The Fourth of July Weekend Reunion Roundup

Before we begin, let me say that thanks to my Supah Jeenious Brother, comments are fixed and ready for you to tell me how much you love my wittiness and mad 'riting skillz, yo. Thanks to Jon for his Code Monkey know-how. He will now receive the secret recipe for the world's deadliest chocolate chip cookies.

And now, let the roundup begin!

First of all, there were mustaches, because no party is complete without them.

There were the 3 Mustacheers.

And also Moe, Larry, and Curly among the many mustachioed portraits that were taken.

There was a birthday to celebrate. Because turning 6 only happens once. It's big, my friends. Big!

There were homemade ice cream treats with a candy bar center. How many ways can you say "Mmmmm"? We found about 723.

My niece Olivia will hate me for posting this picture, but I took about 5 and she was making a goofy face in each of them. I think she spent the weekend making goofy faces just to spite me.

There were fireworks. It was wet and soggy and umbrellas and jackets were required, but still. We celebrated our nation's independence by blowin' thangs up, y'all!

There were yummy beverages.

There was Bocce ball. I am horrible. You do not want me on your team. Seriously. Even my dad told me I sucked. And when the man who thinks you can do no wrong says that, well, that's sayin' something!

It's not a party 'til something gets broken. Thanks, Becky. You owe me a pot. (Just kidding. You can give me cash instead.)

There was creek stomping, complete with the capture of crawdads and shells and golf balls.

Of course, swimming was a necessity. It finally cleared up enough after most of the family left. Then, my Texas relatives thought it might be a tetch cold for takin' a dip in the cement pond, given that they are used to swimming in bathwater.

Then, more ice cream was needed.

There was multi-tasking.

Papa played "school" with several grandchildren for coins. I don't know who won, but the play was intense.

There was also gambling for nickels. SCAT was the name of the game. After approximately 872 hands, I won a pot. Yeeehaaaaw!!!

My nephew needs to learn how to shuffle cards before he heads to university. Seriously. If he doesn't, he will either spend all of his time studying, because his friends will laugh at him, or he will get beat up. Either way, the boy needs some instruction.

Through it all, it was pretty great to see a lot of this:

Thanks to all of my family who endured broken-down vehicles, early morning flights, whining children and jam-packed accommodations to spend the weekend with us. It was worth it. Wasn't it?

Yes. Yes, it was.