Norris Family Reunion: Pinnacle Preserve Hike

One morning while in Lake George, a large group of my family went on a hike at Pinnacle Preserve in the town of Bolton which is like 15 minutes from Lake George. There was a little bit of rain when we started but there were so many trees on the hike that kind of kept the rain out. It was a quick short/steep hike but the views were totally worth it. We do a decent amount of hiking in AZ when it is not dangerously hot but this trail was much different than AZ hike. There were a few times where I wasn't even sure if we were going in the right direction. Most Arizona trails are extremely clear and well travel so the path is easy to follow. Once we got to the top the views of the lake were amazing. It was actually even a bit hot with the sun beating down since we were above the trees. All in all the hike was probably less than an hour but it was a lot of fun. When I was younger I never realized how active or not active my family was but now that I am older I realize just how active we are and I hope that sets a good example for the girls as they grow up.

My sister, brother, and his girlfriend

Kim hiked while wearing baby Nora

 

so pretty!

 

Amazing lake views!

Norris Family Reunion: Water Fun!

While up at Lake George for the family reunion we got in lots of water time. We actually got a decent amount of rain while we were there which maybe bummed other people out but us Arizonans love any rain we can get so it didn't bother me. The kids did a little swimming at the pool at the cottages which was convenient. Our family rented a boat for our time there that we all shared so we could take it out on the lake and go fishing. Also, we almost found out the hard way that you need fishing license to fish on Lake George. Tony talked us out of a ticket, thankfully. I don't fish but I had fun out on the boat exploring the lake. Some of the family also went out to Million Dollar Beach with the kids to let them swim and play in the sand. We obviously don't get a lot of beach time in Arizona so that was good for the kids. It was a really pretty lake and much bigger than Keuka is so I am really glad we got to experience that.

 

Norris Family Reunion: 5k

On our last family reunion at Keuka Lake, a big portion of our family ran in a small local 5k and we were able to find another one not too far from Lake George while we were up there. We ran in the Friends of Wilton Rec Parkfest 5k. I believe there were a total of 85 runners and our family reunion represented 22 of them, haha. That doesn't include the kids race, too. We lucked out and didn't get rain during the run and it wasn't overly humid. It was a fun little route through a very nice neighborhood in Saratoga Springs, NY. My cousin was the 2nd fastest female and her boyfriend was the 5th fastest male. I was happy to finish 17 seconds behind my 21 year old college soccer playing sister and before both of my much faster sisters (when they haven't just had a baby). Justin ran really fast too which is annoying because he is not nearly as consistent with his running as me (damn genetics). Hopefully he gave some of his quick genes to the girls. Everly had a bit of a meltdown due to shyness at the beginning of the kids run but finished strong and looked so cute running. My uncle helped sooo much with all of the little babies so that we could run and my brother-in-law kept Aspen which helped a ton too. She made it easy for him though and slept almost the entire time we were gone! I don't really know how it happened exactly, but this family ended up with a lot of runners. My aunt and cousin have run several marathons. I have run one but many more of us have run half marathons and a lot of us run regularly. I don't think that is normal but I do think it is really cool. Here are some pictures from the morning:

Nice cool morning!

 

waiting for the start

Pre-run group picture!

My cousin sprinted at the end to beat our uncle and my awesome aunt on the right

My sisters boyfriend on the left (who ran a 10k with me a few days before) and my uncle on the right.

My uncle on the left and mom and cousin on the right

 

Uncle Jack and the babies

Kids run time

So cute once she stopped freaking out.

our runner family!

Norris Family Reunion: Country Cottages, Lake George, NY

I still have a few more posts about our time at our family reunion in Lake George, NY last month. Once we left Rochester and got to Lake George, we spent the family reunion at the Lake George Country Cottages & Motel. I am sure there are nicer places to stay in Lake George but I really think this worked out well for our family. Some people had their own bigger 2 and even 3 bedroom cottages and others had smaller condo's or units. We stayed in a regular "motel" room but it had a little kitchenette with a fridge, sink, microwave and coffee maker and was plenty big enough for our family of four. We also were able to take advantage of my mom's cabin to cook breakfast and hang out when we needed to. There was a big grassy lawn area in the middle of the property with a pool, big gazebo, playground, fire pit, and grills. This was probably the best part and where we spent most of our time. Everyone just hung around outside and the kids had a blast playing with each other. Every night was spent making s'mores and staying up way too late drinking by the fire. It was so nice to stay up till 1 AM just hanging out with family. It is so out of my usual routine which normally includes going to bed at 9 p.m. but hey that is what vacation is for, right? We have a really big family (I think there was 49 people there) so it was hard to find a place that could accommodate us all but this ended up working out perfectly!

 

Our room was right in front of that black car

Big grassy area for the kids to play in

Lots of time spent here

These kids had so much fun playing together

silly boys!

 

lots of time spent around the fire pit

 

some of the Dad's with their babies

Still got my workouts in including a run with that lake view and a circuit with my sister

s'mores every night including that Reese's variation on the right

Couldn't go on vacation without ipads!