Dismantle. Repair.: A Family Picnic of Reunion Proportions

The internet issue of yester-night has been solved...it turns out that my grandmother doesn't actually have wireless internet - which explains why we had so much trouble connecting to it. Anyway, I've located the broadband cord, so we're good to go (until my battery gives out. I managed to leave the laptop charger at home).

The events of today included all the quintessential trappings of a visit to the extended family. In the morning, my father and I attended church with my grandmother. My mom and sister went to church with my mother's family, but I preferred to go to Calvary UMC 1) for the nostalgia quotient, and 2) because the building is just gorgeous. It was built in the 1800s, and has one of those old-fashioned tin ceilings and stained glass windows and red carpet and all those good, classic church-type things. It's the church where my dad grew up, where my parents were married, where I was baptized, and where my grandfather's funeral was held. I always like to go back there when we come up for a visit, because it's just about as familiar to me as my grandparents' houses.

The service was your typical United Methodist church service, so I won't go into great detail about it (go find a liturgy book if you're super curious). The highlight of the service, for me, was actually the children's time. The speaker came to the front, and the pastor invited the children to come forward, and it quickly became apparent to everyone in the room that there were no children present. The speaker muttered "oh, come on..." good natured-ly, but it was still something of an awkward moment...until, from all corners of the room, the seven teenage members of the church youth group popped up out of their pews and came down to the front, along with the pastor himself, while the congregation laughed appreciatively. It was a small gesture, but it spoke of the solidarity of the youth with the church, and the lack of arrogance among them. None of those seven teenagers thought they were "too good" to sit in front of the church and listen to the speaker read from The Cat in the Hat - they saw a gap, and they filled it. I thought that was pretty awesome.

So that was the morning. Lunch included grilled cheese and tomato soup, which has an uncanny way of vibrantly reminding me of my childhood. Also, my grandma makes better grilled cheese than any other grilled cheese maker that I've come across. It must be a grandma trick.

BUT, the highlight of the day was undoubtedly the Great Family Picnic of 2011.

My parents both grew up here in this small West Virginia town, and so all of my grandparents live here. We usually stay with my father's mom, but my mom's family lives right across town so we bop back and forth throughout the week. The catch is that unlike my paternal relatives, who have scattered across the country, my mom's entire family still lives in this area - meaning that every time we Missouri relatives show up, it's family picnic time. Four generations-worth of family, mind you.

I'll admit, it was rather a daunting site walking up the hill to my aunt's house to the large group of people who had assembled. In total, the number grew to 30 (I counted), and included grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins' children, friends, and neighbors. It was truly quite a lot of people to just "come over to dinner," as it were. But, my aunt lives right next door to my grandparents' house out in the country, so there is a lot of space to be had, and she has the gift of hospitality, so it was a very warm and inviting atmosphere.

And there was GOOD FOOD. We're talking hot dogs, barbecue, my MawMaw's macaroni and cheese (which is amazing), cole slaw, deviled eggs, watermelon, corn casserole - all your classic picnic fare. Dessert-wise, there were fudge brownies, carrot cake, and potato candy...all of which I ate more of than was probably a good idea. This is potato candy, if you don't know what I'm talking about...I'd never heard of it until today, but it is certainly something I will be attempting to create in the future, you can believe that.

I ate dinner with my sister, my grandmother (who we grandchildren all call MawMaw), my cousin Randy, and his son Logan. Logan doesn't have fantastic language skills, being a toddler, but he is still quite the talkative kid. Still, he didn't have much to contribute to the Bachelorette discussions (yes, my grandmother is a fan). Logan and the other kids (six in total, all under the age of 9) spent the majority of the picnic playing in a kiddie pool and splashing each other with water (and soaking diapers wet through, which resulted in the occasional naked child while parents performed an on-the-spot diaper change). These picnics are a lot more fun now that kids are around - it used to be that my sister and I were the youngest of the family, and we were always rather shy and reserved and therefore non-entertaining. The evening wrapped up with a group game of Guesstures, in which three of the kids (Jacob, Chasity, and Serenity) participated the most enthusiastically. We finally said our goodbyes stuffed and tired, and happy to have seen one entire side of the family in one fell swoop.

In fact, being around those kids tonight made me wish that we didn't live so far away that we only get to see them once a year or so. But better sometimes than never, right? I also snagged MawMaw's macaroni and cheese recipe, which makes the entire evening an even greater success.

Here are a couple pictures from the family festivities... :)