Uncommon Sense

“I remember him sitting right here, crying on the phone with you getting the latest update from the hospital.  He always kept asking me ‘Why?’.  You two have been through so much.  It’ll be nice to have you near him in Boston next year.  I’ll call you and say, ‘Amy, call Kolby, he needs a break.’  ” – Mrs. Woodfield

The Spellman family reunion hit day 3 today.  We started off by sleeping in – and by that I mean that the older grandchildren slept in.  We headed off to  mini golf, bumper boats, and go karts.  Safe to say, I lost in the older kid’s mini golf tournament -6 par per whole is not so good, although I didn’t have any coffee, so should I get a disability there?  Then it was off to Hops for lunch.  Follow by prepping for the PARTAY – aka me making my famous caesar salad.  And then Aaron’s grad PARTAY from 4-9.  Then presents.  And now, writing blog posts.  Family leaves tomorrow :-(

Big updates:

- Aaron has lots of friends.

- Katie (not cousin Kaite) is good at basketball – watch that girl dribble!

- College-aged grandchildren need lots of caffeine.  Lots. Like yesterday – except today, it was based off of diet coke.

- Sweet Tea vodka is the shitza.  It’s good.

- Never drive in the 16 and under go karts if you are older than 16.

Crazy Conversations / Quotes:

- “Pedeophiles move around a lot”-  random person at Aaron’s grad party.

- “We need to talk to Jana.  Gotta get her cute jewelry” – Katie.

- “Amy, you’re drunk.” / “No I’m not!”

- “Hi, I’m Jana, like banana.” – Aunt Jana.

- “I’m not like Joey.” – Robby.

- “Amy, your knee is black and blue.” – Mom

- “Amy, do you need me to come upstairs with you?” – Kolby

- “Amy, come sit next to me.” – Kolby

The Spellman 2009 Family Reunion has reached the end of day 2 – yes at almost 1 am.  Today it was up early – Adam had school and AWARDS (our little American Legion boy!), I took Katie out for coffee and some Target-ing, and the rest of the family slept, swam, worked out, and flew.  Aunt Jana, Uncle Dan, Jake, and Matt arrived just in time for our Cosi lunch.  Then it was off to Blueback for the grandchildren – birth order please – Katie, Amy, Aaron, Jake, Matt, Mike, and Emily – to see UP, eat as much movie food as we could handle, and then stop to get some ice cream after.  In the meantime, the parental units hung out at home, drinking wine and catching up.  After a dinner of pizza and Chinese food, it was off to Whirlyball for the Graduation Tournament.  Two hours and many whiplashes and bruises later, the little families and the grandparents headed back to the hotel (Jen’s to sleep, Jana’s + Adam for a sleepover), the older Spellman siblings (Jill’s and Julie’s) stopped by the Petry Grad Party, and the older cousins  (Katie, Amy, Aaron, Jake) and Aaron’s friends went to see Year One at the Crown.  Tomorrow’s another busy day – PARTAY!

Big updates:

- Jake’s taller than me.  I know, it’s not something that’s hard to do, but he’s only 15!

- Mike knows how to drive the Whirlyball cars better than Matt – go Mike!

- College-aged grandchildren need lots of caffeine.  Lots.

- West Hartford has really bad traffic at 5 pm on a Friday.

- Katie had yet to see the Asian version of My New Haircut, until today.

Crazy Conversations / Quotes:

- Grandma can rhyme.  No, not in the rapper way.

- “My tears almost fell during the movie” – Emily, explaining how her eyes got all watery.

- The “That’s what she said jokes.” were hilarious

- “Well what if he’s gay?” / “Well then he’ll be in the closet forever.”

- And the quote of the day – “No homo.  No incest.” – my family loves each other.

The Spellman 2009 Family Reunion has officially begun – and because it’s a grad year (Aaron’s turn), everyone’s here in CT for the weekend.  And by everyone I mean – The Barals [Amy, Aaron, Adam, Jill (Mom), and Mark (Dad)], the Grandparents [Jerry and Janice], the Kavanaghs [Aunt Julie, Uncle Joe, and Katie], the Dovgans [Aunt Jana, Uncle Dan, Jake, and Matt], and the Clausens [Aunt Jeni, Uncle Josh, Mike, and Emily].  The missing few are favorite cousin Patrick who is finishing up Clemson Summer Session 1 exams and the Spellmans [Uncle Jeff, Aunt Diane, Darcy, Nick, and Jake] who are serving it up pool-style in Woodward, Iowa.

This post will be updated throughout the weekend – maybe even with pictures!! – to note fun facts, interesting happenings, and of course, funny comments.

Thursday 6/18

Big updates:

- Katie and Jim (her boyfriend) have hinted about a marriage possibility.  Shock!  Amazement!  Happiness!  And upon seeing his facebook, the decision that it would be nice to have another cute Southern cousin.  Katie gets some big ups for picking a good one!

- Patrick was fired or quit his job.  It was a shady deal anyway.

- Mike and Emily are as crazy and hyper as ever – but I think I have the favorite cousin card in the bag.  It got an “I love you” bookmark handmade by Emmers last weekend.  They enjoyed being in Boston this past week with their other cousins and according to Em (who’s 4, mind you), “I hate the Yankees.”  We teach them well here in Red Sox Nation – getting them young – even the ones from the midwest.

- Aaron wants to be a teacher?!?!  Revelation by Mom during a chat at dinner.

- All of the Spellman grandchildren in college have macs – photo op soon!

Interesting Happenings:

- Julie and Joe’s plane delayed.  Katie came early – treated her to some seafood, SCORE!

- Ate at Counter Burger where Em spilled her milkshake – it lead to a complete breakdown and lots of heads turned our way.

- Grandma had at least 3 glasses of wine – according to a grandchildren count from various sources.  Working our way up.  We’re going to get her a straw and maybe a cozi to hold the bottle around her neck!

- Sooo much rain!

Crazy Conversations / Quotes:

- Laugh attack caused by Katie’s retelling of Christmas at the Kavanagh’s and Patrick’s rug burn incident.  Crazy drunken cousins!

- The two things Grandpa asked about on the drive home from the airport – “How’s your love life Amy?” and “Now this road takes you by the high school right?”.  No surprise there, eh Patrick.  Also discussed: the weather in Iowa – hot (again, no surprise).

- “He’s cute, where does he live again?” – Katie, after reaching some photos in my London album.

- “Amy go check out the lawn guy, he’s cute.” – Dad, in reference to the Scott’s lawn care guy (age probably about 40) doing our lawn.

- “Can we roll down the window?” – Mike and Em in the backseat of my car, in the rain.  The answer was no, sorry!

- “were you at cuase afta dis I’m out” – Text I sent to Patrick (it was a forward of a text I got yesterday).  His response, “Say what now girl?”.

- “Ben’s here.” – At Golf FORE the Kids, text from Aaron.  Self-explanatory.

- “And then the boat went like this and went up this high!” – Em, explaining the adventure that was their whale watch this morning.

- “Jerry and Janice, they’re high maintenance” – Mom.  High-maintenance means not carrying on their luggage.

- “We’re portable.” – Katie, in reference to her family.