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!

September Upate

Well the word is out by now. Gino and Giada will have another sibling.  

Gino is dead set on it being a boy and naming it King Kong.

 Chickens are still a big thing around here...they are drawn, held and loved.

 When Giada is at school on Tuesday's Gino has lots of fun with Nana.  We try not to tell Giada all the things that happen without her. Although she loves school, she surely doesn't want to miss out.

 Congratulations to cousin Emily. Looking forward to the big day next year! Love from Lodi!!

 Birthday donuts for Pops, and Birthday dessert with Matt. Lots of September birthday's in our family.

 Pickle time! We finally made them this year. Usually it is in August, but the crop wasn't ready.  We even tried some bread and butter ones this time.

Our days with Stella are always full of adventure. Gino and Stella ask me 100x when it is time to get Giada from school, and she is equally excited to see them at pick up!

 Grape Festival! This year Nonni took all her grandchildren and we were so happy to make memories with Cole.  Watching Cole get so excited when he pet the animals was certainly a highlight of the day.

 

Giada of course wanted to pet the snake. She wondered if it was the same one from the birthday and learned how to tell if it is a boy or a girl from this back dew claw thing by the tail. Claw means boy!

Gino was displaying his new signature move. Smile and eyes closed...hope this phase passes quick!

 

Brave Giada of course wanted to do every big ride. This one she loved. 

The Lorikeets have been here all summer. Giada wants to go see them everyday.  They went one last time before they fly back to Australia.

 Happy 8 years to us. Mike and I had a nice dinner out at Biba. We hadn't been there in awhile, and it never disappoints.  Always fun to eat somewhere that uses our oil as well.

 I hadn't been to the Stockton Children's Museum in a long time. It was a great morning. So much to do, and lucky for us field trips hadn't started yet, so the kids had run of the whole place. 

Yippee! We finally got to meet Max. Marina and Max came to visit the West Coast for a couple weeks and it was so fun to visit with him throughout the week.  He is the BEST sleeper. I had to force Marina to wake him up from his LONG naps after he had slept all night so I could hold him. Can't wait to see you both again in November Neps!

 Where did the time go! All of a sudden she is all grown up!