Relative Something

Just like all the small-town fairs and carnivals that come up with names like “Schooner Days” (Eden Prairie, MN) or “Rutabaga Festival” (Cumberland, WI), this weekend is “Hays Days” at Wintervale.

Cyndie pulled out a collection of sidewalk chalk and Heidi Shatek created a gorgeous logo for our event. One highlight of the day was a visit from a relative my siblings had yet to meet. We share a great-grandfather because each of our grandfathers were brothers. I met Jim Hays after he contacted me while researching our ancestry. Now most of my siblings got to meet him too.

Another highlight was having our son Julian bring a drone that allowed the easiest group photo we’ve ever taken.

The scavenger hunt I devised worked out slick. I think I had more fun hearing about people finding one of the ten items than they did finding them. “Old metal gate in the woods… three different types of pine cones… carabiner clip in use… two different rain gauges… butternut tree seed pod…”

Asher was in his glory with all the attention and loved being in the middle of the action.

There was no shortage of scrumptious food prepared by loving hands to keep much of the activity close to the kitchen throughout the day. Toward evening, many of the folks needed to head home but two adults and a crowd of third-generation cousins hung around for a sleepover.

Tent camping was considered but the ease of just crashing indoors in sleeping bags won out. There was a chance of rain that bolstered that decision but rain never came. We continue to endure a serious dry spell that has the soil cracking and the dust under kicking horse hooves creating clouds.

As Hays Days winds down today we can turn our sights to another season. Yesterday we announced a save the date for February when the lake place is reserved as the sight of a winter gathering of our clan.

Here’s hoping we boost the numbers to include even more families than were able to show up to this weekend’s Hays Days at Wintervale.

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