Cousins, More Cousins, and Mosquitos

You were right. I am the one in the Hard Rock Cafe tee and cheesy smile and my sis Paint Girl is the one in the light blue tee with the curly bangs.

I am so lucky to have such a great family. This past weekend I spent it with my numerous aunts, cousins, grandparents, great-aunts, second cousins, parents, of various combinations. My grandpa was the youngest of 12 siblings so you can imagine all of the family I have! They are a hoot. I always treasure the time we get to spend together.

My sister and I got there early. We set up our tent and unloaded our plethora of supplies and then sat in chairs in the afternoon sun, hoping to grow our golden tans and read a few pages. Shortly thereafter my cousin came over and handed me the book The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss, which I've been wanting to read and she offered to loan me. So my dime store novel will have to wait in the wings. But, I didn't open either cover.

There is little time to relax at my family reunions. How can you rest when you have faces like this to photograph?

Is it just me or is my family the only one with those amazing vintage nylon webbed lawn chairs? Do they still make those things? Like, in that shade of teal green?

Here is one contemplative cowpoke.

Question: How do you round up a large group of very active children to come over and pose for a family photo? Answer: You grab handfuls of tootsie rolls from the clubhouse. You tell all of the children you have candy and ask them to sit down on the grass. You promise to throw candy to those that smile the biggest. Then you say smile really big!

It is beautiful at the property we had the reunion at. I took a walk down the one-lane road next to it. This field used to be full of dairy cows. Now it is silent and the grass has grown up over the fence line.

About 13 years ago, my aunt and cousin brought horses to this reunion and we took turns riding on logging roads up on that hillside. The camping property we lease has an old arena on it so it made a great place to section off temporary horse corrals. We are considering a family horsey gathering here in the future, now that many of us are horse owners again.

Here is the scenic view from the window of our tent. Do you notice that thicket of grass and bushes?

Yes, our tent was right next to that thicket of grass and bushes. Guess what lives in that thicket of grass and bushes? Deer, bunnies, and coyotes. Guess what kept Paint Girl and I up all night as they tramped through the thicket of grasses and bushes, until the wee hour of dawn? Well, hopefully just the deer and bunnies. We heard coyotes, far, far away. They were far, far away, right?

We even borrowed this cattle dog, Misty and let her sleep in our tent as protection.

Misty is 9 years old and belongs to my cousin and her husband and their two children. Here she is vying for a drip of her papa's taco soup.

After a night in our tent, this is how Misty looked:

Yep, misty-eyed and foggy-headed and in need of some serious coffee with vanilla creamer (or in Paint Girl's case, Dr. Pepper), that was the look all three of us had that morning!

Not only did Misty's mom and dad loan us their dog, they graciously made us blueberry pancakes, eggs, and bacon both mornings.

What do little boy cousins do with long blades of country grass?

Why, they try to tickle and impress their little girl cousins, of course!

What do big girl cousins do?

Talk and hang out and wait for another cousins group portrait.

Aside from great memories and full bellies (grandma's deviled eggs, lasagna, and brownie cake) numerous family members were blessed to take home a souvenir of another kind: mosquito bites. In all the years I have been attending the reunion at this location, I have never seen such an infestation of bugs. On our last morning, the kids all looked like they had come down with a case of the chicken pox. My sister got bit near her eyelid as we took the tent down and it almost swelled her eye shut.

Regardless, another sun has set on our annual family camp out. Until next year, anyway.