Trip to the States: Virginia

Our big trip started on June 17th.  We drove to Munich to catch our flight to Washington D.C. and from the airport we rented a car and went down to Westmoreland State Park in Virginia for a Johnson family reunion.  The trip was long but the boys did remarkably well during the flight and long drive to our destination.  Once in Virginia we got to spend 5 days with most of my family (my sister Eryn and her family were not able to make the trip)  We had a lot of fun but for me the best part was watching my boys play with their cousins...and Uncle Del, they really loved playing rough with Del.

Emerson peeking out from inside of a tree on one of our hikes around the park.

Auntie Paige and some of the little cousins climbed out onto a fallen log that was perched over the trail.  It was pretty high up, I'm really glad no one fell!

Townsend, Ethan Israelsen and Emerson climbed out on the log.  The boys loved playing with their cousin Ethan, he is about 6 months younger than the twins.

The pink ladies, Riann, Paige and DeNae.  Why didn't I get one of these shirts?  I guess I missed the sale at the Gap!

Leah Israelsen playing in the water at fossil beach.  The boys spent a lot of time digging through the sand at the beach and they each found at least one shark tooth.  I don't know why this particular beach has so many shark teeth but it was pretty exciting for the boys to search and then discover those treasures.

Daddy and the boys swimming at fossil beach.

The boys in "attack" mode on Uncle Del.  They really loved tackling him and being thrown into the water.

Mommy and Julian at the pool.  We were so lucky to have great weather most of the reunion.  One of the days was pretty rainy and so we all headed into town to the movie theater but for the most part we were able to enjoy being outside.

 Did I mention it rained?  Well, at least the kids had fun playing in the giant mud puddles the rain created:)  L-R: Matthew Isrealsen, Emerson, Townsend, Ethan and Leah Isrealsen.

Julian at the beach.

Paige and Riann attempted to build a raft out of multiple floaties, it worked pretty well but they did look pretty ridiculous.  

Enjoying a family dinner around the campfire.

Emerson found a turtle on one of our hikes.

Townsend found a teeny tiny frog.

Hiking around the forests of Virginia is pretty rough because of the heat and humidity.  You feel like you are completely drenched with sweat after only a few short minutes.

 What are those Durtschi brothers doing at a Johnson reunion?  It just happened to work out that Hyrum's two brothers, Jason and Emmett were in D.C. during the reunion and so they drove the 3 hours down to Virginia to hang out with us for a few hours.  It was so great seeing Emmett this trip, he lives in Wisconsin and we thought we wouldn't get to see him this summer.  We got to hang out more with Jason while in Utah but it was still great seeing him in Virginia.

Our little Durtschi family photo

A great sibling shot, I wish Eryn could have been there!  L-R: Riann, DeNae, Tanya, Paige, Del, Rachelle and Kristen

The whole family (minus Eryn and Stan and their 6 kids, oh yeah, we are also missing DeNae's husband Stan).

Overall the reunion was a success.  We played at two different beaches, went swimming in the pool, ate yummy food, played frisbee and made homemade ice cream.  We sang songs as a family and my Dad accompanied us on his ukelele.  We had a family talent show that was super cute, especially Ethan and Auntie Riann doing a joke routine.  I learned a lot about what my siblings have been up to and got to catch up on what my fabulous nieces and nephews have been doing.  I love my family and I'm so glad I got the chance to spend some time with them this summer.