Cousin Camp 2011

After three weeks in Michigan, Angela and I headed straight to Texas for Cousin Camp 2011. I think this was the fifth year that we've all been together for at least a week. We stayed with our cousin Jamee, her husband John and their three little ones and we spent a lot of time with our cousin Jori, her husband Neil and her two wee ones! We even folded their cousin Justin into the mix most days!

It was such a fun week of pottery painting, Phineas and Ferb watching, long lingering meals, cooking, baking, crafting, window shopping, movies, miniseries (The Kennedys - fascinating), Wii dancing, swimming, napping, stories, and more. Basically it was just a chance for us all to be together and to make memories to last until we see each other again! And did I mention laughing? I don't think I've ever laughed so much! Between watching Jim Gaffigan's comedy specials with Jamee, John and Angela and trying to keep the tears away while sharing stories with each other it was just a fantastic week. A week I'll keep in my heart and in my soul forever.

Here's to cousin camp 2012! (There's a rumor it might be headed to Michigan! Watch out mitten state!!!!)

Traditions

On Wednesday I arrived back in L.A. after a month of traveling. Three weeks in Michigan and a week in Texas. And when I first made my travel plans, I remember thinking, hmmm....three weeks is a long time to be at home. It's a long time to be anywhere really, that's not where you normally live. But it's home. It's where my family is. And I started thinking about all of the things I just "had to do" when I was there and it seemed impossible to do it all in less time. Turns out, three weeks still wasn't enough time. But it was a pretty good time all the same.

In my family we have a lot of traditions and I find that as I grow older, I've been creating traditions of my own. The picture above is just one of our family's favorites. When Angela and I were little our family camped. That's what we did for vacation, we found a state park and we put up our tent. (Always a tent, always.) Sometimes we'd be up north or on the west side of the state or even just a few miles away from home on the state land near where my dad worked so he could go to work and come home to the campsite at night.

One of the treats we'd get when camping was fried donuts for breakfast. My mom would buy day-old cake donuts, nothing fancy please, slice them in half and throw them on the grill, "frying" them. Slather a little homemade strawberry jelly on top and there has never been anything quite so fabulous tasting. So I was mighty surprised, and happy, when I woke up one morning just before I left Michigan, to find fried donuts on the menu for breakfast!

There are so many other traditions we observed over the three weeks we were all together. Lugnuts games, Fourth of July BBQ, eating Gus's salad and breadsticks, playing the card game that doesn't have a name that we always have to find the directions for stuffed on a ripped piece of paper in the box of Joe Camel cards. Playing golf. Planting flowers at the cemetery and the house. Taking the little white car (the '62) to King Kone for ice cream.
Going to the movies just to go to the movies. Floating down the lazy river trying not to get sunburned. Pool party with the Niblocks. Swimming in the middle of Crooked Lake. Taking a ride through Oak Grove (where we came across a mama deer and her twin fawns!).

Playing more golf. Campfires in the driveway with all the neighbors. Sitting in the swing for hours on end. Reading book after book. Even more golf. It's no wonder we didn't want to leave...

But it's good to miss it. It's good to know there's even more to look forward to next time we visit. It was a wonderful trip. A wonderful way to recharge and refocus after a long few months. It was just exactly what I needed. And what I'll continue to carry on...