At the beginning of June we flew to Missouri for Omar's mom's family reunion. For those of you that don't know, Pat is one of 13 children and is originally from a farm in Missouri. How she got to Atlanta & met Omar's dad is a great story for another post. Most of her family still lives in Missouri and they have a reunion every year which can literally have hundreds of people, all of whom Omar is related to and very few of whom he actually knows their names. But don't feel bad, half the time he can't remember my name either.
So me, Omar, EJ, Pat, Stephanie, and Erik flew out for a long weekend to visit with her family and we had a wonderful time. We joke that EJ was going to meet "her people" since she blends right in with the Heitholds and their blond hair & blue eyes. I honestly think she gets her eyes from Omar's mom (I know mine aren't that blue!).
We stayed with Pat's sister Cathy, who was such a wonderful hostess and made us feel right at home and so welcome from the minute we arrived! Our first day we went to the park with Pat's other sister, Janet, and her two grandkids Jackson & Presley. It was a great park with a fun playground, a lake with ducks to feed, and a cave to explore!
EJ and her great Aunt Cathy
Swinging with Aunt Steph, great-aunt Janet, and cousin Presley.
OF COURSE my child honed in on the biggest, tallest, rickety-est (is that a word?) slide in the entire park and demanded to go down it. No other child was using this slide, not even the 10-year-olds who were there. But that didn't stop my little daredevil.
Feeding the ducks!
Jackson shows us how it's done.
Sweet girl.
Aunt Janet & Presley
On our way to explore the cave.
EJ, Jackson, & Presley chillin' in the cave.
Being silly.
Photo-op!
EJ & Presley had a great time together!
That afternoon we went to visit another of Pat's sisters, where EJ met another cousin (Lily) who she had a blast with and even got to ride on a tractor with!
Then we went to the Heithold family cafe, located in Halfway, Missouri. Yep, that's the name of the town. It is - wait for it - half way between two other towns you have never heard of. But it was a lot of fun and the food was great. The Heitholds took over the place and EJ entertained them all.
The day of the reunion we gathered with about 100 of Omar's family at a local church, where everyone brought something yummy to eat. Mmmmmmm, that food was GOOD! EJ got to meet a bunch of her extended family and had a good time playing with the short ones on the church playground.
Fun on the playground!
With Omar's cousin Amy's youngest son, Braxton.
She had a good time on the tricycle.
Sliding with her second cousin once removed. Or something like that.
Tired girl after a busy day.
All the living Heithold siblings!
Thanks to the extended Heithold family for making us feel so welcome and feeding us so well! We had a wonderful time and hope to be able to come back again soon. If you are ever in Georgia, please stop in and let us return the favor!
