Morgan Family Summer Reunion: Cousin Shenanigans

It is never a dull moment when the cousins are together, both at home and out on numerous adventures. As parents, our hearts are so full to hear the nonstop laughter and silliness that ensues whenever these sweet cousins are together. Thinking back to my childhood days with cousins, it gives me such joy to realize that these times together - no matter how chaotic and difficult to schedule - are creating lifelong memories for our kids that they will no doubt share and reminisce about for decades to come when the rest of us are long gone. I'm so thankful to my parents for bringing us all together with these summer reunions, and I'm praying they can continue despite the increasingly hectic schedules we find ourselves navigating.

The laughter and silliness was evident in all of our photos throughout the weekend. In addition to the times at home, there were quite a few more cousin outings this trip due to the fact that we had our first cousin driver, Renee, carting around some of the kids for random adventures. Of course, this is an unfamiliar experience for me - sending my kids off with a relatively new driver - so my rule for them was to send me photos while they were away in order to comfort my uneasy mind and assure me that they were safe. Leave it to Connor to doctor the photos (haha) but at least they indulged my request. 

There are always random cousin activities that seem to emerge out of nowhere. This year it was a sweaty garage workout with a few of the dedicated ones in the bunch. It cracked me up to see them together and especially when Ryah needed some motivation, which triggered Connor to morph into a demanding personal trainer alter-ego, yelling at everyone to work harder. Ha!

 

When the kids were younger, matching cousin outfits were all the rage and a big part of our event and picture planning. Now that they're older, it's down to Kaitlynn and Marissa to carry on the dying tradition. Kaitlynn has always fit right in with my brother's girls - she looks just like them and could easily pass as one of the 'M' cousins (Makenna, Madison, and Marissa). But it surprised all of us anew to see how similar Kaitlynn and Marissa look these days, especially when they dress alike. Love these sweet matching cousins!

For the second year in a row, the up-all-night-cousins-sleepover was highly hyped and anticipated. There is a lot of talk and planning for the fun that goes into this event. The entire rest of the weekend had to be worked around the cousins' ability to stay up all night and function the next day. So I guess you could say it was the pinnacle of the weekend fun, and it was anyone's guess who would survive the night. It caught us ALL by surprise, with Renee being the sole repeat survivor. Connor missed it by an hour when he accidentally fell asleep at 5:00 a.m. What a waste, ha!

On the afternoon after the sleepover, the kids had to rally fast because we had big plans to celebrate a huge milestone in the group: Renee's high school graduation! It hardly seems real (or fair!) that she could already be this grown and on her way to adulthood. My sister Michelle is handling it FAR better than I would be, no doubt! To celebrate the momentous occasion, we joined Renee in a shopping trip to a local mall followed by a nice lunch together as a group. Of course, we're quite the large gang, even when the men decided to stay home. We headed out for our shopping adventures and ended up splitting into some smaller groups. It's a good thing we were all prepared to do some shopping, because the wait for our table for lunch turned out to be 2.5 hours! It was a fun afternoon together despite the heat, and we were happy to have the special occasion to celebrate together.

When we got back home, it was time for the real celebration for Renee. Alli and her girls did a wonderful job with some outdoor decorations, and Renee was able to open her graduation gifts from the family. I may still be in misbelief that she is officially out of high school, but we were excited to celebrate her next chapter.

To cap off the long and busy day, it was time for another time-honored family tradition: the Morgan Freeman talent show! Yes, it's an odd name but that's what it is, and the cousins look forward to it year after year. Kaitlynn and Marissa tend to steal the show every summer, and this year was no exception. They spend hours and hours perfecting their routines, and this year's synchronized swimming and black light performances got them more "ooohs" and "aaahs" than ever before. So much talent in this family of ours!! ;) 

Phew! Writing about all of these cousin shenanigans makes me feel exhausted all over again. But as if that weren't enough, we packed in SO much more fun in our long weekend together. Next up and perhaps most special of all was the biggest and most momentous event we've ever celebrated in our Morgan family history: my parents' 50th wedding anniversary!

Morgan Family Summer Reunion: Fun and Games

One of our first summer activities as a family was one that we had been anticipating and looking forward to for months. In mid-June, our entire immediate Morgan Family was able to come together to have our long-awaited summer reunion. Due to the still-uncertain state of Covid spread and restrictions everywhere, Jeff and I hosted the entire gang at our home with a few of us staying overnight at nearby offsite accommodations. We were planning to pack in the fun and couldn't wait for everyone to arrive!

To kick off our long weekend, my mom and I headed out on a morning shopping excursion for some much-needed supplies and snacks for the whole gang. I noticed how we both came out wearing our Texas tees and couldn't resist getting some pics!

It wasn't long before my brother Jeb, Allison, and their girls arrived and the cousin fun was underway. Connor and Kaitlynn had a few scheduled activities and were excited to have some special visitors to see them play. Kaitlynn played a great game of basketball in her summer league, and Connor had a tournament at University of Houston where he snagged the Player of the Game award for his tremendous outing. It was the perfect game for Grand Daddy to attend!

Back at the crib, it wasn't long before the rest of the Morgan gang arrived and all of the usual indoor games were underway. Grand Daddy will play a game with anyone, anywhere, and the Morgan cousins rarely turn him down. There was also an epic 3-hour chess match between he and Connor. Believe it or not, the outcome was a draw! 

The games weren't limited to the indoors; the cousins and "big boys" alike enjoyed the pool all weekend. The weather cooperated nicely and the gang never got tired of taking a dip, day or night, including Jeb and Alli's furbabies, Rosco and Millie. But the late night games of H-O-R-S-E (basketball) no doubt will spawn stories for the ages. How in the WORLD did Ben keep making those ridiculous shots?? 

Of course, the fun and games always come at a cost. Only the strong can survive the extreme chaos and adventure that comes with our Morgan Family togetherness. The rest? Well, they descend into exhaustion, only to be photographed for blackmail along the way. Ha!

We packed in so many things during our long weekend together that I'll be sharing our memories in several more posts. Next up during the Morgan Family summer reunion: the fun continues with nonstop cousin shenanigans!