COMMENTS: »
Archive for August 2011
Reunion Vacation: The Final Week
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
COMMENTS: »
Reunion Vacation: Week Two
Monday, August 22, 2011
Week two began with hubby and I having a little anniversary getaway which I referenced in the 19 and counting post. The day after our celebration dinner in Orlando, we continued east to Lakeland and visited our friends John & Ashlee. They live in a quaint historic district on the outskirts of Central Florida University's campus. It's the kind of neighborhood one would expect to see at the movies. Big front porches and sidewalks abound along with friendly neighbors who are friendly with one another. In fact, they included us in their monthly neighborhood block party and we had the pleasure of meeting many of these nice folks. It was also "National Night Out" so the police chief, the fire department and several city council members made an appearance. I didn't have my camera with me because I didn't want to intrude on their good time snapping pictures but they probably would have just thought I was the local paper's photographer--and would have offered me a hotdog just the same.
The following morning Ashlee took me on a tour of downtown and the surrounding area. I could see why she loved calling this place home. We did a little bit of shopping and then met up with Trey to head back to Amelia. When we returned, Quinn & Mimi had just come home from playing a round of golf and Ian, Ben and Papa Jim spent the evening riding horses on the beach. Again, no pictures of either since I wasn't present but it sounded super cool.
Thursday: Trey's cousin Dane took the day off work and came up with his kids to play with us. Amelia Jane and Wynn were so much fun to have around. The boys loved playing with the little guy and I enjoyed some girl time. So did A.J. When we got back to the house she said, "let's have dinner outside, just you and me. There are too many boys in there."
Friday: Trey's cousin Lisa flew in from northern Virginia in the afternoon and we all went downtown to "Sounds on Center"--an outdoor concert. Unfortunately the breeze that was there when we arrived, decided to go elsewhere once we plopped down in our chairs. The concert going was short-lived and we all ended up at The Doo Wop Diner for burgers and fries. Just as we finished, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim arrived--also from the greater D.C. area--to join us for dessert.
Saturday: The Jacksonville cousins made the trek back up and we all played at the beach and pool for most of the day. The evening found us at the quieter neighborhood pool for a family picnic and more swimming and sun.
Sunday: One last hurrah before cousin Lisa left town and all 18 of us enjoyed brunch together. Some of us went to the beach and others stayed behind for some downtime.
Reunion Vacation: Week One
Sunday, August 7, 2011
In 1995, at Trey's brother's wedding reception, all us third generation cousins decided it would be a great idea to have a family reunion combining both the Sturgeon and Carpenter sides. Lo and behold 4 months later we made it happen. There was always talk of trying to duplicate the success of pulling off getting 20+ people together from around the country but as we all grew up and had families of our own, it just didn't happen.
When we decided to spend 3 weeks here, Papa Jim got on the horn and let the east coast family members know and put a bug in their ears about trekking down (or up) this way. The result was this first family reunion. Unfortunately we weren't able to get everyone here but Trey's cousin Billy and his fiancee Jess flew up from Fort Lauderdale for 12 hours, Aunt Barby saw the activity on Facebook and, not willing to miss out on any of the fun, booked herself a flight from San Diego. The other two Sturgeon cousins live an hour away and drove up for an 8:00 dinner on a weeknight--with small children. It was like no time had passed. I think that when you don't live in close proximity to one another and you don't know when you'll see each other again, you really make the most of these moments.
19 and Counting....
Tuesday, August 2, 2011