Or as I like to call it, preserving everything for posterity. It all kicked into gear on Thursday after I got into town in the morning. The early part of the day was all about seeing my parents and my great aunt and just all the pre-people reunion madness--including a trip to the neighborhood butcher shop/mini-slaughterhouse to put all the pop and beer in the fridge, 'cuz the butcher loves us. That night was when it started getting crazy!!!!
My sister, my brother, and my cousin Brooks from KC joined up with my almost brother Ben, Tom's roommate Gabe, and Natalie's friend from work Sara (BTW Natalie=sister, Tom=brother; there will be a quiz), and we had some coronas at Nat's house before heading to the local double A farm team baseball game. Then, being that it was 'Thirsty Thursday' which meant $ beers, we drank some more--much more, no idea how much more. Sometime after the 7th inning stretch we decided that was more then enough baseball (on free tickets from one of my sister's students), so we headed to the local beer and wine only bar 'The Dugout' for guess what? If you said more $ beers you win a big fat cupcake. Tom, Gabe, and I walked over since we had accumulated far too many people for the car we came in.
At the dugout, Alissa (my sister's bf) was saving seats for us and for my sister's roommate Jen and Ben's older brother Brian and his friends. Then we adopted a guy named Paul because he was by himself at a choice table. At this point things get fuzzy, I know there was singing, talking, some dancing--in general much gaiety. My brother and I even managed some aerial dance tricks in this very non-dancey bar; it was sweet, we even got my mom to come out for a drink. Sometime near the end of this madness I managed to find myself in conversation with a 23 year old I have known forever which I thought was just an average run-of-the-mill conversation because he's 23 and (though adorable) it never occurred to me he would want anything more then conversation from me.
About this time the bar closes and my youngest (not-yet-legal) brother and some friends come get us and take us back to my sisters house. Here there is more drinking--this time tequila shots and tequila sunrises--and eventually some making out and more with the young'un. That is all I will say about that except that I had a good time and am apparently back to my old tricks with younger men, but that is what vacation is for.
Friday=hungover, big time. Big black circles under my eyes and throwing up breakfast was the order of the day, but I managed to recover enough to go winetasting that afternoon with my family. We even got free extras because we starred in a video travel journal for the winery. It was great, and then we were back at my parents as everyone started to arrive from all over--there was dinner and many hugs. Later that night we went to the frat-type-bar mentioned before in the blog, and the best part of that night was middle of the night tacos.
Saturday=all family all the time. There was good food, more hugs, more people, a horseshoe tournament (I made it to the second round), a rock-paper-scissors tournament, beer, late night volleyball, and a fight with my mother. The day part was awesome--all the fun you would expect from a reunion. We did the wave during a game of horseshoes.
The night part was good too--until around 10pm when my mom and a few of my aunts and cousins and my sister were all in the kitchen preparing for brunch the next morning and cleaning up after that day. I was in the other room with both my brothers and a few more cousins (all male), and I wasn't worried that I was shirking my duty because no one had told me to do anything, and I figured the 6 people in the kitchen were okay. Then my mother comes into the other room and yells at me to come into the kitchen and help people get ready for tomorrow (as if I was the only person in the room having fun instead of working). I go, but I make a comment about the painfully blatant sexism in my being singled out which gets me in a little more trouble. Anyway, I end up mopping the floor, but I tell my mother calmly (after I have chilled a little) that if she would like me to do something all she has to do is ask instead of singling me out for embarrassment and chastising. I am not psychic, and I am not going to invent work for myself on my vacation, and I am not a Susie homemaker like my sister--that just isn't the way life is. I will do stuff, but ask me or I won't think of it--don't single me out to demand things of me in an embarrassing way. So, she apologized and assigned me a job for the next days work. Then my sister and I went home to bed.
My brother, his two best friends, and my two cousins then went out and bought a gallon of milk each to drink in one hour or less. Then they puked, a lot and it is all on film. I watched some of it the next day, and it was pretty hilarious.
Sunday morning my sister, one of my boy cousins, and I get up and go to church with the fam, say goodbye to my brother, and eat a big brunch. It was awesome.
I finally get some rest on vacation after everyone disperses for home. I did a little more wine tasting, some swimming, and I got to see the wonderful new space of the children's theatre I used to work for. All in all a sweet vacation, and I got home easy enough on the airplanes and before the lovely new rules and restrictions.
