anticipation revisited

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about looking forward to a family reunion the next day. Well, it was a great day. I enjoyed catching up with my cousins and seeing our kids play together.
This weekend, we repeated that same exercise, just with a different family. Today's family was my mother's father's family. So last night I again spent the night cooking and this morning, after sending the kids off to ride with my parents, Ronnie and I packed up the van and enjoyed the 45 minute drive to Roosevelt State Park without any squabbling children and managed to find something to talk about other than our little angels.

I truly wish I had some pictures to show you of my children walking a large drain pipe close to the picnic pavilion where this annual party is held. These pictures, if I had any, would be even more fun (for me anyway) because my cousins and I walked that same pipe as children, though very few of us were brave enough to try it today.

Alas, though, I don't have any pictures because my digital camera has bitten the dust (with a little help from my sons) and the only one I have available is the old 35mm my parents gave me in high school. I am not sure if it even still works, but I may have to try it out since we have a milestone birthday coming up this week.

And finally, I suppose that this is our week for squirrel encounters. Today, while walking our little Hurricane to the clubhouse to find a more sanitary restroom, he met a small squirrel on the path. This little fellow (the squirrel, not the boy) had obviously been fed by visitors to the park at some time, because he got within six inches of my little guy and would have come closer with any encouragement from him. Since we didn't have anything to feed him (which I am sure you aren't supposed to do anyway) we just watched for a few minutes and proceeded on to our destination. Again, it would have been really nice to have a camera about that time. If I could have captured the moment you would have gotten to see how excited it made D to be that close to the squirrel. At first, he couldn't decide if he wanted to be excited or scared, but then he calmed down and loved it!

I realize that this post has been rather rambling, but it kind of fits the kind of day I have had so I guess it is appropriate. It is now past the time I should be in bed and since my hubby is already snoring, I think I'll head there now.

anticipation

I am one of those people who truly enjoys family reunions. I love getting to see my cousins and catch up. Each year we promise each other that we will stay in touch through the year, but we never do. That is one of the reasons the reunions are so important. Besides that, it gives me an opportunity to see my parents re-connecting with the people they grew up with. I love hearing the stories from their childhood years and just watching them interact with each other.

Tomorrow, my family will be gathering at a nearby state park to hang out with my mother's mother's family. There aren't a lot of us, but that just makes it easier to really catch up with more of the family. I can hardly wait to see every one's kids and how they have grown since last year. There are some who aren't with us any more and even though we will miss them, we will also enjoy sharing memories of them and keeping their memory alive.

Of course, no reunion would be complete without the food. As a child, I could tell you pretty much what each family member would fix for the various reunions. For my Granddaddy's family, my Granny would always make chicken and dumplings. Aunt Mog would always bring her chicken and dressing and my mother never went to a reunion without her chocolate cake. I am a southern girl and I cannot deny the importance of the meal. So, in preparation, my hubby is, at this moment, grating potatoes for a casserole I am making and my cookies are already cooling on the platter. My Daddy just came to borrow an onion for the cornbread dressing that my mom is making. And next door to her, my sister-in-law will be making sweet potato casserole (which makes my daughter extremely happy!) and an apple cake. And on and on it goes.

So, tonight I feel the anticipation of enjoying a tradition in my family ... that is, celebrating family.