THE FAMILY REUNION! Place: Woodland Wonderland Court Time: Friday, Saturday, Sunday Who: Many DesRochers blood and the ones that love them! :-)

Whew! What a party we had! The DesRochers name comes from Gramma Mama's Dad's lineage and we got to meet some more of the "branches" this past weekend. Grampa Poppy (Gramma Mama's Dad) had two sisters and they were both there...but so were their children and children's children. Therefore, calling it the "DesRochers Round Up" was appropriate! Owen was not the youngest, but there were 7 children under the age of 4 there!
We arrived on Thursday night and Owen was a champ in the car! He only fussed when we were stuck in afternoon traffic leaving the cities. Friday afternoon our DesRochers cousins came from Canada and Colorado, and Kaisers & Austins came from Illinois. Saturday morning our Bremmer cousins came from Kansas, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and in the afternoon the rest of the clan came from many other places...nearly 60 people under this tent for Famous Dave's catered chicken, ribs, salad, and muffins. Not to mention, TWO birthday cakes! Saturday we also celebrated Auntie Emmy and Cousin Karina's birthdays!
When we were quite a bit smaller, we all fit on the railing behind my parents house. Their house has changed quite a bit, and we had to move to the pool railing in order to line it up. Since the last photo opp, three were added and two others are missing from this photo. Following this photo, nearly all of us ended up IN the pool...thanks Lori for starting that off by pushing Mary Beth in!
For most of Saturday there was a "babysitter" on hand to watch and play with little ones while the parents of the little ones enjoyed time with adult conversation or taking naps themselves. The kids had a blast! The sand box was just as much of a hit as the sidewalk chalk! However, water from the pool made its way to the sandbox and sand from the sandbox made it's way into the pool...hmmmm, how did that happen? :-)
Owen loved playing with his 2nd cousins, but he was most enthralled with the babies!

The "babies," though, are only 6 months younger than he.

Here are all the 2nd cousins-four of them are Karina's and two are Daniel's. The youngest is Ella-just shy of 3 weeks, and Reiley is the oldest-he was three in March.

Owen was very content during the "cousin picture." Probably had something to do with the cracker he's sucking on...

"What cake, Mom? Grampa didn't give me cake...okay, maybe a little!" :-)

Owen did okay by the pool. He was happy just lookin' around...
wathching daddy play a game of keep-away on Sunday morning...

I don't think things got too competative...
Owen was just happy to be "hangin' out" with everyone! :-)Sisters...together again...and each got their time with little O...

swingin' with Auntie Emmy...
Eating cheerios with Auntie Julie...
and loungin' with Auntie Lori!

All in all a great weekend! Many memories were shared and made this weekend...will it happen again? Maybe...If anyone is lucky enough to have these reunions, hold to that blessing.

One last note...DesRochers is French--pronounced De-row-shey. A beautiful name...