My dad's family has a
reunion every year in Florida. Before you get too jealous, I probably need to point out that it is at the family farm out in the country and not on the beach. However, my family does use it as a great excuse to stay at the beach in the off season as well. This year, I had planned not to go since it was so close to Cora's due date. However, since she came early I decided to tag along with my parents. Traveling with a newborn is easy, as long as you have a long reach.
Ruby is completely addicted to the beach. Jamey and I are convinced that there is magic in the state of Florida that allows Ruby to go with no sleep while we are there. Every morning, her and Papa went down to the beach and Ruby threw herself into every possible beach activity with great abandon.
At night, we enjoyed the stay in my parents timeshare. Ruby was in hog heaven since she got a fairy princess costume and could watch Robin Hood from her bunk bed.
My favorite part of the vacation was having mom and dad take Cora for two nights of uninterrupted sleep. Ahhhhh..... I didn't have any "baby blues" this time but I did have what I am going to call "baby reds". A slight irritation with everyone and everything. Kind of like how I feel about everything Jamey does on a regular basis ;-) A good night's sleep made me my happy self again.
We took a quick trip to my grandmother's house before the reunion. Her health prevents her from attending. It is always interesting to see what my Uncle Reggie, who takes care of my grandmother, has been doing in the world of home improvements. I think first I should point out that my uncle Reggie has a real love of Conan novels. Last time I went he had decorated the house in a stumps and shot his bows and arrows in the backyard. He closed off the kitchen and dining room and started cooking on the porch. He also setup a place to sleep in the living room behind the couch. Kind of like a fort. Well, as my husband pointed out, you don't even notice the paint by number Last Supper on the wall anymore. This year, he has hit upon his real talent which is one my Dad shares, woodworking. He added tall fences around most the property and decorated it with wooden cutouts of bulls, horses and my Dad's symbol Hairy Photon. The fence work is extremely well done, but my guess is the churchgoers next door are going to miss the shirtless bow and arrow demonstrations. I will continually kick myself for not taking pictures while I was there. Descriptions will never do it justice. Next year....
The reunion was great. Several years ago, my brother pointed out how boring the reunion must be for little kids. I suggested we do a haystack hunt for candy like they used to do in the NASA picnics. Mom and Dad immediately grabbed onto the idea and have done it every year since. Ruby loved it and asked to go back to the "hay place" for the rest of our stay. Cora won youngest attendee. In addition to worrying about any typical threats to a toddler (poison ivy, bees), the farm has one extra threat that my dad was sure to remind me of. Bears. Really?
It was great getting to spend some time with my Uncle Ricky at the timeshare. He and my Dad share some similarities, especially in love of technology, that I had never noticed. I also got to hear some stories I never knew. For example, I knew my Dad was born in a log cabin, but I didn't know the doctor set him on a shelf assuming he wasn't going to make it because he was so early and weighed only 4 pounds. Eventually, a nurse came by and said "this baby is still alive". Have I mentioned how much I love modern medicine?
We ended the beach trip with an evening at the tiki bar on the beach. Cora's First Tiki Bar. I have a "firsts" calendar with stickers, but I couldn't find that one.
