Family Reunion 2009

My long anticipated Family Reunion weekend is over. Everyone left. The house is quiet. Time to reflect…

Friday afternoon, soon after the kids came home from school, a strange car came down the driveway with Ontario license plates. My dad, whom I hadn’t seen in about 15 yrs, and his new wife had arrived. Strong, emotional hugs. Good hugs. Hubby led the way to our partially renovated garage, now christened the Rec Centre, which he’d cleaned and furnished. Fabric covered the windows, a radio sat on a small dinette table. Even a rug beside the bed. I was quite impressed. Grandpa and Grandma (G&G) deemed it suitable and moved right in. Since they are avid golfers, we enjoyed a round of Golf later on that evening as we introduced them to the Wii game system.

Saturday dawned hot and muggy. Two more vehicles arrived in time for lunch: my sister and her hubby in the one with Manitoba plates, and their daughter from 2 hrs west of us, in the other. Everyone was now here. The kids went to work putting up the dome tent and filling it with sleeping bags and their electronic games. Meanwhile, the adults were bowling in the living room.

After supper, we all moved into the Rec Centre for a game of Pictionary. Two teams with 5 people each, 1 white board, lots of colored markers. Perfect. Thirty minutes into the game, a thunderstorm moved in but we were cozy so we played on. Not long after, the power went out and plunged us into darkness. Within minutes, with an oil lamp shining on the game board, and a flashlight aimed at the white board, we pressed on. Someone noticed the tent had collapsed so it was carried into the sunroom away from the elements. Lightening flashed through the windows, thunder reverberated through the building, the little guy trembled in fright and still we played on. And it was fun! More noise than substance, the storm ended before our game did. As we laughed our way back to the house, 2 of the kids decided to sleep in the tent after all, so it was dragged back out and set up with their stuff still inside.

Another storm with lots of rain passed over the farm during the night. Sunday morning, the little guy awoke at 0530 and ran to see if the tent was still there. I found out later, when he saw the collapsed tent, he ran back in for his camera and took photos of it before rescuing the occupants who were soaking wet but still asleep.

When we all got back from church, we took family photos in the yard – in a light drizzle. Since everyone wanted to play the Wii, we did. Bowling, tennis, baseball and even boxing. I couldn’t decide if I had more fun playing or watching others play, but it sure was fun. During this time, my niece made home-made whole wheat pitas for supper but as another storm system rolled in, she said her goodbyes and left before eating with us. Good thing because it poured soon after and that gravel road to the highway was mucky enough. After supper, the Wii games continued.

Early this morning, hubby drove older son to school where his class was heading out on a 3 day camping trip. Shortly after, the school bus came along and picked up the little guy. (Jessie stayed home to study for afternoon exams.) Within a couple hours, G&G were headed east to Ontario/Michigan followed by my sister and her hubby going back to Northern Manitoba. Hubby, on his last day off, and I waved at the departing cars. A cool breeze blew through the quiet, empty house. The 2009 Family Reunion was over.

I'm so thankful I had this chance to see my dad again after all these years, and it was truly a blessing to meet his gracious wife. It will take them 4 days to get back home and I'm praying they arrive safely. I miss them already…

And how was your weekend?