family time

When I was a little girl I lived just a few blocks away from my paternal grandparents and about an hour from my maternal grandparents. With my dad's family we were always together with cousins and aunts and uncles. Grandma cooked dinner on Sunday's, Thanksgiving and Christmas for her large extended family. After school I would walk to her house on some days for a treat or cooking lesson in her small kitchen. My cousins were like my siblings and when my aunts and uncles spoke I knew I need to jump. Once a year we would pack it up and ALL of us would head to the High Sierras to go camping. Grandma made it look so easy.

On my mom's side things were not quite so chaotic, but still lots of fun. Nana and Papa had a pool and we would spend summer afternoons swimming and lounging outside. We would have a special Christmas get together the weekend before Christmas at our house with all aunts, uncles and cousins. This family group was a little different since I have an uncle just 4 years older than me (he is younger than my husband!!) and our cousins were younger than us, but we still had lots of fun--just different.

The last 30 hours have been so much fun and so busy. Let's call it a mini family reunion--though we never had everyone here at the same time. Two came late last night and one had to work this morning--BUT, we had all cousins together for lots of fun and frenzy the whole time.

We got out the giant blue tarp, sprayed the kids with shaving cream and had so much fun slipping and sliding. We had contests like watermelon seed spitting and eating gummy worms from oreo cookie dirt like a bird. We spread PB our our hands and counted how many marshmellows would stick and used chop sticks to pick up grapes. Then my sweetheart fired up the grill and we had grilled corn, hot dogs, BBQ, fruit, baked beans and potato salad. We topped it all off with Chocolate cake (see recipe on side bar) and home made ice cream.

We gave the parents the night off and all grandkids without diapers were invited for a sleepover. We had 10 kids sleeping all over the house, and sleep they did from 10pm till after 7 this morning--pretty good.

My Grandma made it look so easy. I have many wonderful memories of fun times with cousins. I remember taking my children and having fun with my cousins and their children. Today I am exhausted and there are leftover things everywhere. But I also have a giant smile on my tired face.

I am thankful for my children and their spouses who sacrificed so much to come and share this time with us. It was good to see my sons play and have fun together with their brothers in law. It was nice to see my daughters visit with their sisters in law and talk about their homes, families and babies. It was especially enjoyable to see all the cousins play and bond and have fun. Today we number 28, by September we will be an even 30. Getting everyone together is not an easy task. My oldest and her family will be going back to Europe in August and will not be able to travel back here for 3 years. Three year old Brody commented after his 10 hour drive--"Wow, that took a really long time!!"

I know it is difficult when you have 6 busy families to coordinate times and schedules, but I appreciate the effort. Thank you, my children, for making me very happy. Thank you for pitching in and helping prepare the meals and clean up the messes we all made. Thanks for playing the games and having fun and laughing. It was a wonderful day and a half--You are the best. Can we do it again sometime??? Three years, let's make a date.

I am so proud to be your mother. It was a great 30 hours.