Thursday
*Steph and Nicky's for pizza when Sandy, Greg, Morgan and Olly arrive.
Friday
*Greg working
*Sandy, Victoria, Elizabeth, Mindy and I:
10:30 head to 5th & Broad to shop around
Permanent jewelry Kendra Scott for Sandy's surprise
Lunch at 5th & Broad (Mindy makes reservations)--Blue Sushi
Macarons for dessert
1:00 Lip Lab (make your own lipstick)
*Steph, Jordan, Morgan doing their own thing (tattoos).
Dessert Design Hallelujah cake—Sandy’s favorite—Mindy & Justin to serve (well, that was the first snafu. DD was closed for family vacation so we "pivoted" and got red velvet and lemon "Everything Bundt Cakes" instead. I'm going to bring the DD cake when we go to their house for Labor Day).
*Birthday Games—Mindy & Justin--In preparation for this, I had to do a lot of "pre-work!"
*Family games—Jordan & Robbie to organize and choose games. (They taught us a new game--something we did with our phones--trivia-type game on teams.)
Saturday
*9:00 a.m.--Hike at Percy Warner Park. So guess who did that? Of course, Butch led the way for some of the grands: Morgan, Jordan, Robbie, Mitchell and Emily.
*10:30—Brunch—Bellinis; Puffy Muffin quiche; fruit salad; scones; chicken salad croissants; hash brown casserole; deviled eggs
*Pool day—Nicky to fill the cooler—Butch to get ice
Mitchell & Emily to handle pool drinks—grandpa will show you how to use the drink machine virgin pool drinks & frozen margaritas (Butch just took on this job because it was easier to just do it himself. I think he was trying to make up for the fact that even though I continually asked him if he got the ice, he didn't!).
*Yard games
I guess we're kind of like little kids--hopping from one thing to the next!
*Book Club discussion in the pool—Stephanie (for our family book club, we read Inheritance. We had quite an interesting discussion about the ethics of DNA testing and the surprises it holds. We all agreed that the author came off as a whiney 54 yr. old woman who acted like her life was so turned upside down and she no longer knew who she was. If you don't know who you are at 54, you are never going to!) Not worth the read.
*Snacks at the pool—spinach dip; chicken dip; hummus; guacamole; crackers; veggies, fruit—Victoria & Elizabeth to handle.
*Showers and more family games.
*6:00 p.m.—Dinner—catered by J. Gumbo’s; (turns out they somehow doubled our order and insisted it was correct!) Leftover bundt cake.
*Night swim for whoever wants to stay. (Turns out everyone was exhausted. Steph and Nicky were the last to leave--around 8:30. Butch, me, Sandy and Greg went to bed by 9!)
All in all, it was a fun, action-packed weekend! Everybody needs to go back to work to rest!!
I feel exhausted just reading this! What a lot you pack into your family get togethers - so much organisation.
ReplyDeleteAs for the DNA testing that is so popular now, my friend uploaded hers and to her great surprise found a sister and brother she knew nothing about! Her mum had relationships with two other men before she married my friend's father and both times she left the father of the children, she left the children behind and gave no forwarding address. What a shock!
I think I have said this before, but I how your family parties - all out.
ReplyDeleteOn the DNA issue, I would not do it, although when your family members do, you too can receive some surprises -- we just did. But it takes more than DNA to qualify as family. While I used to agree with your outlook that you should know who you are by 50, or you most likely have other issues, now I do believe something as basic as who your parents are is life effecting on a very emotional basic level. That difference can be hard to understand when you come from a stable family, where it was never in doubt.