10th Annual Cousin Kickback

Jeremy's Mamaw and Papaw had 10 grandchildren in 10 years. When I married Jeremy, I inherited--so to speak--an awesome family. We love each other. But more importantly, we LIKE each other. A lot.

In 2000, we had our first annual cousin reunion in a quaint nasty little place on near Lake Buchanan that I found online. I'll never live it down. I learned then that when the web site says "lake view," that can mean "if you lean as far as you can off your deluxe patio termite-infested wooden porch, you may see the boat ramp." And when the web site says "nestled among the trees," that really means "10 feet from the highway." Regardless, it was a fun weekend, and now the Cousin Kickback is one of our favorite weekends of the year.

We switched gears just a bit this year, and instead of the beach or a lake, we hosted the weekend at our house. Sadly, a few of the 10 couldn't make it, but we still had 28 people in attendance. (17 were kids ranging from 1 month to 15 years.)

You know it's a good weekend when:

*you laugh so hard your throat hurts.

*approximately 7 dozen donuts are consumed.

*a 5-year old asks if it's okay to have cake for breakfast, and after a quick comparison by her mother of cake to donuts, she's given the cake as a possible healthier option.

*most in attendance moved up a level in Guitar Hero.

*the grill catches on fire, nary a chest hair is singed, and the chicken is salvaged in a 300 degree oven in an hour.

*the Tooth Fairy stops by and deposits $10 to a couple of 7-year olds.

*2 birthdays are celebrated.

The only sad part of the entire weekend was realizing we could have won $20,000 for footage of our "adult-only" bounce house fun. Seriously people. Blue Moon of Kentucky...that's all I'm gonna say about that.

What a little charm this one is...maybe one of the cutest kids I've ever met.
Class of 2023

Okay cousins...let's make it 100% next year. Although, we'll have to find a different place. I think 28 is the limit.