Growing up, I had a gaggle of cousins ~ seriously, one of my dads was one of seven! And we saw each other often ... not just three or four times a year; I'm talking every other week! We lived 45 minutes away from the nearest, and yet I can't count the number of times we had sleepovers! So cool. (Thank you, Parent Group!)
I don't know that I ever realized then how lucky I truly was to have such a connected and fabulous family, but I know now how very fortunate and blessed I am. My cousins, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, and now my cousins' partners and kids ... we are a tight, extremely diverse, fabulously multi-talented, every-end-of the spectrum group, and it is AMAZING!!
For as long as I can remember, we have had a multi-day family reunion. It is one of my favorite vacations of the entire summer! Everyone is invited; we pitch tents, some get rooms ~ everyone tries to at least make an appearance. It's NOT to be missed. Why?? Because IT'S SO MUCH FUN! *When I was in my first summer of law school, I drove from Seattle to Chelan (round trip) three times so that I could enjoy as much of the week-long reunion as possible. I didn't want to miss a beat, so every other day, I left Chelan at 3 pm and returned at midnight after my night classes. That's how badly I wanted to be at that reunion! **I cried three years later when I thought I was going to miss the event because it was being held one week before the bar exam. But I didn't miss it. Instead, everyone timed and quizzed me as I ran flashcards and wrote essays on the beach! So much fun! (And, thankfully, I passed the exam. ; )
This last summer was no exception! And the long weekend was jam-packed with a new twist! Almost every family hosted a highlight: pickleball matches, football games, fish races, an outdoor theater, morning bootcamp, a ridiculously long slip-n-slide, smores galore, birthday cakes, rootbeer floats, potlucks, card games, kid-sized electric cars! There was always something new to see and do!
Here's a video of Collin and his cousin Emma at the Friday Night Feature (Fish Races!?!), brought to you by my Uncle Mike and mc'd by my Dad Bob:
We had a BLAST, and I am already looking forward to next year!
But first ... the Christmas party is less than a month away!! (Yes, we ALL get together for that every year too ~ crazy fun!) Woohoo!
