For those of you not closely acquainted with the Lewis’ I will give you a quick rundown. My dad is the youngest of four boys, borne to my grandparents William and Shirley Lewis. Bill is the oldest, Dean is second, and Perry is third. Bill is eleven years older than my dad and Perry is seven. So my dad (Steve) is the baby-baby. Or was. Is? I think being the youngest (or oldest) is one of those things you never really overcome. Anyway…

From those four sons came twelve grandkids. Six are older and six are younger, with five years separating the two groups. The older ones are in thier late twenties and early thirties. I, at twenty-three, am the oldest of the younger cousins. My sisters are the babies of the cousins. There is actually only six(?) years between Alyssa and Esther, the oldest great-grandkid.

And there are a LOT of great-grandkids now. Katy is mom to Essie, Sam, and twins Zach and Joey (ages 9,8, and almost 6 I think). Kari has Dominick, Breanna, and Isaac (7, 5, and just-turned 1), go to her post to see some great pictures, especially the one where it looks like Ali is break dancing or something. Anna has Emilie, Eli, Grace, and brand-new Anderson (7,6,4, and less than two months). And Heather is mama to Boston (almost three) and ready to have baby Cooper any day. Add Ali to the mix and that makes thirteen…..almost fourteen.

So, there were a lot of Lewis’, former Lewis’, friends of Lewis’, and those married or born to Lewis’ all gathered in one spot. Which, btw, was Rivercrest park in Oregon City. Could not have been a more perfect location. Though it was about 100 degrees there was plenty of shade and even a spray park for the kids to cool off in. And, sometimes, the adults.

Ali and Isaac. Less than six weeks apart, they both seem to be at that age where they’re much more interested in older kids.

The leis were for the Hawaiian theme. Hydration was key in the hot weather.

There are a lot of August birthdays. From the back left: Katy, Bill, Isaac, Anna, Boston, Ben, Nana and Grandpa (who is actually a March baby).

She is so adorable. I love that halter back dress on her.

Ali and Isaac (and in the background my cousin Hannah) playing at the spray park. Isaac is a much better walker than Ali but in this pic they both are looking pretty proficient. It’s amazing how much these kids have grown in just a year.

Late August 2007.

Our little water girl.

Trista and Alyssa getting in on the action.

Actually, it was so funny…some little kid (like 7 or 8 ) got some crush on Trista and kept following her around squirting her with one of those huge squirt guns. But, really, can we blame him?