Robinson Family Reunion

I mentioned in the last post that Joe and I had just returned from a family reunion this past weekend.  We were down in Crowley's Ridge State Park near Paragould, AR.  It had been two years since the last time my Dad's side of the family had all gotten together, so it was really great to see everyone again!  A few cousins weren't able to make the trip and we missed not having them there.  People traveled from Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, Louisiana and Washington to be at the reunion!  We had the group lodging area at the park reserved for our family, so each individual family had their own cabin and then we shared a large kitchen/dining hall/game room.  Outside there was a pavilion with picnic tables, a nice fishing lake, and plenty of room for setting up corn hole and ladder golf.  Then across the road in the main park area there was a swimming lake and a couple of good trails.  We played a lot of yard games, card games and board games, did some swimming, hiking and fishing, and ate a lot of good food!  Two of Grandma's brothers and their wives even drove down for the day to visit with everyone.  It was a ton of fun and I think everyone had a blast!  I tried to take a bunch of pictures but I've realized that most of them ended up being of people throwing bean bags.  Here are some pics!

The first few pictures are actualy from a winery near St. Genevieve, MO that we decided to stop at on our way to Arkansas.  The signs by the interstate were a little deceptive and made us think that the winery was much closer than it really was.  Several miles and a few dirt roads later, we finally found it.  It is called the Cave Winery because it literally sits over a cave.  We tasted a few wines, bought a couple bottles, then made the quick walk down to the cave to check things out.  It was a pretty cool place and it would have been fun to spend some time there enjoying the wine, but we needed to hit the road again. 

A pretty pond at the winery.

The view from the top of the winery.

Rows of tasty grapes.

The "cave" part of the Cave Winery.  Pretty cool!

It was amazing how much cooler it was inside the cave.  

Now starts the family reunion pictures.  I wish we would have thought about doing individual family pictures and one big group picture.  Someone remind me to do that next time!

The kitchen and dining hall.

Picnic area.

The fishing lake at the group camping area.

One of the 5 cabins.  This one was my family's.

Hi, Mary! :)

Grandpa, Uncle Kenny and Zach doing some fishing.  Zach is an expert fisherman!

Starting on the right and going counter-clockwise we have: Grandma, Uncle Bob, Aunt Barb, Aunt Sharon, Lizzy, Jacob, Uncle Roger and Aunt Audrey.

Joe and Dad playing corn hole.

Sorry, Sara and Mary, I had to post this.  It looks like you two are doing an interpretive dance.  Sara is a wilting flower and Mary is channeling her inner monkey.  Aaaaah, makes me laugh every time :)

Hi, Sara!

This was a club house near the swimming lake.  It and a few other buildings were built during the Great Depression by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) to provide jobs.  

A few of "The Wishing Well" from across the lake.

The wishing well.

Wishing well from the top.

Joe was ready to do the bunny hop down the Dancing Rabbit Trail!

Grace, Madison, Sara and Aunt Audrey on a wobbly suspension bridge on the Dancing Rabbit Trail.

We had to walk single file along the path because there was quite a bit of poison ivy!

Mary, Grace and Madison on the suspension bridge.

The (Jerry) Robinson Family on the bridge.

Grandpa was a pro!

This game went on for quite some time.

L-R: Madison, Alex, Zach, Aunt Dawn and Uncle Kenny.  

Uncle Dean and Aunt Audrey

Well, that's all I've got for tonight!  We've got a reunion for Mom's side of the family coming up this summer as well, so be on the look out for that!  I also have a couple of cakes planned for next week.  One is an order and the other is just for fun.  I'm excited to do them and to show you all, especially since my cake blog posts have been the most popular so far.  I hope you all are having a great week!  The weekend is almost here so hang in there for a little longer :)  I may or may not just be telling myself that, haha!