"Reunited and it feels so good..."

So it's been about a week since we got home from our family reunion, and I've had some time to compose my thoughts (read: get over the hangovers, sleep deprivation and shopping highs). As always, we had a great time partying, and hanging out with my cousins (from my mom's side)! Our reunions always mean: good food, staying up late, and most of all: DRINKING. Now you all know (and I've said it many times) that I'm a cheap drunk. But our rallying call was "Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot - EVERYBODY!" Once you heard that, you knew what was up. However, I was able to get through 3 nights of this, by drinking Pellegrino and OJ (w/ the tiniest hint of vodka) as my regular drink. As you can see by the picture, there was a LOT of "rallying calls". LOL

after 4 nights...

But there was always some kind of shnackeroonie (ie. snack) that we could munch on too. Karaoke also helped. We spent half the time singing and the other half laughing! It was really fun. My cousins Ed and Julian were the emcees (and frequent singers) and they kept us entertained along with an occasional aunt who would climb up on a chair to dance to the tunes! LOL. Or someone's girlfriend who was woefully out of tune. (Seriously, could she not hear herself?)

We also had the famous "US vs. Canada" B-ball Game that is played at every one of our reunions (Canada has won the last 4x! Sorry Seattle...maybe next time!) They are however, getting older now, so there were slightly more "injuries" than in previous years. It was seriously hilarious to watch the guys all come down the stairs one by one, limping or holding on to their backs, and groaning in pain.

We never went to sleep earlier than 4:00am but we were always up and ready to go... shopping! And boy did I shop. When we first arrived in Edmonton, we went to South Edmonton Common (I was the winner. I bought a sweater and 2 tops right off the bat at H&M and a pair of pants from the Gap Outlet.) Day of Lucky indeed! At WEM, I picked up another sweater at H&M and 4 tops from a new fave store I discovered called Cassis. I love shopping when it's "My Day of Lucky".

But the best thing was re-connecting with my family, my cousins again. It always seems that no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we always have a good time. We may be older, but we still know how to partay!! Also, our family has grown (what with everyone having kids) and soon we won't be the "youngs" anymore! Though I refuse to let us be thought of as the "olds" - our parents are still the "olds"!!! (Then again, after seeing those guys after the b-ball game maybe they are the olds...hahaha!) Seriously though..when I see the new generation of youngs - my nephew and my other cousins' kids - it warms my heart to know that  they too will eventually grow up, grow closer and re-connect with each other at future family reunions. I know they too will have just as much fun as we do! A never-ending cycle of fun times...

I hear our next family reunion might be in Hawaii...can't wait!!