Crazy Helfet Extravaganza!

Last week, Otisfield Maine was overrun with Helfets from all over the globe. Just for context, this is what downtown Otisfield looks like:

The purpose of the reunion was to celebrate my Grandmother Edna's 90th birthday. I call her Gogo (pronounced with a british accent). This is her excited about cake:



Gogo travelled all the way from Plettenberg Bay, South Africa to be with everyone. Plett (as we call it) is here:


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What a trooper, seriously!

She was joined by all of her kids, and her kids' families. I'm still confused by where the apostrophe is supposed to go in that instance, but I figure you get the idea.

Also from South Africa, but from Cape Town, came my parents (accompanied here by my brother Dan and me):



Then from the UK came Gogo's son Keith and his wonderful family. This is Keith and his wife Gail:



And here are his two brilliant and gorgeous daughters Nicki:



and Charley:



Oh, I just realized that I have a shot of the whole family. Here it is:



From the illustrious NYC came Gogo's other son Clive with his also awesome family. Here's Clive and Keith being mischievous:



Clive's wife Susie enjoying the view from the dock:



And their son Aron who enjoys pretending he's an Abercrombie model:



From the left coast of the US, my brother Daniel and his family came from Portland OR. This is Becky:



And these are their awesome kids Theo and Henry:



Oh, and this is Dan:



If you put it all together, the whole crew looks like this:



This is the first time in the history of the world that there has been such an extensive gathering of the Helfet-under-Edna Clan, and it was really, really awesome as Cole would say.

There was tons of excellent food, goofing around in the water, playing in the basement on rainy days, enjoying the outdoor jacuzzi, and sitting around chillin'. The best thing though, was seeing all the different generations and families getting together and interacting with each other. It was quite a sight, and a real joy to be a part of.

Cole and his cousins Henry and Theo had a ball running around smashing things and giggling. Seeing them finally meet each other and become friends was a real treat.

To set the scene, this is the giant awesome mansion lodge thing we rented for the week:



Pretty sick right? And this is the pond the property is attached to:



Here it is at night:



I went out with my Dad at around midnight to get that shot, and while we were on the dock, we heard coyotes howling in the distance. It was incredible. They were distant enough that we weren't concerned, but we still went indoors soon thereafter. Who wants to take chances when it's almost a full moon?

We all spent a lot of time messing about in the water.













Those big inflatable things ended up looking a lot more fun then they actually were, but that's ok. Here's a bunch of other silly things we did away from the water's edge:













Cole finally learned to play Air Hockey:



Henry spectating (watch your fingers, eeek!)



Aron shared his saxy talents with us:



True loved it when my mom became absent-minded and stared at nothing:



There was lots of stuffed game all over the house. They were all friendly.



Happy Gogo on her birthday morning:




Giant yummy birthday meal!



And of course we enjoyed a lot of time by the grill and around the dining table:










That last one was at our good-bye dinner at a local restaurant.



Good night, Maine. Amazing to see you, family! So much love and fun. Too bad we're so spread across the earth. I'm so glad we can have so much fun and joy when we get together. What an awesome week. Thank you so much Gogo, for such a generous and loving gift.