Weekend festivities

Saturday we spent the evening at my husband's big family gathering. All of his dad's side was there, even the out of towners stopped in -crashing at people's houses. It was an all weekend party with events scheduled at certain houses, occurring at different times. Saturday evening was hosted at my husband's aunt's house. This was a very significant party, as it was the first time everyone was together after my husband's uncle had passed. 

However, the mood was calm, with cheerful conversations. Children laughing in the background -Or crying, as the evening turned late. People of all ages sat around the fire and shared stories of how different the party was without the Patriarch sitting at the head. He wasn't there to tell jokes, be sarcastic, or see all the kids and how much they have grown.

It brought a somber mood, as reflection appeared to be the main objective. But the energy was eventually uplifted with the positive memories that were being summoned. 

There was an incredible amount of people there to shift your mind to something else. So many out of town family members telling their life stories -updating everyone.

An event like this had to be documented. So they hired a photographer. Something that had me stressing about since before we arrived. 

In my mind, how was a professional photographer supposed to take a picture of about 50 people? With a big amount being young children. 

Well, I'm not sure I know the answer to that. But somehow it happened. 

When the photographs were being taken, everyone herded their children into place -with most of the 3 year old's screaming bloody murder, mine included. The adults behind the camera were jumping around like fools in every attempt to make these children smile... Some worked, others not so much. At one point, I had to hold both of my kiddos on my shoulder/arm and hide behind the bigger kids, when they wanted a group photo of the youngest generation -Of course, my children wouldn't cooperate and that forced me to hide in the background, while reassuring my kiddos that I was right there... 

They still cried.

Somehow, even with all the hysterics, the silver lining is that these are memories being made. Memories are being created with family and eventually my children will grow and crying won't be an issue anymore, hopefully -and at least I'll have this time on record.

When you have a huge gathering of family, different generations of all ages, the background noise is random. Just sitting on the step listening, you hear funny conversations, happy ones about pasts, new ones about milestones, and future ones about longing. You also hear the toddlers crying about not getting the proper color glow sticks, or not the same amount of marshmallows as the other kid, or the fact that their standing, instead of sitting. 

That's the change now-a-days as parent's of young children. BBQs and gatherings are not a social event for us. When you look around, you see the parent's of older children (who paid their dues) sitting contently and chatting the time away. My husband and I weren't able to have a conversation with family. I wasn't able to chat about all the good things in life. At one point, I attempted to eat a plate of food -The horror, I know. My daughter was off playing with her cousins that were the same age and I strapped my son in the Ergo on my back. That allowed me the opportunity to eat standing up -and very quickly, as he was whining because he wanted to get down to play on the steps. He didn't even want to play with the kids, he just wanted to walk up and down the steps for infinity. 

The closing of the night was easy, as both of my kiddos were exhausted. I dressed them in their jammies and we said our goodbyes to all of our loved ones. Thankfully, we'll see them Sunday for a brunch at my in-laws house and we'll continue the last day of the weekend. 

My kiddos get one more opportunity to play with their cousins.

The car ride home was peaceful as both kids didn't say much. My daughter held tightly onto Curly Shirley and her sheet, while my son snuggled into his blanket and dog. The bright, round moon shined through the back windows allowing just enough light to skim their faces. My daughter's only spoken words were that she couldn't wait to see her cousin's again, as she had so much fun with them.

That is what this weekend was all about...

Family.

To have these children know who their family is and have them all meet. To have all the adults chat about the best parts of their day and to keep our chaotic lives as positive as possible.

To attempt to slow down our busy lives and congregate in one location.

Hopefully, this will be a constant. Hopefully, we'll have this as an annual event. So our uncle can watch from up above. So he can see how well all the family meshes and how much all the children have grown over the years. 

So this yearly event can put a smile on his face and keep his memory alive with everyone.

Because that is what life is all about... Family, even the ones that are no longer with us, but alive in our hearts.