Monday, June 28, 2010

Family Reunion Recap

This past weekend was spent with my mom, wife and brother at a family reunion on my dad's side in Black River Falls. It was well attended (over 40 of us), impeccably organized due to a ton of hard work by my cousin Cathy, and was held at a perfect location on a perfect day.

Some relevant insights from the weekend:
  • While we never did too much as an extended family while growing up, it is surprising the closeness that I felt over the weekend. There's something about blood; it's tangible, and it was fun for me to feel and see.
  • When this crew gathers, you don't want to be late to get a piece of cake.
  • Just like other aspects of life where two outlooks dominate life (Democrats vs. Republicans, Gophers vs. Badgers, Catholics vs. everyone else), marshmallow philosophy boils down into two camps split very evenly - brown and toasty (the right one) and burned and black (yuck).
  • Do not, repeat, do not, under any circumstances, go to the Pizza Hut in Black River Falls.
  • While we had great attendance, I was struck by the amount of time conversations rolled to folks who weren't there, and how much they were missed.
  • Jimmy and Jay really need to take their stuff out on comedy tour. Highly entertaining.
  • Random meetings with pirates with glow sticks can be kind of interesting.
  • As a family, we have a lot of which we should be proud and thankful.
  • I can't remember the last time I shotgunned a beer (which is probably not surprising), and was grateful that I can still do so. I think.
  • What's "scary" in terms of campfire stories is in the eye of the beholder. I'm just happy that the story didn't morph to involve Tavaris Jackson. Now that would have been really scary.
  • There's a definite lag of time that should be observed between marshmallow cooking and eating, and significant ramifications for not observing it.
  • Last, and most important: my brother and I are the official holders of the Sidders/Lewis/Murphy Golf Ball Ladder Game Championship. We welcome all challenges.
What a great weekend. Thanks to everyone for coming out, and for the hard work that made it such a success. I look forward to seeing you all again.

1 comment:

  1. Great recap but you forgot the water slide - I think I have a couple pictures.......B

    ReplyDelete

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