. Shauna was the lucky winner.

Another family favorite that has been around a while is Family Jeopardy. Paula always does a great job. Topic include, family games, songs, genealogy, stories from when my mom was younger, people and all sorts of fun things. There is always a lot of laughing and good competitive spirit when we play.

Let's Make a Deal was another new game to this reunion. Everyone had to dress up as something. Grandpa got the prize for the best costume. He came as Grandma chasing the bus in the red nightgown. Too funny.

Hailee went as a soccer player

It was all very entertaining and a lot of fun.

Stadium of Fire

Hailee and James with Grandpa ready for the Stadium of Fire. My mom got all her grandkids 4th of July shirts for the festivities. Hailee and James loved it. 

Brenda got us all tickets right by each other. It was a lot of fun. The kids loved the opening programs and events. They both got a little bored during Carrie Underwood (I'm sure being exhausted didn't help matters) but once the fireworks started they were excited again. I was a little worried at how James would do during the whole show, but except for a grumpy time or two he did really good.

The Sun

A big surprise for us Oregonians was the sun. I know that probably sounds dumb, but the sun is SO much brighter in Utah than it is in Oregon. I never did quite get used it the almost two weeks we were there. It was bright on our eyes and rough on our white Oregon skin, but it was totally worth it to hang out at the pool. We learned to loved the spray on sunscreen, sunglasses, and the shade in Brenda's pool. Everyone had so much fun hanging out at the pool. Hailee especially loved playing in the pool and James liked playing in the pool with his dad.

Hailee, Cambria, Grandma and Uncle Ted

James and I enjoying the shady step in Brenda's pool.

Happy Birthday

To kick off our Wagner Family Reunion we had a Birthday Party for my Grandparents. They both turn 80 this year.  How is the best way to celebrate....well if you're a Wagner, it's with great Mexican food, a Mariachi band, and a Pinata. We had such a good time and my Aunt Brenda surprised them with a Mariachi band. It's always a good time when we get together.

At the reunion we had almost everyone there, 51 people in total. With that many Wagners around you can count on a couple of things, there will be good food, a lot of laughter, and most of the stories and jokes punch lines will be in Spanish.

Another thing you can always count on at a Wagner family party is buckets of ice and pop. It was my favorite thing growing up. All of the kids figured out pretty quickly. As you can see James thought it was pretty cool. 

I'm not sure what the band thought about a group of white mexicans requesting songs and singing along to all the favorite Mariachi favorites. It was a lot of fun and very loud.

Although James and Hailee didn't know the words to sing along, they had a great time dancing. It was so cute to see them enjoying the music.

At the end the kids got to break open a pinata. It was a perfect start to a great family reunion.

The beach

Saturday we went to the beach. It's the first time we've been for a while and the first time we've been since James has been walking. We had a great time, I still have some catching up to do from our vacation, but I wanted to post this video of James enjoying the coast. Next time we'll have to plan for more time on the beach. Both kids had such a great time.

First Swim

While in St. George Deneille took us to the indoor pool, and it just so happened that it was James' first time swimming. It was still 70 degrees in Oregon and he was too little to swim in our unheated pool last year. So he got to go swimming for the first time in St. George. We were excited to see how he would react...he was excited to get into his new swimming suit.

But then he wasn't too sure about all the noise.

Then slowly....

...slowly...he warmed up to the idea.

Hailee also got to go down the big slide with Deneille. It took some convincing but Deneille was finally able to get her to go down. She was a little nervous, but once she finally did, she didn't want to stop.

It was so much fun. Hailee didn't want to leave. As we were getting ready to go she asked if she could go down the little slide again. I said okay. Then she came back to see if she could run around the play area again. I told her one more time. She wandered so far away I had to go and pull her out.

It was such a good time.

Tarzan

 
While we were in St. George we got to go see Tarzan at Tuachan. The kids absolutely loved it. It was based on the Disney movie with added story and music. Hailee loved the singing and the play. James loved the monkeys flying around the whole theater. They both sat so good through the first half enjoying the music and flying monkeys. Then after the intermission the story turned out to be a little too much love story and not enough flying monkeys for James so we spend the last little bit at the top. Hailee enjoyed all of it and was so excited to meet some of them at the end of the play.

Hailee (aka Jane), James (aka Tarzan) and Emily (aka Kala)

  We got to meet a bunch of the cast after the play. This is Kala, Tarzan's mom.

Hailee was a little bit shy meeting Tarzan, little Tarzan and Jane.