MN trip [Duluth]

We left the reunion following lunch, and headed to Duluth, MN.

Since we aren't going on another trip this summer for our family vacation..we decided to extend this trip  just a little. Mitch had a work appointment in Duluth the next day, so we all spent some time together in the afternoon/evening.

The highlight was the suspension bridge...oh man, did Christian love this thing! 

When Mitchell said something about it, he said, "Yeah, we can go on the suspension bridge. We can go on it. Ok, we will. Can we go on it? Can we?" This repeated itself only about 15 times, before we could actually get to the point of seeing it, and then we walked across it.

 There was a ship that was supposed to be coming through, so we walked around a bit more along the shore and then along the walkway to the lighthouse.

We ate at "Grandma's Place" = yummy!! They had an outdoor patio area, that was in direct view of the suspension bridge, in case the ship decided it would go through. Christian thanked our waiter for each thing he was bringing out...so that earned him another apple juice from the waiter :) He was in quite a thankful mood.

Within 5 minutes of sitting down, the ship was heading through...(Christian was given a lemon slice...hence his strange face!)

We left Duluth, and went about 30 miles north, just past Two Harbors to stay at a place I reserved from a Groupon. It was a train car suite...it consisted of 17 train cars that were made into "suites" (rather small). I thought Christian would get a kick out of it since he's a bit of a train fan. It was dark when we got there, but I told him we were inside a train car and that's where we got to sleep...he didn't know quite how to process that.

 He started moving side to side and said, "Is the train car moving, if I do this will it move the train? I think the train will wake up now, and then it will move." The next morning, we had a light breakfast there, and then walked around the outside a bit before heading down to Two Harbors to explore.

MN trip [Birky reunion]

July 13-15

The Birky reunion (consisting of the immediate Glen Birky family) was held at a camp this year, in Fosston, MN. It is the first time we've not had it hosted at a home of the family. There's around 80 in the family...so it was nice to have a location where we could all stay and the meals were prepared for us.

There were plenty of things to do....a little playground, a slide, and swings for the smaller kids, sand volleyball, tetherball, softball, frisbee golf, shuffleboard, and the lake..that included paddle boats, canoes, swimming, a jet ski and tube (that Stanley brought), and the BLOB!

In the late evenings, some of us stayed up late playing card games...here are a few photos from our time together...

Downtime...visiting and observing.

Christian telling Grandpa he CAN go down the slide...and then climbing up to help push him down.

Dad and Ben playing tetherball. This was after Ben and I had played...I decided he needed somebody his own size to play against :)

 Darren and Ben (on the left...Darren untangling the ball!) and Mom and Carol on the right

Shuffleboard...

Isaac and Christian demonstrating how it works. 

Again, Christian helps another big person go down a slide....Uncle Mitch.

In the evening, we group entertainment. 

This first evening, we had a very complex and interesting way to include numbers from facts and information about the family that ended in equalling Grandpa's age (by Darren); a game of who's this...with a broad range of statements that helped us gain an even better knowledge of each other!; and then a song written by Darren that included the 80 members of the family...it was quite creative to the tune of "All Grown-Ups, All Children, All Mothers, All Fathers."

 We had a campfire and s'mores before bed!

 And this is a view of our sleeping arrangement...Christian in his bed, he was quite proud of it, he said, "I'm kinda trapped (and he was happy about that)!"

Saturday morning, we started out with breakfast...

then many went in the lake, while others played frisbee golf. 

We had a bridal shower for Natalia (getting married Sept 16) in the morning...

we had a few snacks and played a "Get to Know Drew" game. 

After lunch there was more swimming, softball, basketball and volleyball (there were some seriously active people today).

It was a warm day, but it was nice to have the lake and shade from trees.

Mom and Carissa played games with the kids while the "big kids" played softball.

I saw this guy...thought I should take his picture..isn't he handsome :)

The cheering section...

Back to the water...

Meet the blob..it was hours of entertainment and major aches/pains for many. 

I did not participate...although I really thought it looked fun!

This is Carissa...launching Kade off!

Andy Carpenter....launching Ben!

Part of the spectators...on the dock

Ben and Michael discussing launching options.

Grandpa and Margie...amongst the other spectators that were in the shade.

Sand volleyball...

After supper, our family (the Sweigarts) were in charge of the entertainment.

Brent and Mitchell hosted a "late night" show called "Up Late with BM

Prior to the show, the rest were split into 5 groups and they were assigned a project...

Two groups had either a commercial or skit,

One had a top ten "Birkyisms",

One had "You know you're a Birky if..."

One had to come up with an original song about the family.

The hosts...B and M

(special...as always!)

This was the music group...they had a very creative song about the family!

(Dad, Den, Carol, Darren, Russell/Hannah, Lexi, Julie/Molly)

I really wish I had pictures of the "chubby bunny" part of the show...

where four lucky members (Kenny, Kyle, Michael, and Donna) of the audience were chosen to participate. A marshmallow had to stay in your mouth while saying "chubby bunny" and then add another marshmallow, etc. HILARIOUS! Michael was the official winner :)

Margie was the "special guest" that they interviewed for her 70th birthday.

And the rest of the siblings sang a special personalized 70th birthday song for her...

(Stanley, Mom, David, Carol) 

Following the show, we had a birthday party for Margie...cake and treats!

Sunday morning following breakfast we had our own church service.

Stanley had a message about our legacy as individuals and where we've come from, Carissa had the children's story about our ancestors (I had no idea that the name Christian was a family name more than once long ago!), she also had the children sing some songs, and Grandpa shared his testimony. There were several others that participated in the service.

Time for lunch, and then some final moments of playing together before leaving.

(Josh, Cortney, Christian, Ava, Hailey, Braden, Sam (standing up), Axton (sitting to the left of Sam's leg), and Kade (sitting behind Ava's head).

These ladies were going to check on the lake before leaving.

(Kandice, Desi, Tammy, Jo, Lexi, Kari)

What a good couple days together....lots of special times shared together!!

We'll be back in 2 years :)