Family Tradition

We are back from the 2007 Family Reunion. We had a blast while we were there, but not so much on the road trip to and from. Here is my take from the events that transpired.

Sunday 22nd:
We travel 12 hours from Round Rock to Garden City, Kansas. M only took a 30 minute nap and, although taken by the portable DVD player, wakes up S from her naps several times. (Thanks to the W's for the player. It would've been much worse without.) The GPS system that Nana borrowed tells us a weird way to get to our hotel, bringing us to the first 6-way stop I've ever seen. You think you sit through incredibly long lights, try getting to the intersection of that puppy just after your direction just turned red. Uh-huh. That's what I thought. Upon exiting the car at the motel, my nostrils are offended by the smell of cattle feces. Little did I know it would be a full week before I smelled the fresh air of Texas. The Motel 8 in Garden City was cheap and I didn't care because it was just one night. Wow! You really do get what you pay for. Our toddler had black feet after spending a few minutes on the carpet. Yuck. She had the hardest time getting to and staying asleep that night. Sheesh!

Monday 23rd:
More time in the car. We spend another fun-filled 8 hours in the car that are an almost exact replicate of Sunday. After dumping our stuff at the Inn, we head over to Uncle Paul and Aunt Mary's house (hereafter known as The Hub), where most of the loitering occurred during the week. After a couple of hours hanging at their place, we headed back to the hotel for baths and bed. Getting to sleep was only marginally easier. Oh, and it took us coming to Nebraska for our first 100° day this year. Not that I'm complaining. I'll take the rain.

Tuesday 24th:
Things are in full swing as more relatives get into town. We lunch briefly at Great Gramma and Grampa Adams' house, leaving for naps before most of the folks arrived. We all got a little sleep before we headed back to The Hub for dinner and more family.

Wednesday 25th:
I hustle two of C's cousins at pool before lunch. Like riding a bike. Everybody comes over to The Hub. And by everybody, I mean upwards of 90 people. No joke. The details are a little sketchy, but we hung out with the fam some more. By this time Mallory was having lots of fun palling around with cousin Quinlan. They had lots of fun together. Thankfully she wasn't around while he skinny dipped in the pool.

Thursday 26th:
The day that will simply be called "Who's Your Daddy?" Day. According to Family Reunion Tradition, one afternoon all the guys go out and shoot guns. Now, I will preface this section by saying that it's been a good 10 years, if not more, since I shot guns with my Stepdad and his kids. So, it's not just shooting guns. It's a full-on competition with winners and losers brackets. First up is the .22 pistol competition. Five bowling pins were set up for each contestant with 10 shots in the magazine. I took out cousin Jesse 6-2. Next they called me over for shotguns. And not just shotguns...skeet shooting. Here's what the guys said "It's real easy. Just line the bead up and lead it a bit and aim a little low." Pshaw! Right! Having never used a shotgun, let alone aiming at skeet, I tell my partner that I will make him look good. The system was a primary shooter and the cleanup. I missed all 5 of mine and the one he didn't hit. I whimpered on back to the .22 rifle competition where I calmly hit 6 out of 7. Not enough to win, but quite respectable. Then came the .22 pistol winners bracket. I was against Sterling, a man who's been around guns most of his life. The first round we tied by knocking down 3 of 5 pins. The first tiebreaker it took us both three shots to knock down two pins, with my second pin being felled by my last bullet. In the second tiebreaker, Sterling had knocked down his pin. Down to my last shot, I coolly took out my pin. In the final tiebreaker, one more pin was set up with one shot. I let 'er rip and won on a technicality because my pin fell before his. Nevertheless, I was crowned ShootFest 2007 Pistol Champion. Special thanks to Uncle Paul for the cool trophy. What a guy! I know it's a little blurry, but I don't care. It's my trophy and I'll post if I want to.
Then I got called back to skeet for the losers bracket. I wouldn't say I was embarrassed by the outcome of the initial round since I met my expectations: not hitting a darned thing. On my primary shooting, I again missed all five. HOWEVER, when cousin Dar missed a shot, I lined her up and hewed her in twain (see Bible: Samuel). There was much rejoicing in the land. Mighty Casey did not strike out! A miracle it was. Definitely not skill. But a hit nonetheless. The only thing I didn't do right was sunscreen. Oh yeah. Not pretty folks. Bright red face, neck and arms.

That night was the big family dinner at the gym in Uncle Paul & Aunt Mary's church. Well, the guys set up a basketball goal and, you know me, I couldn't resist joining them, even though I was in my sandals. Not to brag, but I scored four of my team's eight points. The piece de resistance was Grampa Adams singing hymns while little Trinity danced nearby. It was priceless. A very joyful noise to his Creator.



Friday 27th:
M is really big into trains right now. Uncle Tim happens to be an engineer and he was kind enough to take us to the train-yard and show her a train. Not only that, but she got to honk the horn and ring the bell. Needless to say Uncle Tim is her favorite uncle.

We kind of recooped on Friday and didn't do much of anything. Although I did a whole lot of avoiding having to help fix the sprinkler. Phew!

Saturday 28th:
I make the executive decision that we're driving through the night. I didn't want to spend any more time in the car with Mallory awake than I had to. Sorry, the truth hurts. We go back through Garden City, KS and its 6-way stoplight, through Oklahoma and stopped at Canadian, TX for dinner. Strange, I know. We ate at the Cattle Exchange Restaurant. This would've just been a blip on the map had it not been for this staring me in the face as I entered the restroom to wash my hands:
Gotta love Texas!

Sunday 29th:
With the help of Nana keeping me awake, we pull in around 5AM, drag our tired bodies to bed and sleep a little. Well, M and I slept till around 10:30. C got up with S for a couple of hours in between. I mowed the lawn before it rain again and we just took the rest of the day off.

I had a blast with everybody. I'd go back next year in a heartbeat if it weren't for that drive. But anyhoo, thanks to Uncle Paul & Aunt Mary for being the hosts with the most. And thank God we're home.