Labor Day Weekend

It was a tough decision whether to go to Maine this weekend. We usually don't go to Maine on the major holidays. And this was worse, since September 1 is B's birthday. However, my Aunt Debbie was having a party for her husband's 60th birthday, so we went because we love my Aunt Debbie.

We stayed at my sister Debbie's house. She was a phenomenal hostess. She made a huge dinner for us when we arrived after the million hour drive through holiday weekend traffic Friday night. Then Saturday morning she made B an incredible breakfast for his birthday. All the way up to the apple pie with candles.

Friday night my cousin's son slept over too. His Aunt Jennifer, another cousin of mine, is my sister's roommate so he had spent lots of time at the house and we hoped he'd be comfortable. Isaiah is one of the five boys who were born into our extended family in 1997. So Isaiah and R and E had a wonderful time playing together. Plus Jennifer has an old Nintendo, so the boys got to spend hours playing Super Mario Brothers. Unfortunately though, Isaiah left shortly after breakfast. He seems to be an anxious little boy. But what a sweetie.

Saturday afternoon brought the party. I was surprised to have a good time, honestly. My sister says that the family is on good behavior when "outsiders" attend things, and perhaps that is why. Perhaps it was just because I happen to like my mother's friends, and I enjoyed visiting with them. We couldn't stay with my mom this time around because she had some of her friends visiting from New York, and since they are also friends of my Aunt Debbie and and her hubby, they came to the party. I don't remember a lot of things from my childhood but my mother's friend Pat N., who was a big part of my life back then, managed to evoke some warm and fuzzy emotions. It was nice. Here's a photo she took of me and my siblings:

We had planned to go home that evening, but ended up staying another night. Everyone was planning to go up to Granny Kent (a lake which my grandmother has a house on) the next day, and we couldn't pass on letting the boys have more fun time with their cousins. Plus, I really did have a nice time at the party and thought I could handle more large group time. Also, everyone was giving B a big pain in the butt about leaving. Peer pressure works with grown-ups too.

Saturday morning we started at Christo's. E had a breakfast worth taking a picture of. Then we headed back to my sister's and cleaned up her house and packed up our car for the trip home. After that we headed up to Granny Kent and the bazillion people who would be there (drinking heavily, I might add).

We had a lot of fun at the lake. Uncle Larry (only 3 years my senior) had his boat out. R did some tubing. Unfortunately E took forever in getting up the courage to try it, and by the time he did, Uncle Larry was grilling and we were leaving.

Aunt Joan was nice enough to provide a cake for B for his birthday, so the entire family, and all my mom's and Aunt Debbie's friends, sang to him.

We were all bummed when it was time to go. It is so rare for me to be able to deal with my giant family all together, and I was actually having a nice time. I (and the boys) would have liked to spend another night. But B was insistent that we should leave. And we were probably smart to avoid the nightmare traffic coming home on Monday.

Last photo, because I am so impressed and simply cannot leave it out. This is a photo of my mom's friend Alice. She is in her early 60's and skied around the lake twice, the second time on one ski, and the last 1/4 of that with one hand.