Monday, September 27, 2010

Cousins don't shake hands, cousins gotta hug!

Are you tired of my summer vacation stories yet? I've got one more, and then since it's been almost two months, I guess I'll find something else to report. Thanks for humoring me! ;)

My cousins and brothers and I are all super close, especially because we've been doing this reunion thing since before I was born. That said, sometimes we treat each other more like siblings than cousins. Take this as an example.

See this picture? See the two people sitting between the boat?

That's my youngest cousin with her (relatively) new boyfriend. He'd never been to our reunion before and was meeting most of us for the same time. Cute, right?

This was the welcome he received.
A cousin, a cousin-in-law, and a sister, spreading the love.

The balloons hit the boats around them and water in front of them several times before they realized what was happening.
This was right after she got nailed in the back of her leg. Ouch.
Run guys!
You can imagine we were all laughing pretty hard by this point.
All Photos © Me

And that's the kind of love we share.

Peace,

Friday, September 24, 2010

Bats in the Belfry

Weird things happen at our family reunion. I mean, it's to be expected when you have 25 grown people, all related to each other one way or another, living in close(ish) quarters.

But this has never happened before.

I'm sitting in the living room, talking with my cousin, and I lean my head back on the sofa. I'm staring at the ceiling, and all of a sudden, I realize that there was a little black thing up there that I didn't remember seeing before. I continue to stare, and slowly it occurs to me that the little black thing...is a bat. I have no idea what to do. Quietly, I mention to my cousin what I've just discovered. And one by one, we tell the other folks around us, so we're all standing (or sitting), heads back, staring at the ceiling.




Eventually someone calls the folks we've rented from, and they send out animal control. Not much later the guys showed up, and sure, they were missing a few teeth, but I've never seen anyone so gentle with, let's be serious, a rodent. A wild rodent, no less. They just kind of nudged the little guy with a really long tape measure, which caused him to fly down to a window ledge. They nudged him again, and he flew across to the steps. He was in a bit of a stupor, seeing as the middle of the day for us is the middle of the night for him, so the guys had no problems picking him up with their gloved hands. Up close, he was actually kinda cute! (The bat, that is.)

We asked what they were going to do with him (I keep assuming the bat was a him, but maybe it was a her? We didn't ask for confirmation),  and apparently the older animal control guy has bat houses on his property, similar to bird houses. He hosts several hundred bats! Said he has zero problems with mosquitoes. ;) At least we know our small friend was going to a nice new home.

All Photos © Me

Peace,

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Cut Flowers

Can I just say, my mom and aunts grow the most beautiful flowers? These are from my aunt's garden.








All Photos © Me
I love hydrangeas.

Peace,

Monday, September 20, 2010

How much fun is skiing?

I love this series of my cousin skiing.





All Photos © Me

Now, I don't see the appeal in being dragged behind a high-speed boat by a rope on a single plank, but he sure does make it look like fun, doesn't he?!

Peace,

Friday, September 17, 2010

Lake fun and games

Being at the lake is more than just eating and sleeping.










And then there's tubing.

Behind the pontoon (ie. slooooooooowwwwww) boat.

Going less than 1 mph.

This is pathetic.
Yup. That's my brother in the water back there. He fell out. And then Rob fell out. It was awesome.
All Photos © Me

Peace,

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

What we do at the lake

Our trip to the lake every year isn't just about gorgeous scenery.

There's tie-dying.
Woah, flashback to when we were 7.
Relaxing...
...and/or napping.
My two favorite men—my dad and my husband—"reading."
Playing games.

Snacking.
In honor of Gugga

Telling stories around the appetizers as the sun sets.

And hanging out around the fire (usually involving more food in the form of s'mores).
All Photos © Me

Peace,