Family Time in Okoboji

Our summer of fun continued with a Chesnut family trip to Okoboji.  

The first few days were a little chilly, but nothing a few blankets and cuddling with cousins couldn't fix!

 This was the inaugural Okoboji trip for Justin's parents pontoon.

 They decided to retire the 40 year old Crestliner for a boat to fit more grandkids!

Justin in his happy place...driving his boat!

 A perfect afternoon on the lake is complete with a drink at the Barefoot Bar.

 Whit was more interested in continuing her nap! 

 Hope she doesn't find herself asleep under the table in 20 years.

 She did wake up in time for some solo tubing!!!

 There was a lot of tubing during our trip....with many different combinations of cousins!

 The water carpet was a new addition to the lake toys this year.

 Another Day.....Another Nap

 Macy's first attempt at skiing

 The traditional "facing the water" pose

 10 Chesnuts, 10 years old and under

 French Fry Face

 Pizza and Pop before Minions

Life is Good at the Lake!

Happy Birthday, America!

What's better than 1 "Cousin Week"?!?!?!......2 "Cousin Weeks"!!!!

My cousins and their families always come up to my parent's house in MN for 4th of July.  

This year the 4th fell right after our week in Iowa, so we went from cousins in Iowa to a week with cousins in MN who live in Nebraska and Colorado.

These little divas in their hot pink and turquoise are only 4 weeks apart in age!

 Whit didn't have a hip hat, so she went with the tiara!!!

A field trip to the Arboretum to see the Lego nature structures:

 12 Forsberg great grandchildren:

4 Chesnuts from Malaysia

3 Kaminskis from Nebraska

3 Whitneys from Nebraska

2 Whitneys from Colorado

 Nothing says 4th of July like a birth order photo in red, white and blue

 Fun at the park:

 Happy Birthday, America!!!!

 A trip to the Big Thrill Factory was a great way to get rid of some energy.

Life is Good with more cousins and traditional get togethers for the holidays!

Cousin Week in Iowa

We were lucky to have "Cousin Week" again in Iowa this summer. 

 It's a week of fun activities and a lot of giggles, laughs and......

popsicles!!!!!

This year, 15 Bengtson great grandchildren participated. 

The week kicked off with the annual softball game.......

Whit was more interested in the open grass area to drive than play ball!

No better place to take hungry cousins than Hickory Park!!

Then, it was off to the Children's Theatre to watch Mulan.

The Mommies and Grandmas had a fun night out to chat without kiddo chaos.

 Little Mommy Kaylee really liked cuddling with Layla.  

A little rain wasn't going to put "Cousin Week" kickball on a delay!

A great group of 15 cousins.....They are getting pretty quick getting themselves in birth order!

The big finale of the week was an adult night at Prairie Meadows.  No one came home a huge winner, but we had fun watching the horses and cards flipping at blackjack!

 Life is Good with Cousins...

especially when there are 15 of them who are 10 years and under and they get a long so well.

Whitney's Baptism

The last 5 weeks of our summer in the US has been a whirlwind of seeing friends and family and travel.  We've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to post any of our adventures.

All 6 of us arrived in the US on Wednesday, June 10.  We had a few days to get over jet lag in Minnesota before heading down to Iowa for our first big event.  On Sunday, June 14, Whitney and our niece were baptized.    The other 3 girls were all baptized as infants, but when living in Indiana and now Malaysia we never had a good time to gather family.

 Whitney did a great job. 

 We had prepped her that a man would be putting water on her head and she needed to let it happen.

I was a little nervous she may scream, "Stop getting me wet!!!"

 Kyle and Ellen were sponsors for Whitney.....

.......and Justin and I were sponsors for Layla.

 The Chesnut Crew

 The Bengtson Family

My parents, brother and sister in-law also made the trip down to Iowa.

Life is Good with family gatherings!