We left Texas Thursday night/Friday morning at midnight to make our first one day drive. Asher was the only one that had major issues with this plan. We powered through and made it to my parents house around 1pm. The rest of the day was spent napping and enjoying some outside time. The kids took full advantage of the swing set and were out there any chance they got the rest of our time there.
Saturday morning my mom, sister and I met up with the rest of the family at the Denver Art Museum. After looking around for a bit, my dad, Keenan and the kids met up with us for lunch at a local chain called Mad Greens (I highly recommend it if you like gourmet salads and paninis). My mom and her family spent the rest of the afternoon at the museum while the rest of us went home to relax. We also opted to stay home that night while everyone met up for a late BBQ dinner.
My sister testing some of the children's activities at the DAM
My mom with her sister and brother
Catching up after lunch
Getting swept away outside the DAM
Sunday morning most of the crew came to my parents' house for brunch. My dad's two sisters and one of my cousins and her husband joined us. There was way too much food which turned out to be a good thing as everyone lingered for hours just chatting, looking over old pictures and snacking. We were also able to Skype my great aunt who is too ill to travel. She is the only remaining sibling from my maternal grandmother's family (the lineage of this reunion).
Originally the plan was to take a tour of the Coors brewery around 1pm, but it was well after 2 before people started trickling out the door. Instead, a small group met up in "the old neighborhood" to take a look around. Keenan, Jill and I met up with everyone for dinner at the Cherry Cricket (another recommendation if your in the mood for an awesome burger). My parents were nice enough to stay home with the kids for us. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner and continued the evening at a wine bar with two of the cousins and their wives.
Sorting through pictures
Occupying themselves in their "tent"
Reading to Bobo (Grandma)
Bubbles with Aunties (my dad's sisters)
Dinner at the Cherry Cricket
One of the reunion events on Monday was attending a Colorado Rockies game. We had opted out of this as well. Instead, Keenan helped my sister install a new tile back splash in her kitchen. Lucky guy! The big kids hung out there watching movies and playing with her dog. Asher and I stayed at my parents house so he could nap and I could rest a little as well. That night was the final event - dinner at a local Italian restaurant. My parents are regulars at this place so they were able to secure a private room for us even though we barely filled half of it. On top of that, the hostess provided free appetizers and they let us stay almost an hour past closing time! Three people who hadn't been able to attend the rest of the weekend made it to dinner so there were 20 people in all. Ours were the only kids and, just to brag for a minute, they were amazing all weekend!
Ah, to get 3 kids smiling nicely at the same time...
Cousins/Siblings/Spouses (Keira was not in the mood for pictures at this point)
The Cousins
For my first reunion in a long, long time, it was awesome! I had so much fun catching up with all this family I haven't seen in years. Seeing my aunt and great aunt brought back a flood of memories of my grandmother and made me realize how much I miss her (she passed in 2000). I really hope we all can continue to stay in touch and make this reunion a more regular occurrence.
