Perkins Family Reunion

Last weekend the girls and I headed up to the Perkins Family Reunion (my mom's siblings and their families).  This year it was just outside Lassen National Park in Old Station.  I was glad we headed to higher elevations to escape the 100* heat at home.  

The week before the reunion turned out to be a crazy one, my mom had an emergency appendectomy.  Thankfully all went well and before we left she was at home recovering nicely.  I had originally planned on camping (next to my parents trailer) but opted to switch to a motel room when one opened up. I was glad to not have to worry about setting up camp, and having a bathroom in the room was much appreciated.

Friday's activity was hiking the Bumpass Hell trail in Lassen.  The drive to the trail head was beautiful, I don't know why I have never made it to Lassen before it really isn't that far away.  The hike was a bit long for Ally, I was a little worried when she was tired even before we made it to the mud pots.  

We made it to the smelly, steaming boiling mud.  Ally was so funny, she did not appreciate the sulfur smell and plugged her nose most of the time.  She did like seeing the boiling mud and different colors.

Uncle James packed Eva the whole way and she got to enjoy the scenery.  The hike back up from the mud pots was pretty steep and Ally was so tired, she lucked out and hitched a ride from one of my cousins.  Even after we were back on the flat trail she was pooped and another cousin stepped in and carried Ally the rest of the way.  

We had a delicious ice cream lunch at the Manzanita Lake store as a reward for finishing the hike.  Ally said she didn't want an ice cream but soon changed her mind and finished off my ice cream.

Ally and Noah (the boy in the middle) became best friends at this reunion.  The other boy was just a fellow camper that liked to play with Ally...he was 6 and a bit of a know it all.  She remembered him from the last reunion (2 years ago) and would talk about him all the time.  Thursday night she and Noah were playing hide and seek having fun.  When they finished she sat next to me and asked "but where is Noah?" she didn't even know she had already been playing with him.  These two had so much fun together running, playing and getting filthy dirty.  Their favorite activity was sitting in the dirt and playing trucks.

I took this picture to show just how dirty Ally was, but you can't really tell.  I had already wiped her face off  because I just couldn't stand it.  

My parents surprised everyone by coming up and joining the reunion.  My mom was feeling a lot better and she really wanted to see everyone.  They also stayed in the motel since she still needed to rest, everyone was glad they came.  

We of course had a silly skit from some of the Earl family.

That was followed by a "visit" from two of our ancestors.

James was George Washington Perkins, my great great grandfather who was a rider for the Pony Express,

My cousin Zane (Noah's daddy) was Ute M. Perkins, my great grandfather who worked on the ore cars for the mines near Magna, UT.

Saturday started off a little rough for Ally, she was so tired from all the fun, late nights and no naps.  She had a little meltdown after breakfast when she found out we were skipping out on swimming (later that day) in favor of naps. 

Our first stop for the day was a lava tube.  It was a huge lava tube (my kind of caving...I am not a fan of small spaces) that was fun to explore.

Papa carried Eva and she is checking out some lavacicles on the ceiling.  It was so nice and cool in the caves    

Ally loved exploring the cave with the borrowed headlamp.

After the cave we headed north to Burney Falls, another place I have always wanted to visit.  It was much hotter, really hot, but the falls were beautiful.  

We hiked down to the base of the falls and enjoyed the cool spray from the falls.  Ally really wanted to go swimming but she had to settle for just putting her feet in.  The water was so cold!  A few brave (crazy?) people did jump in (James, Luwanna, Jimmy, Wes, John and John Wes) but they didn't (couldn't) stay in the water long. Later we heard a ranger said the water temperature was about 40*!

Eva was pretty tired at this point, but she was a good sport hanging out in the backpack.

Poor Eva was confined to the stroller/high chair/backpack for most of the reunion.  She got to run and play in the motel room and a few times she got to walk around outside.  She really was patient with being confined so much.  

Tiara and Jimmy were such great helpers, my girls are lucky to have such fun older cousins (I am lucky to have such a helpful niece and nephew!).  Jimmy played many games of hide and seek with Ally and Tiara was always showing up to help me get the girls ready to go.  Family is the best!

Saturday night we had our family auction.  Ally and Noah are scoping out the goods.  It was so fun, Ally and Eva both came away with new stuffed animals and all sorts of "stuff".  I mostly got outbid on the things I wanted but the girls were happy.  

Sunday we took our time packing up and saying goodbye.  I was in no hurry to get back to the heat at home.  My parents wanted to drive through Lassen National Park on the way home and we decided to follow them.  Sometimes you just need to take the scenic way.

Eva took a short nap on the drive to the park and enjoyed stretching her legs when we got out to explore.  Thankfully she still fell asleep from about Red Bluff to Lower Lake.  Ally held out a lot longer, but when I refused to put in another movie she finally gave in and slept for about an hour.

It was another fun reunion that went by much too fast.  Two years until the next one, rumored to be in Jackson Hole.