akrss family reunion 2008

so reunion time again. i haven't been to a family reunion in....probably 7 years? maybe less, but it has been awhile. this year it was held in memphis, tn. so the whole family (and by whole family, i mean me, travis, the kids, AND my parents) all piled into the "ban" and headed out. now in theory, 6 hours should not be that long, but in actuality when traveling with a 6 y.o. with a small bladder, 3 y.o. that chose this weekend to try potty-training, a at-times cranky 3 month old, and an adult on lasix.......6 hours quickly turns to 11 and it becomes the ride from HELL! but there were moments........

aidan slept for awhile

mia and noah played, fought, played again.....

upon arriving at the hotel, it was time to quickly (and i mean quickly) get everyone changed into their banquet attire. once noah and mia were changed, they were ready to go and conquer the world, er banquet.

(they believe themselves to be superheroes...don't tell them they're not)

they were one of the highlights of the banquet. chicken was slightly on the rubbery side, but the potatoes and vegetables made up for it. there was a great candlelight, memorial service for those family members that died since we were last together. also a family history that i enjoyed....i didn't realized before (or i probably did and just didn't give it much thought) how intermixed our family was. ashfords marrying knoxs, and knoxs marrying smiths, and smiths marrying ashfords, etc....you get the picture. i guess it's a wonder no one ever got too close in the gene pool.

after the long day and festivities on friday, we were all exhausted and headed to bed. but saturday came quickly.......

once we got everyone up and out, it was off to ihop for family breakfast. this is my favorite part of any family vacation....we will usually find an ihop, bob evans, some really good breakfast establishment and have pancakes, eggs, and really greasy bacon. just sitting and eating with the kids and not having to think about anything more pressing than if i want cheese on my hashbrowns is wonderful! (and yes, i did get cheese on them and they were wonderful.) everyone enjoyed their breakfast and we all ate so much we were ready for naps as soon as we finished. but instead it was off to the family picnic.

due to the heat, the picnic was actually held inside a school (love air conditioning!). nothing but food, games and family togetherness. just a few of my favorite things.

i will have to post more later....pictures and commentary. for now, i must go. until next time.....