Second Day Of Holiday Travel

Sunday was no to be out done. The family truckster was loaded up and we were off to Jacob's great aunt Laura's for a gathering of his mother's, dad's side of the family. It was a little chilly out, but Jacob was all snuggled up in his car seat and cover and was none the wiser to very cold day.

Jacob was immediately one of the centers of attention as there was another and even newer baby than he at the gathering. Finally, a younger woman to hit on... Unfortunately, to his dismay, this one isn't available to him as it is his cousin. Samantha is half his age (6 weeks) and basically snoozed the day away.

There was much conversation by the adults upstairs while the kids were in the basement terrorizing each other... ;)! Okay, so maybe they were and were just having tons of fun with their cousins. Next year, they will have two more following them around... ;)!

The main event and the much anticipated "gift game" ensued. Numbers were drawn from 1 to 25 and Amy picked 24, while Doug was happy with his 2. In case you haven't played the "gift game". It is like a white elephant game with presents around $10ish. Each Santa then picks a number out of the "hat" (bowl in this case :-P!). Starting with the highest number, the first contestant chooses from any of the 25 gifts under the tree to open keep... Well, not so fast because here comes contestant number two, which can then either pick a gift from the 24 under the tree or steal yours because they want it. If contestant number two steals your gift, then you have the option of picking another gift from under the tree or stealing a gift, but you can't steal back the gift you just lost. Amy is "known" for her competitive and ruthless nature when playing this game. It is all in good fun of course, but she does get her share of harrassment... With a high number and choosing first, Amy picked a gift of pedicure stuff. The game became rather uneventful because there wasn't the much anticipate wrath of Amy and losing your gift. One poor soul did get his "pocket picked" many times, but he was thankful almost every time. He kept getting tea and coffee type stuff of which he didn't drink. Other than that, not a ton of gifts were exchanged. I offered to steal Amy's gift so that she would owe me HUGE, but there wasn't any interest. This is just not like her as she is usually coming to me bargaining and telling me which present to steal. With #2, I pretty much had the pick of any with the possibility of just losing it again. She was too busy with watching Jacob watch everyone else. He just can't miss a thing. Finally, it was Doug's turn. Rather than steal the gift that he wanted most from his brother-in-law (a bbq temperature fork) and risk the chance of eating steak tar tar (sp?) or sushi from the grille, I left that alone as well as the other gifts out there to go for the tree. A shriek from Amy, "What are you doing? Get ...such and such gift..." Well, after not bargaining and I myself eyeing up a small wrapped package, I continued on my way to the tree. Upon opening the gift, I found it to be a nice set of photo coasters, but where would I ever find any pictures. Many were agreement as I received much harrassing especially everyone knowing that I didn't have any younger subjects to shoot. After losing the gift in a few exchanges, I was able to get it back. So, if you come over, you will be able to see the coasters and see if I was able to find any pictures.

After the gathering of family and fun, were off to Frank and Michele's house for another little gathering for a friend that was in town from Tennessee. It was great to see Paul, Liz and the boys as we haven't seen Liz and the kids since they moved to TN. I was able to see Paul a couple of times as he was part of the Bourbon Tour in May and was also at our 50th Reunion for the fraternity. 4 of the 5 Bourbon Tour participants were at the gathering, so of course, what did we drink? A little bourbon that was purchased while on tour. Discussion of the next "boozapalooza" as it was dubbed by Greg, a non-participant at the first event, has begun. So, to all those fraternity brothers out there, we are planning on heading to Bardstown, KY the week after Labor Day, 2008 for the Bourbon Festival.

The party at Frank and Michele's was kinda funny. The girls were gossipping in one room, while the boys were tossing around stories in another and the kids (less Jacob) were in the basement. It kinda reminds you of stereoptypical Jr. high dances (well, at least of years ago as they may have changed now) with the boys on one side and the girls on the other.

It was great to see everyone at both parties as we don't get to see any of them enough. We were home late evening and were able to get Jacob to sleep relatively quickly. The day definitely pooped him out...