Westover reunion in Oregon

 What a great day!  For our first full Westover reunion day, we took a leisurely float down the Willamette river.  This river in July is very tame and very shallow.   We had 2 rafts and 2 canoes loaded with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandma Walburger.  We were quite a sight!

Most of the crew...before loading the boats.

Lydia and beloved cousin Amber wait for their turn to climb aboard

I love this next picture.  Allison and cousin Sam have formed a special bond.  Sam is 100% boy...very fast and wants to be everywhere at once! If we ever wondered where Sam was, we just had to find Allison who always kept a watchful eye on her favorite cousin and buddy.

Sam and Allison are ready to go!

Poor Lydia was terrified of this adventure.  She begged us the night before to just leave her at her friend's house for the day.  I'm not sure how we convinced her to go but I think that she was glad that she went along for the ride.  There were a few moments (like when our boat drifted too close to shore and crashed into a giant bush) that Lydia was petrified.  All it took was for her uncle Jeremy to get out of the boat and run alongside, showing her that the water was only inches deep.

Here is the view of the other raft floating gently down the river.  We had water fights as we passed each other. 

About halfway through our float, we stopped at a little island, pulled our boats ashore and jumped off the rocks into the semi-deep water.  It was so fun!

Here are some of my girls, uncle Jared and cousin Aaron waiting for their turn to jump off of the rocks.  Thank goodness for life jackets.  They put this nervous mom's mind at ease.

This river was so quiet that amazing Aunt Charlotte even took baby Caleb on the raft.  At one point, he fell asleep and took a nice nap.

We finally ended our float at a park just past Island park.  We were going to stop at Island park but were having so much fun that we decided to go on for another mile.  This park turned out to be a better option as Island park was closed for July 4 festivities.  Here, the kids could play on the playground and have a nice lunch.  

 Casey and I had created (at Grandma Walburger's request) a Springfield history scavenger hunt.  So, following lunch, we divided into 3 teams and set out to accomplish the hunt.  We had several stops throughout downtown Springfield that taught the cousins about their "heritage."  (The whole Westover clan was born and raised here.)

They had to visit the old train station and learn about what lumber company was the major employer of the brand new town of Springfield.  (It was Booth Kelly Lumber)

They had to visit the Springfield museum and learn several interesting facts about Springfield like where it got it's name.

They also  had to visit the first hospital in Springfield... which was established in 1906 and still stands.  (Though now, its an apartment complex.)

Most of you probably know that Springfield, Oregon was the inspiration for the "Springfield" of the "Simpsons."  Of course, they had to get a picture with one of two Simpson's statues in downtown.

Here is the other one.

The white horse statue is probably the most recognizable Springfield monument.  It was donated to Springfield on the 100th birthday of the state of Oregon.  Everyone knows where the white horse is!

This is the first movie theater in Springfield.  It is now an aquarium.

When we got back to Grandma's house, we hooked up our phones to Casey's computer and he uploaded all of the photos.  We had so much fun seeing each other's pictures and assigning scores.  (Aunt Maria and Uncle Kelly's team won).

All in all, an exhausting, exciting and educational day in our hometown of Springfield.  We SOOO love living here!

Here is a recap of the whole reunion week!