Family Reunion...

For Steve's dad 70th birthday (mentioned here when talking about his gift), all his siblings and spouses came into town without children. Those that lived locally found babysitters for the weekend, or used older siblings. We had a great time. We started out with a cubs spring training game. It was a little warm and caused several sunburns. Steve's sister organized a catered dinner at her house that evening. (sadly no pictures) It was beautifully decorated and the food was fantastic. The best part was the conversations that we had. The environment allowed for more thoughtful conversations than we experienced earlier in the day and the weather was perfect. Steve's dad also took some time to share some of his life history with all of his children gathered around him. Saturday morning was the Pothier Invitational Tennis Tournament. Amazingly enough - most everyone in the family plays tennis, spouses included. We played a round robin style tournament and for two hours and we Steve and I enjoyed every minute. Part of it is not having children to chase after while playing, but there are some competitive spirits in the family (in fact the family is full of them) which always makes for a good time. We followed up with lunch and some pool time at Steve's brother's house. I didn't grow up in Arizona and I didn't spend my summers swimming in a pool so I'm not fully comfortable with all the "pool games" that take place. But all of Steve's brothers and sisters were right there in the middle of all the action. Watching them was entertaining as they all reverted to a childhood version of themselves. They were giggling and splashing water on each other and pushing one another in. Pool time was followed by more conversation and lawn games and a quick run for frozen yogurt. The formal birthday party (grandchildren included) took place Saturday night where we mingled with friends and family and presented the birthday gift. By this point in the weekend we were exhausted. We had played hard for two days and we were ready to crash.

And although we were wasted, that didn't stop us from gathering yet again for breakfast crepes to celebrate my niece's birthday the next morning. Best part of the morning - Steve's brothers initiating a wallet intervention for him. (his wallet wasn't a George Costanza, but it was a little thick.) We got a kick out of all the commentary that he got for every card that he pulled out of his wallet. He braved a storm, and he made it. He successfully reduced the size of his wallet and created some fantastic entertainment! This guy was happy to have us back after being with the babysitter for two days. We sat on the couch Sunday night in awe of the amazing weekend we had. Family means so much to us and to share a weekend together is valuable time in our book. We had the chance to spend a little extra time with Steve's brother and sister-in-law from Wisconsin. Our relationship was defined so distinctly while living by them and it gets better with each visit. We have such different relationships with every sibling and they're all fantastic in their own way. We had a very rewarding couple of days, I'm glad Steve's dad had a birthday!