Summer Travel: T.G.I.O(VER)!

And today we’re back, safe and sound.

First we headed to St. Pete Beach to spend the 4th of July at Mom and Dad’s. It’s become an annual tradition now that the whole family gets together over that holiday to celebrate, not only the 4th, but Dad’s and my niece Emerald’s birthdays. We have a big party at the house, with lots of food, swimming, balloons, cake, and presents. The kids love it. It’s a bit of an ordeal—so many people in one place—but it’s fun.

No sooner had we gotten home from that trip than we got back in the mini-van and headed north to Illinois to attend Brian’s family’s reunion. His one aunt and uncle live in a very nice house on a lake. Again, more swimming, food…..no balloons, cake or presents, but plenty of “fellowship” with all the relatives.

Brian and I hadn’t been to one of these annual reunions in seven years. We were shocked at how big some of the cousins’ children had gotten. Kids we remembered being little 9-year-olds are now starting to think about college! The one boy I remember holding as a baby—before I got pregnant myself and was in my desperate-for-a-baby stage—is now going into the 5th grade!

But life is all about change. The main reason we went to the reunion in the first place was to see Brian’s grandma Helen. She is turning 94 this year and is in fine health but doesn’t have much energy or inclination to really get up and go get ‘em, if you know what I mean. We really wanted to see her and have her see our boys. The last time we had a chance to visit with her was the last time we attended a reunion, and Urban was just a few months old. She’d never met Charlie or Levi!

It was wonderful to see her and be able to give her a hug. It made me want to cry. It’s sad how families are so separated these days—everyone living so far from everyone else. She was so very happy to see us, though. She told Brian and I we “hadn’t changed a bit,” which to me was a huge compliment! I would have liked to have sat and really had a nice long conversation with her, but her hearing is very poor now, and with all the commotion at the reunion, it really wasn’t possible unless I wanted to try and get her to hear me by yelling the whole time. She seemed happy to just sit and play Skip-Bo, her favorite card game, with some of her sons and grandkids. But when we visited her at her apartment in the morning, prior to the reunion, I did get to sit next to her and hold her hand and just be with her for a while before I gave up my seat so Brian could do the same. She used to live near Brian and his mom and dad when they lived in south Florida; I think he is one of her favorites.

Anyway. So much travel! I am very, very glad to be home. Of course, whenever I come home from anywhere, I observe what a mess my house is—there is so much that needs to be done around here. The yard is a jungle; the kitchen table is covered in papers; there are mounds of laundry to do now; blah blah blah. But I’ll just plug away at it and get done what I can, when I can.

Hope you’ve had a nice couple of weeks. I’ll leave you with this picture Brian took of the boys at the Alabama welcome center. They had a fun trip, but they’re glad to be home, too!