The Clan Reunion

When families get together, especially for the first time in about 18 years, all heck breaks loose.  In the INCREDIBLY hot weather…

…there were multiple games of double-deck Hearts,

a few rounds of cut-throat croquet (and cut-throat totally equals cheating in my family’s set of rules, which, by the way, change every few hits),

much family heritage discussion thanks to my uncle’s incredibly diligent genealogy obsession,

the passing on of traditions (my mother was crowned, with an elephant tea cozy, the Grand Poobah by her father at her wedding almost 27 years ago so it was time to pass it on),

many backyard meals comprised of all sorts of delectable “salads” and other deliciousness on the grill,

many naps in the shade,

and a stellar family picture courtesy of my camera’s self-timer and the fastest ten second sprint of my life.

The whole thing was quite a whirlwind, we only had 36 hours together.  We were honestly lucky we had that much time.  We’re from all over the country so it’s fairly hard to round us all up.  But when we do, it’s pretty cool.  On the morning of our flight, those of us leaving early met at IHOP for breakfast.  I chose the blueberry and granola pancakes with some scrambled egg beaters on the side.

I must say that granola in pancakes is an awesome idea.  Seriously why haven’t I tried this in my own kitchen??  I must do this sometime soon.  The texture bursts of crunch were perfection.  After breakfast, we drove back to the motorhome and threw our suitcases and backpacks into the car.  Mom taxied us to the airport while dad finished the prep for their own departure for home.  Sadly, because we had decided to have my parents drop us at the airport, we ended up there about five hours early.  To kill some time we started a game of gin rummy.

We were laying around in a nice little couch and arm chair area but then moved to an Applebee’s restaurant to make use of their table, their plugs (our computers were in desperate need), their soda and water fountain, and finally their kitchen.  Once we finished our game…Jack won, but just barely, after coming back from two crushing negative hands in the beginning…we ordered some food to tide us over our flights.

Jack had the quesadilla burger and I got the BBQ club sandwich.  Both came with fries though I had requested onion rings.  They ended up bringing some later after I mentioned their mistake.

The onion rings were good mostly because they were breaded with crumbs instead of battered but the fries were real delicious.  I couldn’t get enough of their seasoning and ketchup.  With full bellies we romped through security where they apparently have ditched metal detectors all together.  Now everyone goes through the millimeter wave scanner.  Oh well.  We arrived at our gate about an hour before we headed out.  The first flight was basically on time but our second flight had been delayed just under two hours since 9am (we got an e-mail).  It actually turned out to be for the best because we arrived literally three minutes before our second flight was originally supposed to take off.  Plus, this break gave us a chance to grab some Subway for dinner while on our way home.  I ordered a veggie delight with lettuce, tomato, spinach, green pepper, red onion, pickles, and spicy brown mustard.  Sorry, no picture.  Airplanes are tight quarters and I wasn’t about to risk spilling stuff everywhere.

Now, as I sit here basking in the late evening sunshine streaming through my window, I wonder to myself what I will do tomorrow for the 4th of July.  I have the day off from work, from class, from patients, from everything.  Maybe I’ll sleep in, maybe I’ll read, maybe I’ll make some pancakes with granola in them.  Who knows!?!  I do know, though, that fireworks are on the docket…hopefully.  It’s been really dry around these parts, so most fireworks and sparklers and all the other fun stuff to do on the 4th have been banned.  I think the city is still firing off some pretties from the top of a building to avoid setting crap on fire because after all, it really isn’t the 4th of July without some gorgeous nighttime sky displays.

And now for a nicely themed Tune Tuesday:

Questions: What are your 4th of July plans?
What is your favorite kind/design of firework?