Monday, September 27, 2010

Home. .it does a body good!!

This past weekend found us in the pickup, headed east for a weekend with my people.  We haven't been able to be there since June. .and we last saw my middle brother and his family in March.  On the way, we stopped to get a pallet of creek stone to lay on the edge of the ever-transpiring pond.  Not far from their home, Devin spotted a huge swarm of migrating monarchs.  We had noticed them in abundance each mile of the trip, but hadn't seen anything like the hundreds of them all swarmed together in the sky! What an incredible sight!
This was the annual class reunion weekend.  I have a 20 year reunion next year, but was hoping to run into the class of '90 this year.  They have a fabulous parade.  We met my youngest brother and his 2 1/2 kids and wife at the parade.  The kids were a riot to watch as they made work of collecting all that booty! By the end, Haley and Cami had their biggest smiles and princess waves going on. They caught on VERY quickly, that if you do that. .people throw candy!!
Grandma told us to keep the candy away from PAPA!! But Teegan wasn't having any of it--he loaded him up.  Poor little 2 year old guy--At one point, he had so many candies in his hands that each time he picked one up, he dropped 2 more.  The look on his face as he frantically looked at all the candy around his feet and then at his full hands was PRICELESS!! We decided that it was toddler HELL--Too much candy and not enough hands!
Even Jeremy got in on the action of retrieving candy!

My aunt and uncle were home from Illinois this weekend for her class reunion.  One of the signs of a big family, is when you have a family member on nearly every 5th year float from 1965 till the present day!!  Aunt Alice is the lady in the white tee shirt second from the right--She looks very much like my dad--and it is always fun to listen to those two tell stories about things they used to do!! The twinkle in their eyes says it all!  They were good buddies, and seemed to find themselves in many adventures!! I'm sure they rubbed off on their 4 younger siblings, because the stories don't get any less crazy as the younger ones tell them!

My mom also participated in her reunion.  She would be the only one on the float looking at me. .the one with the big smile on her face! We didn't get to see her much! She had a class dinner Sat evening, but my sister and I enjoyed visiting with her until nearly midnight after she got home!
My middle brother had a class reunion too, but he didn't ride on the float.  Instead he had his own float, advertising his business as a veternarian. 
Grant and Devin decided to ride on the back of it with Aunt Tina and their three kids.  I was told that they were very helpful. . except for when Grant hit someone in the head with the candy they were throwing!  My sister and her kids rolled in from Topeka just in time to see the parade from the other end of town. So we missed their company!
Teegan, Haley, and Cami had quite a load of candy to take home with them!!
We enjoyed all of dad's family after the parade--everyone from Grandma, who will be 87 next week, to my youngest cousin (whom I have never even met) who will be 3 a few weeks after Cami.  The house was crowded and noisy, with a ton of commotion--just like I like it!!
Jeremy doesn't get that--his family is small and quiet.  So he spent some extra time downstairs at mom's watching football after his stent of socializing!  I just relaxed and soaked it all up--it has been a LOOONG time since we had that much family together!!  At one time there were around 38 of us indoors!  Indoors, only because it decided to rain after lunch. 
Between the rain messing up the afternoon festivities and the dip in temperature to the low 50's--we didn't make it back into town to see many extra people.  I didn't think to bring warm clothes!  Maybe next year!!

It is just a comfortable feeling to walk up the streets with all of the people that helped raise you and see that they are all doing alright too!  Coupled with many hours sipping wine and sharing stories with your own family. . .It don't get much better than that!!  There's NO place like home!!

Stay tuned--the pond took on form after we returned home yesterday--those photos and stories up next!!

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a GREAT time with family! Poor kids and all their candy at the parade. :) LOL It is fun to watch them run and pick it up!

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  2. I so miss those days of pandemonium reunions with my Grandad & the aunts,uncles, & cousins all in one house, my cousins & I causing all kinds of extra noise! My mom was one of 5 & they all talked loud, so the noise level was tremendous. Now, only Mom's sister-in-law & my dad are left. My cousins are all great-grandparents themselves, & we're old, but still rambunctious & loud. But the gatherings are less frequent as we try to catch up on who's who! Enjoy those family gatherings, because all too soon they are gone, with only memories.

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  3. GRR! I had this cute comment, pushed post, and some stupid error popped up. and now it's lost forever. OH well.
    Love the toddler hell! I LOL'ed at that one!
    Your family sounds a lot like my dad's family. There were 5 of them, and my grandparents, so when we were all together there were people EVERYWHERE!! Cousins telling secrets on the stairs, little cousins annoying and following around older cousins, annoying them. =) Stories that you've heard a million times, but stopped to listen to anyway. It was wonderful and I miss it!
    Can't wait to see the pond pictures!!

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  4. You are so fortionate to have family like that! Marion KS is a neat place. The pond is lookin good! DJ

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  5. Had a great time, wish we could have been there longer! I didn't realize there were about 38 of us there at one time.

    Kristi

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