Two years ago when the Ritterbusch's were all sitting together in Yellowstone we started talking about where we wanted to host the next one and the group decided it was Dad's turn to host (usually one branch of the family takes on the job, picks the location, hosts the big meal and generally plans some activities or suggested activities for the group). We landed on the Devil's lake area because of it's proximity to where the family grew up (Hubertus Wisconsin) and because of it's proximity to Uncle Ray and Aunt Jean.
We LOVE this area of the world and have been spending quite a bit of time camping up here in recent years. We're even looking into buying a piece of property in this area, but haven't quite found the right piece just yet - maybe someday we'll move up there full time, but for now, we're just looking. The Devil's Lake/Wisconsin Dells area is great because there is a good mix of outdoor fun and other "touristy stuff" to do all within a 30 minute drive. The Devil's Lake State Park is consistently rated the best part in Wisconsin year over year and it books up 11 months to the date - seriously, I'm not kidding. It's one of those places that you have to book within a few hours of the sites being available or you're not getting a spot in the summer months.
The reunion is typically planned for a full week, but the big get together is scheduled for a Thursday which means people are able to travel into town when they're able and hang out for as long as they can. Us McGrath's booked sites to camp for the entire week (Friday to the following Sunday) along with Mom and Dad and a few others (Uncle Rusty, Matt and Karen, Cousin Jeff). Other joined a few days later and even more trickled in throughout the week. Actually, Ryan and I left the camper and the girls with my parents on Sunday afternoon and went home to work for a few days at the start of the week. My new job and Ryan owning his own company made it hard to get away this summer, but we did the best we could and made the most of the days we were there!
I arrived back on Wednesday night just in time for a full few days of family activities for the rest of the weekend. Thursday, which I already mentioned is the big get together, we started out by doing a big group reservation for the Wisconsin Ducks. If you've never been, its an iconic Wisconsin Dells tourist attraction that probably everybody should do once in their life (as a kid). As an adult, it's not nearly as cool as I remember it...but it was fun nonetheless! We took up 1.5 full ducks to fit the whole family. There's a great group shot of us floating around my house somewhere but I can't seem to put my hands on it right now so I'm posting anyways.
My favorite part about the reunion is getting to catch up with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles and family. The North Carolina families are always so fun to hang out with and so welcoming. It's impossible for me to resist slipping into a southern accent (which I do NOT have) whenever I'm around them. I swear, they'll have me saying ya'll within 30 minutes of giving them my first hug.
After the Ducks adventure we all headed home to gather the food, swimsuits, chairs and whatever else we needed and head over to the picnic shelter Mom and Dad rented for the family reunion. The weather was amazing, the location was perfect, the food was great, and darn it if we didn't just have a great afternoon hanging out. We all ate too much food. There was pulled pork, fresh corn on the cob, homemade macaroni and cheese, buffalo chicken dip, cookies, cupcakes and so much more!
I pre-set a time for a mandatory family photo. We were missing a few, so we grabbed them at two different times. I had to drag more than a few reluctant teenage cousins into the second shot, but we got nearly everyone the second time!
There were family pictures spread all over one picnic table and lots of family stories to go around if you asked the right people. Dad and Jeff shared a few words about Uncle Ray who sadly passed away last year and some funny stories about Grandma - one that even led to a bubble blowing contest and sitting on water balloons to see if the they'd pop.
Hazel was super excited to win the bubble contest. She's been working on her bubble blowing skills for a few years now but when Dad mentioned a contest awhile back she put in some real effort to get good at it and it sure paid off - in Bazooka Bubblegum that is.
Friday we spent the day at the water park which the kids LOVED. It was actually quite enjoyable even for me, who went on exactly zero rides (unless you count a few turns in the wave pool and two or three loops around the not-so-lazy river). The girls hung out with some of the bigger cousins who were going on rides and Joey and Andy adopted them into their family to do some slides and rides (THANK YOU JOEY!). If we ever do it again, Mt. Olympus was definitely worth the money for the day. Course, the three tables with chairs and umbrellas I snagged, right next to the tiki bar, didn't hurt either!
We haven't quite landed on where the next family reunion will land. But, it's sounding like we're heading south and east. I'm hoping for the Red River Gorge area or for the Smokies. We're looking to extend it out 3 years this time instead of the 2 we've been doing so I'm guessing we'll start to nail down a location in the next 12-18 months. It goes fast!
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