MacFest 2014

Awhile back my mom and Ran asked me what I thought of a MacLaggan Family reunion on Labor Day weekend. I looked at the calendar and suprisingly we were free. I said sure, but what are the chances many people would be able to come on a holiday weekend and short notice. Well it was a miracle! My mom is 1 of 8 siblings, and almost everyone was able to come!! Even all our Texas family! The MacFest 2014 was then in full swing and a fun 3 days it was! Two of my out of town uncles rented houses, who knew Lodi even had those available, and their entire families could stay with them. This allowed for us to have multiple events throughout the weekend.

The first night we had a BBQ at one of the houses with a pool. It was so hot and the kids loved swimming around.  The night was not complete without ice cream, lizard catching and glow sticks. If uncle Chris wasn't the favorite because he can talk like Donald Duck, he may be now because he taught the kids how to cut the glow sticks and write all over themselves like body paint.

 Carmen, all the way from Texas!

Christie always ended up with Leo. He is from Texas as well, so it was all of our first time meeting him!

 Jenny with Elsie and Emme (her daughter and niece)

 And we all know Gino Ray wouldn't pass up the ice cream...the almonds add nutritional value right?!

On Saturday, we had the family reunion out at the lake. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and plenty for everyone to do.  Between the bouncy house/water slide, paddle boards, snow cones, fishing, and lots of visiting, the day flew by.


The siblings (minus Chuck). Chuck and his family had a good excuse, they were in San Diego waiting for their first grandchild to arrive that same weekend! They were all missed!

My mom and her sisters.  The three girls are squished in the middle between 5 boys,   3 older and 2 younger.

I agree Tanner, best way to dig with heavy machinery is with your eyes closed!

Gino an Carmen are just days apart!

 I should apologize to Tyler. I think I played the worse Corn Hole game of my life! I don't think I got one in the hole. I blamed those Oregon boards for being slippery, or at a bad angle (seemed like the best excuses I could come up with!)....I was so off my game that day.  Rematch Tyler!!

Three of my cousins husbands. All are such nice guys.  It is hard for them to figure out who everyone is, there are so many of them. I remind them not to feel bad. I'm not even sure my brother would pass the test! lol

 End of the day parachute fun.  I love Giada's face in the last photo, such a genuine smile.

 Lots of fishing to be done all day! Collin started out working together with Gino, then realized his dad may help him be more successful!

And then we have Drew..... He literally fished for hours. He tried the dock, banks, canoe, and open water. Finally success! I have never seen a kid more determined!!

Can we talk about how nice I am to my sister in law?? I mean the way I see it, she still owes me.  She agreed to go on a ride, but didn't have her swim suit on didn't want to get wet. I have to admit it was a little wobbly in the beginning but we got our balance together.  I could have EASILY dumped her off and it would have been SO funny. The only mean thing I did was take her through the waterfall...I mean I couldn't let her stay totally dry.  You owe me Steph!

 Our family has been so supportive of Calivirgin and sending our products all over the country for gifts, as well as using for their own cooking. We were happy to give them a tour of the trees, mill and do a tasting. I liked the picture someone snagged of Mike in the field too!

 

Sunday Night we had a lunch BBQ at my aunt Ran's, and a dinner BBQ at the house Jamie rented.  We finally snagged the family photos too. We were missing Stella, Matt, Steph in these photos and the 12 family members that didn't make the reunion. We are a BIG group, this is just the immediate family on my moms side!

Siblings & Spouses

 

Kids & Spouses

Kids of Kids

 
The  chefs of BBQ night 3!

 

And a little music jam session to finish off the weekend. Thank you everyone for coming to Lodi. It was so wonderful to visit and see everyone. Until next time. XO MacLaggan's!

Random Catch Up - Dr Betts(Oakland Children's), Olive Festival, Cousins.. & more!

This past week we headed to Oakland for Gino's last appointment at the Children's Hospital. It is bittersweet. It is hard to believe a year has gone by since we first headed there.  We are so thankful for the wonderful care we received and realize how fortunate we with Ginos final diagnosis. We wish Dr Betts could always be our doctor, he was amazing, but we are glad to be closing this chapter in our lives.  

 Since we were in the area, we headed to the Oakland Zoo...couldn't get those pics to download but the kids had a good time. Fun to see Gino point to the animals he sees and try to talk to them.  Then we headed over the bridge to drop Mike off to meet his buddies at the Giants game. We had some time to kill and even drove down the tourist Lombard Street.  Fun day with the fam. 

Coldani Family headed to the Paso Robles Olive Oil Festival this past weekend, always a fun event - filled with great customers we are happy to see return each year! Giada came this year and joined in on the fun - especially with Freckles the clown!

My mom entertained the kids during the festival then we were off to Santa Barbara for a family wedding. Great visit with the MacLaggans that were in town! Great meeting Todd! Welcome to the family!

Apparently I was the only one ready for the picture! Giada then said, if Gino doesn't want to smile for the picture, I will!" lol  It was so hot - we enjoyed cooling off in the pool. Giada is getting more and more brave. Having Uncle Chris and Peter to jump in and throw her in the pool was so much fun, she is still talking about it! 

On the way home we were sure to hit the beach in Avila to visit with friends! Thanks for joining girls! Schafers- hope you get those kids to the beach more often, they loved it! ;) And as always Firestones did not disappoint!!! 

Random pics!

 He's a climber!

 Those teeth and that hair -Both have a mind of their own!!

 Giada loved her new twirl dress! And she looks so different with her bangs pulled back!

Thank you Heather for watching the kiddos! I needed those couple hours! :)