to PapaGigi's house we go

On Saturday morning I re-packed my suitcase for the fourth time in two weeks and piled the family in the car to head to Houston. Many months ago my uncle the pilot (and only family member not residing in Texas) decided to bring his family to visit the Texans over the MLK weekend. All my Houstonian family members decided to keep the weekend free, so my grandparents thought they'd drive over from San Antonio, and next thing we knew a full family reunion was in the works. My sister and brother finangled to get off work and all 22 of us converged at my parent's house, all together for the first time since my wedding in 2005.

Landon was SO excited as we started our drive. He clapped his hands, made up songs about "PapaGigi's house," and asked us about "Houston" every 3 seconds. Until we hit Brenham (home of Blue Bell ice cream and halfway through the 3 hour drive), then he was a little subdued, but still happy about all the farm equiptment and cows he could spot out the window. By the time we hit Katy he was over the whole thing and I heard a little voice from the back say, "mama, I just wanna go home." Luckily we were only 30 minutes away.

As a surprise to my grandparents we hired a professional photographer to take a group portrait of the full family - after all, now that my oldest cousin is 17 and they're all getting closer to moving away from home, it's going to keep getting harder to get everyone together. My grandparents were very touched; my grandpa even cried during our little family meeting, so of course so did I.

We also celebrated their 80th birthdays. As you can see, we're a little bit Swedish (and that Dala horse has a bit of a sweet tooth).

Landon waited very patiently for his piece of cake (one of the many side benefits I keep discovering about daycare) and then dug in, filled with enthusiasm for his great-grandparents. Or maybe he just really likes cake.

Regardless it was a great little trip, made even better by our return home this afternoon and the day off I plan to spend AT HOME tomorrow. It will be my first day this year spent in my house with my family and no suitcase to pack. My big plans include a long walk with Landon, JP, and the dogs, an afternoon cuddle with JP, and a leisurely grocery store trip where I don't shop as quickly as possible from a list drafted in order of grocery store aisle. I'm going to think of things to cook while I'm shopping. There may even be some meandering and investigating of new ingredients. It's going to be crazy.