As many of my dear readers already know, Bob's brothers Mike and Steve, and their respective families came to Kansas for a quasi-Wallace reunion of sorts. Not a full blown reunion, obviously because the whole family couldn't come, but we haven't all gotten together in about three years, so it was a reunion for us. And with Mike and Heidi and their 4 kids moving to Okinawa, Japan in a few days, another get together won't be possible for another three. So, Mike and Heidi hit the road Griswold-style and arrived late on the 27th of June. Steve and Francine and their three kids flew in the next day.
Preparations at our house have been ongoing for weeks now...home improvement projects, negotiations to borrow air mattresses (6 in all), cleaning, shopping, etc. I realized that our supply of pillows and towels was woefully inadequate— I still have towels hanging in there from 1995 for heaven's sake! Thank goodness for $3 Walmart pillows and the commercial pack of white towels from Costco!
We painted, we de-cluttered, we cleaned our office! The visit was worth it just to get that pit of despair cleaned up. Blankets were hauled out of storage. I stocked up the bathrooms with toilet paper, wipes, toiletries. I hit Costco for snacks, milk and food for a couple of meals (I couldn't fit a week of food for 16 people in my fridge!) We were ready!
When Mike and Heidi arrived, we were hyped. The kids had been asking ALL DAY when they were arriving, what time it was, how much longer that would be, in hours AND minutes. I'm sure it was a very similar situation on the car ride out here. Once they arrived, the kids immediately warmed up to each other and they got themselves situated.
The next day we decided to take it easy...I know a 3 day car ride can wear you out and I think they were relieved to not have to do anything. Steve and Francine arrived with the girls Sunday afternoon, and the invasion was in full swing! The visit was seriously a blast, and we are so grateful that the two families made the effort to come visit little old us in little old Kansas. It was amazing to get to spend so much time with all our little nieces and nephews, to have the opportunity to get to know them individually. I loved learning about all their little quirks and idiosyncrasies. Thanks guys for a great time! We love you all and miss you so much.
I'll chronicle the week with individual posts...it's just easier that way. Let me just leave you with some stats. This last week we consumed:
10 gallons of apple juice
7 gallons of milk
3 gallons of orange juice
5 loaves of bread
countless hot dogs
5 boxes of mac 'n' cheese
8 pounds of blueberries
Almost an entire box of 81 count fruit snacks
3 boxes of capri suns
2 comments:
I'm so glad you've had a great time with family. We need to go to lunch now!
Oli it sounds like it was an awesome week! I can only imagine what feeding and sleeping times were like! It's so worth it though, especially when you live so far away from them! I'm glad you had a good time!!
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