LAKE & BAKE

okay okay.. so you may be thinking I've exhausted that title a wee bit..

 guilty as charged

I can't help it though.. it's puntastic!

 

so this year was our Applonie Family Reunion

 

they're held every 2 years

 

at Luby Bay in Priest Lake Idaho!

aka

THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH

I mean for reals though! LOOK ^^^ at the lush green heaven of a haven..

(photo cred: not me)

you were probably thinking IDAHO.. meh.. but keep in mind folks i'm talking about

NORTHERN IDAHO! which should not be blasphamied by grouping it with ALL of that butthole of a state.

 

only downside is it takes quite the pilgrimage to reach it!

only like 11 hours.. whatevs.. half a day..

(not the better half *scoff* okay yes i'm lame)

it's that 2nd to LAST bit of blue at the top right.. err left.. (I know my rights from lefts) of Idaho!

 

 

 See it's damn near the Canadian border.

side note: one reunion we need to take a day trip to the land of maple syrup & Bullwinkle

to reach it we go from IF north, bypass BUTTE (who names these places?), into MISSOULA where we ALWAYS stop at Lucky Lil's travel plaza (they have like a million + one slurpie flavors), then you cut west towards COUER D'ALENE (ps.. they have ZERO mexifry radio stations in them there parts! like zero fiesta's sir!) once you've reached there you go north through HAYDEN then you cut left at ATHOL (I know who is on these naming committees?) then you head north (I know it's a lot of northward travel) to PRIEST RIVER.. which is like PRIEST LAKE but we're not quite there yet!! again we go northward for 30 more minutes and FINALLY!! there you find our little bit of heaven

 

if heaven is no showers, 1 ply toilet paper, long tenures of outdoor living, everything smells & tastes like smoke, smores smores smores!!, sandy cracks, & so. much. family.

 

then ya.. heaven..

 

THIS WAS OUR first YEAR WITH BABIES!!

 

well great grandkid babies

(we've kinda always had a few babies cause we're a large family that reproduces like rabbits)

(I think we're done though now with the O.G's popping out babies.. they've done their part)

 

ASHCAT & GABEY

had their first camping experiences at 4 & 8 months old

I must admit I was scared to go camping with babies

I mean how awful does that sound?

in theory somewhere between kindergarten teacher & wiping with sandpaper right?

it totes wasn't THAT bad

I was hesitant cause I mean there was a lot to consider

such as:

 

how do we keep them clean?

answer: you don't

how do you get warm bottles?

answer: campfire (literal smoke on the water.. they liked the smokehouse milk thang)

how do you keep bugs at bay?

answer: campfire again for the win!!( yup you just hang your babies in the smoke for a minute (obvi you keep their faces out of it..) & the squeeters have zero desire to munch!)

 

so really it wasn't THAT bad

 & to be perfectly honest they ended the 2 weeks smelling a LOT better than the rest of us did..

which granted is not saying much.. but it is saying a little

 

anyways it was an AWESOME reunion!

we didn't have everyone there but it was still a blast

at one point or another our body count was

7/7-Pancheri

6/7-DeCoria

3/3-Tippett

4/4- Applonie/Watsons

1/2-Applonie

0/6Applonie

0/6-Applonie

1/6-Wilker

2/2-Essary

4/5-Wise

7/7 Picard

 

so like 64% attendance.. no bad.. that'd put us at a passing grade I do believe

 

plus we had some of our DeCoria family come join the fun in the forms of

Uncle Mike (dad's older brother)

Aunt Cindy (mikes wife)

Cousins:

 Beck(mikes last daughter)

Anders(kathys first twin)

Gunner(kathys second twin)

2nd Cousin's:

Camdyn (Becks first (she's preggo with her 2nd!! (:  )

Chase (Sara's boy)

Lily (Sara's girl)

 

SO. MUCH. SHARED. DNA.

 

Aunt Helen planned the entire shebang!

& she went above & beyond the call of duty

she had ENDLESS activities for the kids, brown bag skits! a 75th.. errrr I mean 3rd 25th birthday bash for Grama Peggy, beach Olympics, Amazing Race, ect ect..

it. was. a. BLAST!

granted we had our bouts of drama & our little spats

 but you get that much family together, that many FEMALES together & its bound to get a little crazy!

 

here are some pictures of our

2013 Applonie Reunion

 

*aka*

Gabe & Ash's first taste of our hobo(ier)/crazy sides

 

 the boys exersaucers were FILTHY by the time we came home!!

(bums would look upon them & say 'mmm.. no thanks i'm good)

 ben & gabe having a moment

ben literally will not miss anyone BUT the boys during his 2- year tenure to the Lord

 I promise he DUG it.. up until the camera came out.. ya i'm up for mother of the year

 my dog is a huge weiner.. & has no idea he's a dog.. he thinks he's my baby too

..firstborn probs..

 sassy & sunblocked!!

gabe's ode to his Aunt Lamey (me)

the White Hand of Sauromon!!

(ah Gabe+LOTR reference=love..true love)

 such attractive sleepers

 the boys & Aunt Suga!

(ash looks as big as Gabe.. he's not!)

(Aunt Helen custom MADE those little lovelies! & they were REVERSABLE!

the skill, the TALENT!, the pure unadulterated badassness!!) 

 'Lookin's free.. touchings gonna cost ya!'

everybody looking at the correct camera

 

dad proving 'white guys can jump'

has a bit of a pride issue that one

(old jock habits die hard)

 

 

BEACH TIME

 Aunt Cindy with Lily, Cam, & Chase!

I know they are like as big as her!

 Grandpa & his beach babies

 Gabes facial expression cracks me up

 Granny Moo & her Ashercat hiding from the rays

Brooke's reaction to one of the events in the Beach Olympics

 

 

NACHO'S, LEMON HEADS, MY DADS BOAT

WE WON'T GO DOWN CAUSE..

 So this is a really awktard looking picture of me & the sisterfriend

& the out-of-focusness of it all makes it even worst..

'my names amy, & I have a 6 yr old's head sensoring my junk)

 Captain Coley

 Uncle Mike lent us his boat for an ENTIRE week

with which we could use to tube

& we took FULL advantage of it!

SCAR! BROTHER! HELP ME!

long live THE KING!!

(see what I did there?? )

 flag girls!

 our Titanic moment

 Ben & Anders catching air!

only serious tubers need apply

 I may or may not have influenced Nicole to wreck Ben & Anders this hard

they were going between 45-50 when this happened

..they skipped like rocks for at least 7 skips each..

 the yellow shorts is Anders

the gleeful face is obvi DanWolf

 Gunnar, DanWolf, & Anders

 check out that terrified mug

 beach beauties!

& those guys ;)

 Ben was super enthused about his 10mph kiddie ride

 such an easy tube to wreck on.. & off

 so.. DanWolf fell off.. & the driver didn't realize to this is Ben & Gunnar still holding on.. & Dan is back somewhere chilling in the lake..

still no danwolf.. haha it was so funny.. in a kinda bad way.. but he didn't get eated or ran over so it's okay to laugh at

 

bathing beauty

Gabe had a PERI Bronchial virus the last fews days
So they had to take him to the ER in Newport
This is on the way home after he got heavily medicated
The Gabey.. he like a the good stuff

ROCK out with your HAMHOCKs out

sleepy sunbathers