Ferguson Family Fun

Yesterday we returned from a long weekend at the Ferguson Family Reunion. Every three years the descendents of Travis's dad's great-grandfather gather together for a reunion. This year we met at Windemere on the Lake of the Ozarks and had a great time.

To truly understand why this reunion was so great for us, you have to know what our last reunion was like . . . The weekend started with me packing all of Grant's food, bottles, and other baby necessities and setting them by the door for Travis to put in the car, and then Travis forgetting to put those things, along with his own clothes in the car. That's right, we arrived at the 2003 reunion with no clothes for Travis and no food or other comforts for Grant. Also, Grant was just shy of his first birthday and absolutely did not think the reunion was something he wanted to be a part of. In fact, he cried literally every time we were around other people. That year Grant won the infamous "Crying Towel", awarded to the biggest complainer in the bunch at each reunion. We actually left the 2003 reunion a day early because Grant was so miserable (and was therefore making us miserable).

Fastforward to the 2006 reunion. The weekend started with me packing all of our things, setting them by the door, and making a lot of jokes about not wanting to show up at the reunion without the essentials. In the car, being the nervous person that I am, I ran through a long list of "did you remember to pack ______?" and was happy to get an affirmative to each question. Imagine my surprise when we arrived at the Lake without Sophia's crib and the bag that had all of our children's clothes in it. Yes, the essentials were, once again, sitting by the door waiting to be taken to the car. I can only laugh about this now because Travis's brother was far enough behind us that he was able to stop by our apartment on his way to pick up our things (Thanks, Steve! You really saved Travis on this one!).

After the rough start, I was a little nervous that we were about to have a repeat of our 2003 experience. Did I mention that Sophia was cutting four of her eye teeth? To be completely honest, I was really afraid that someone in my family might once again win the "Crying Towel"--and when Travis told me that he forgot to put the kids clothes in the car, I was afraid that someone might be me.

I was in for a surprise . . . Grant and Sophia had an incredible weekend. Sophia wasn't quite as sociable as she normally is, but hey, she didn't win the "Crying Towel" so no complaints from me! Grant couldn't have been happier being right on the lake. He had a blast visiting the lake before and after each meal and whenever else he could drag anyone down to it. His favorite thing to do was throw rocks into the lake. I really think he could have done it for hours. We only had one mishap where Grant took a running start to throw a rock in the lake and ended up landing in the lake himself. Here is a picture of Grant and Travis throwing rocks into the lake.

Another highlight of the weekend for Grant was going on a float trip with Travis and Ann, Travis's sister. Sophia and I went shopping. That Sophia is a big spender. During the reunion, we stayed on the first floor of a lodge that overlooked both the lake and this little man-made pond and stream. The pond and stream were right outside our room, so Grant could play while Travis and I sat on the patio. We couldn't have asked for a better set-up. Grant thought he was in his dream home with so much water around. Both kids also enjoyed spending time with the extended family in the large group room that Grant dubbed "The Cookie Room" due to abundance of yummy treats that everyone brought. Grant discovered how cool teen-aged boys are as he was enamored by the teenagers in his extended family--especially Boston. Grant has reminded me several times today that "Boston is thirteen years old."

As we packed the car to head home, Grant begged to stay at the Lake. As Travis and I talked about what made it a good weekend, it seemed like everything we said was a little thing. Put together it was a big thing: we traveled without our kids (or us) going crazy! Given the contrast between the 2003 and 2006 reunions, we couldn't have asked for a better weekend.