Summer gathering

We attended a family gathering yesterday at the Hubs' cousin Ray's house. A bunch of people were in town for a visit.

1. The Hub's cousin (Brian), his wife (Wendy), and his 3 kids flew into town for a week.
2. The Hubs' grandfather and his Aunt C were going to attend the Hubs' new-found cousin's wedding in Vegas on Wednesday, so they decided to fly out early and see the family.
3. The Hubs' Aunt F and her husband also decided to come out for a quick visit. Aunt F is Brian and Ray's Mom.

Anyway, like I said we drove up to hang out at Ray’s house. Ray and his wife just had a new pool finished in their backyard a few months ago. Since there were so many kids (Ray's kids, our kids, Brian's kids), a pool would occupy the kiddos while we all talked and caught up with each other. I sat with the Ray and Brian’s wives catching up on all the happenings. All 3 of us are "married in" to the family, so we all get along. As we were chatting, I suddenly got hit with a BLAST of water on the side of my head. Ray had one of those water guns and it shot out the SIDE instead of forward. Oh my gosh! He was SO apologetic. He knew that was NOT the best thing to happen. He came over and told me to get him back. I didn’t. I told him it was fine. I just combed my hair back with my hand and shrugged it off. Ray went inside and told the Hubs what happened.

Ray: I’m so lucky to be alive!
Hubs: Why?
Ray: I just hit Grace with a blast of water. I thought it was set to go forward but the side nozzle was open!
Hubs: Oh…you better stay away from her the rest of the afternoon.

And he did give me a wide berth the rest of the afternoon. Too funny. Now if he actually hit me in the face? I think I'd have to push Ray into the pool!

And folks, it was a hot day. I mean HOT! As the kidlings were swimming, I was sitting outside in the shade. I was not in the pool. I am not comfortable going into a pool when I’m “being a woman”. Anyway, I was there for a while and KNEW it was the Hubs turn when...I started to feel beads to perspiration developing in between my breasts. Yes! It felt yucky. I knew I needed to sit under an A/C vent. The cool air. Ahhh! I went in and called to the Hubs. “Your turn!” I went in to the powder room right away. I pulled up my shirt and stuck a piece of tissue paper between my “soft cushions”. It was hot. It was THAT hot. Whew!

And I heard Brian have the funniest conversation with his son, who is now 5.

Brian's son: Daddy. Did I eat enough sandwich? (he'd eaten about 1/3 of it)
Brian: Let me see.
Brian's son: Look!
Brian: Try a little more.

I looked at Brian and started laughing.

Brian: I know it's kind of ironic, eh?
Me: I started thinking about that story of how you asked Aunt P about what "shape" the pasta was before you could decide if you liked it or not.
Brian: Oh gosh. Since I was so picky as a kid, I always think of it as payback that my kids are picky.

We both started laughing at that thought.

But the FUNNIEST moment during the visit was when we were leaving. We all go around and give hugs/kisses to everyone. The Bear followed the Princess around the family room seating area. Aunt C was looking away when the Bear came up to her. He put his hands on her jawline and turned her face towards him and gave her a smackeroo. He did it gently but with conviction. We ALL got a kick out of that one.

But it was REALLY nice to see the family. We'll be seeing some of them again this week. The Hubs' grandfather and Aunt C are coming down with my MIL, FIL, and SIL on Wednesday for lunch. We'll be hosting a 4th of July lunch for them. This way they can head home before it gets dark. We all know how there are drunk folks that always try driving after evening BBQs and firework celebrations. The Hubs' grandfather and Aunt C have never been to Tucson before, so this will be there first time down here to see where we live. I still need to figure out everything we want to serve.

So what are YOU going to do for 4th of July?