Family Reunion (TMOART:12)

I figured that I'd actually put up a few pictures from the reunion. It was held at DelGrosso's Amusement Park in Tipton, PA. The park itself was nice - they had quite a few rides (but no big rollercoaster - boo) and a water park so we spent most of our time riding rides and getting wet because it was a hot day.

We got a prize!

My brother won (or lost?) a game and had to wear a "pair of bloomers"!

Cousins. Yep, I've always been short.

At least I was cute at one point in my life.

Emily coming down the slide on the left

Sarah on the right

The Dude - who skimmed across the water so far that he almost hit the other side of the pool!

Alex and me coming down the black slide

One of the best. pictures. ever.

All in all it was a fun day. We didn't get to visit with relatives as much as we should have but it would have been impossible to keep the kids in one place long enough to do that. But we got to at least say hi and get some pictures and do a little bit of visiting. After we got done there, we went back to my parents' house and that's when I ended up on the roof with my brother. Plans for next year's reunion are already being made - but I think we might rent a vehicle to go back the next time!

Planning has begun

That's right. We are in the preliminary stages of planning The Mother of All Road Trips: 2012 Edition (TMOART:2012).

Right now, it is in the very preliminary stages. I have a class reunion to go to on June 23, and a family reunion on June 30, both of which are in Pennsylvania. We have a few days to kill in between those two mandatory dates, so we're tossing around a few ideas to see what all we can fit in with the limited funds that we'll have.

The nice thing is that The Dude has offered to go along this time - which means that he's either even more wonderful than I thought, or he's totally insane. I'm actually leaning towards a little bit of both. He has no idea what he is getting himself into, between my high school friends AND my family (not to mention an insane road trip with 5 kids)....but, since he's going to go along, it means that I have a driving buddy - and we can drive straight through instead of stopping along the way. That's definitely a good thing.

For just the basic trip, we're looking at 2461 miles. But I know that there will be a few more stops that we haven't planned yet. We may try to hit Virginia again, and The Dude has some friends in various places back in that general direction, so we'll be working and reworking the itinerary as the time gets closer.

All I know is that it will be fun, but yet I will get totally stressed out again between now and then trying to work out all of the details and the finances, and will probably go on another pre-vacation cleaning binge (also a good thing) and will sell anything that I don't need to get some extra cash (possibly including some children if they don't straighten up)....

And of course, you all can look forward to amusing stories while we're on the road - and since he'll be driving for part of it, I'll be able to blog along the way! This could get interesting....

Stay tuned for more details....