Reunion 2009

I sort of hate to post again, because I was really enjoying re-reading about my adventure when I logged on. It was sort of like it would be a good place to end. However, I still have to record about our family reunion! Another good stopping place, but don't count on it.

So all of Benson's family made the trek from their various home bases across the country to meet in St. Louis. We couldn't complain about our 5 hour drive when Benson's brother drove all the way from San Diego! Others travelled from Minnesota and Washington! Our reunion was centered around a reception type celebration for Benson's parents 50th wedding anniversary. Yes, FIFTY!

On Friday we spent most of the day visiting while we set up the church for the celebration. I was so impressed at how everyone came together to make it a success. The food was amazing, the "entertainment" (a slideshow and wedding cake recreation) was beautifully done, and the decorations were great! I think everyone enjoyed themselves at the party. Best of all, my kids behaved themselves. (whew!) The only damper on the night for me, was that Tank was in the bathroom a ridiculous number of times. I was worried she might have an infection, so I took her to the local urgent care. Luckily it wasn't an infection, but we are following up with our doctors about some other problems that were related.

Anyway, one of the top, ok, lets be honest, THE TOP priority for while we were in St Louis was to go to Ted Drewes. This is a custard ice cream shop that is truly to die for! Most of the family went one night around 11pm and the place was PACKED! There is no place to sit, you just walk up to the window and sit at your car to enjoy. There is no explanation for the place's success except for the AMAZING ice cream. If you are ever in St Louis... TOP PRIORITY!

Anyway, on Saturday, the ENTIRE family went to Six Flags St Louis. It has a water park and amusement park in the same location. I have some issues with crowds (have I ever told that story here? 4th of July when I was about 12?) ... so anyway, I had a hard time relaxing while we were there. The kids had a blast for the first half of the day hanging out in the water park area. Twister LOVED the water! He was sooo entertaining to watch. He would walk under the water mushroom type things, he would have this surprised face everytime... you know the one where they look like they could burst into tears at any second... but instead he would walk out and just laugh! It was hard to keep track of the other kids, but the place was somewhat contained, so we just let them wander around with their cousins, checking in every so often.

The second half of the day, I was lucky enough to get Twister to fall asleep with Opa, so the rest of us were able to go to the amusement park. Goose was happy to go on any rollercoaster that was not fast, or have any big falls or upsidedowns, or twisting. *sigh* In other words, not very many rollercoasters looked fun for him. He ended up enjoying the kiddie type rides with his sisters. Benson and I were able to leave them with cousins and family a couple times so that we could go on bigger rides. I think my favorite was "The Boss". Good times. The kids favorite thing ended up being a turn on a trampoline while hooked up to a safety belt. The spotters helped them jump ridiculously high and if they wanted they could've done flips etc. I think my kids just jumped. :) Overall, it was a good day, but it was hard to spend quality time really enjoying all the extended family.

You should've seen us at church on Sunday. We took up 3 full rows, and that was a bit squished. :) You couldn't imagine a prouder OPA on Father's day. :) It was a really awesome sight. We were even able to take a family photo with all of us. We were only missing one of the cousins who wasn't able to get leave to come.
I think my only complaint about this reunion was that it seemed to end too soon. I enjoyed the times where we were just able to sit around and chat. What can I say, I have some awesome in-laws! Looking forward to the next time we can get together!