Vacation @ MindSay

Spousal Unit and I have been married for almost sixteen years, but I have met very few of his extended family members.  We rectified this last month at his Family Reunion.

After finding the shelter at the Coonskin Park (no, I'm not kidding), it was time to Meet The Cousins. And the Myriad Aunts and Uncles.  The Dynamo (Spousal Unit's mom) is the youngest of some thirteen children, and pretty much all of them procreated abundantly.

Lunch was scheduled for the afternoon, as were a door prize giveaway and an auction.  Now, lunch was catered -- partly, anyway -- with proceeds from the auction of last year's reunion.  I warned The Dynamo that the family had to be careful. Hillbillies -- and believe me, this is a hillbilly family -- don't have catered family reunions!

After lunch it was time for the door prize giveaway.

Now, Spousal Unit was off walking with Cartoon Ranger, who was having issues with being where we were (another tale for perhaps another day) and Cyclone and I were hanging out at the lunch tables, playing Boxes.  One of the Aunts (or was she a cousin?) who has a fondness for the Spousal Unit took pity upon his family, asking Cyclone to write out the numbers for the Door Prize Drawing.  I was asked to help hand them out.  

"Can you do that?" she asked.  "Would you mind?"

I smiled.  "Not at all."

Someone tried to turn on the karaoke machine (for the use of the microphone) to get everyone's attention, for the family was rather spread out by this time.  I said, "Do I need to get their attention?"

"Oh yes."

So, of course, I did.

I do confess, I very much enjoyed surprising everyone. :)  In my "public speaking" voice, I simply called:   "Ladies and Gentlemen! May I have your attention?"

Thing is, I'm very loud.   Well, I can be, anyway.  Not only am I loud, but I'm enthusiastic.  And I was having FUN, because I thrive as the center of attention.  :D  No surprise there, eh?

Calling out the numbers on the prizes, I did a little bit of patter about the recipient (for I had been paying attention during the pre-lunch introductions and so forth) or where they were seated (there seemed to be a "lucky bench" for prizewinners) and handed out the prizes to the winners.  I heard "What does she do for a living?"  and "That's his wife?"

After the prizes had been given, I was asked to take over the auctioneering job.  A) They could tell I was enjoying myself and they wanted to show me I was  welcome.  B) I think they were enjoying themselves as well.  However, Uncle D was the usual auctioneer and I didn't want to supplant him!  He asked me to join him and I suggested we alternate, and so we did.  Before he retired, he taught English and Spanish and history, so we had a lot in common.  And I think he had a good time working with me. At least, I hope so!

Bidding wars included the raucous race to $100 for a handmade quilt and a huge bidding war for Tennessee Uncle's Homemade bread.  With homemade jellies. In a basket.  :)  That went for $45 after fierce competition!

We raised over $700 this year at the reunion.  Whatever is not used for next year's catering will be donated to charity.  The family votes on it.

Someone caught me on video whilst I was involved in the above shenanigans.  I don't think I want to watch myself.  I was having a terrific time, but I don't think I want to see myself having a terrific time.  Even if I did make folks laugh as they handed their cash to Aunt Trish (not her real name, natch!) and bundled up their baskets and blankets and bread!

I'm feeling those old urges rise. Those that speak to the adventurous soul in me that has laid dormant for a while now. July is fast approaching as is my summer vacation. And there are number of possibilities that are presenting themselves, and the thought of them excites me. But I'll hold my tongue for the moment. When I have things firmed up I will speak more of this. Probably. I may be too uppity to actually form a coherent sentence.

A trip to Las Vegas with kids can be a lot of fun. After all, this excellent family vacation spot offers several attractions that are guaranteed to give your kids the best entertainment experience.

Take for example the Pole Position Raceway. This indoor, quarter mile European racetrack facility houses the 18hp electric go-carts that reach speeds up to 45mph. But remember that most of the rides in Las Vegas for kids have height restrictions. To ride the go-carts you must be at least 48” tall. The large screen over the speedway displays your professional racing name you have chosen and your racing status. If this is more a spectator sport for you there is an upstairs room that provides a large view of the speedway along with pool tables, pinball machines, and plasma television. This attraction opens daily 11am until midnight.

Another notable attraction in Las Vegas for kids is the Circus Circus. It contains heart stopping rides and 4D special FX theatre with Marvin the Martian and Daffy Duck. There is also a 3D theatre for the whole family and the world’s larges permanent circus with shows starting every half hour.

So you see, Pole Position Raceway and Circus Circus are just some of the many enjoyable attractions in Las Vegas for kids. There are still other excellent kid-friendly activities and attractions in Las Vegas guaranteed to give your whole family the best entertainment experience.

For more information, read the article Las Vegas for Kids " Childhood Fun In Vegas."

I am not going in chronological order, here, so please forgive me.  I am going in order of how I posted my "headlines" as porkchopper called them. ;)

The image here is taken from my Motorola RAZR phone.  The new one with the red silicone skin.  I was an idiot and remembered to include my phone charger but not a camera.  In consequence, I have a series of pics just now that are not stellar.  (The Dynamo was kind enough hereafter to loan me her digicam for the rest of our vacation, and pics from that will follow when she sends them on!)

So.  We had a wonderful reunion on Saturday in Kanawha County, WV.  On Sunday, we went to see different venerable relatives, one of whom is Old Uncle who lives on "the Hill in the Holler." Yep.  So. We all went up to see him.  Several cars filled with family members.  Once we had all gathered to pay our respects to the man, the threatening storm broke in amazing branches of lightning and rolling thunder.  Stunningly beautiful.

Followed by rain. Lots of rain. Joined by wind. Lots of wind.  And it got violent, all at once.

The hail which you see in the picture above was mostly between the size of your average Hostess snack-size doughnut to the size of a tennis ball.   As you can see, the storm was liberal in sharing this ice with us.  The wind was fierce, too, and when we eventually got down the hill, we had to make a careful way over unstable pavement covered -- carpeted, truly -- in fresh, wet leaves.  It was truly frightening.

But what had most impact for us was that the storm (Old Uncle is almost 100 years old and he said he hadn't seen the like at this time of year in his whole life!) had far too much fun in hitting our rental car (2008 Toyota Corolla).  Spousal Unit stopped counting at 200 hits.  And let's not discuss the sunburst shatter of the windshield, eh?  Yeah.

We decided over dinner that evening that we would change the state's motto to "If your car ain't beat up when ya git here, we'll beat it up for ya!"

If I ever go back, I'll make sure to ride a horse.

One vacation begets another. I want to steal away to some far off place that a lot of people wouldn't normally jump up and call a vacation destination. Somewhere like Branson Missouri. If we can take Spirit airlines, the airfare should be as cheap as the vacation. We would only be paying a little over $450 for a weekend that includes 4 Days and 3 Nights at the Welk Resort Hotel with show tickets and a museum pass. He might not go for the museum, though.

We could always opt for the cheaper package that is about $420 and includes 3 Days/2 Nights  at the same hotel, coupon book, gift cards to restaurants and shopping outlets, and a show. There are a few other packages in that price range with some other options as to what you get in the package. These prices are per adult couple, not per person. That is a shocker, if ever I saw one. I wish airlines packaged their flights like that!