Cousin's Weekend at Last!

  I am blessed by the women of my family!  And every October just us girls get together for what we call "Cousin's Weekend."  We gather somewhere away from home to just spend time together, talk, laugh, eat, play, and generally reconnect.

   Our cousin, Sharon Larsen, was the instigator of this gathering--oh, back in about l997 or so.  We met at a resort at Green Lake, near Willmar, MN, that first year.  The five us, whom I refer to as the Senior cousins,  Sharon, Michele, my sister Barb, my sister-in-law Linda, and I  began a tradition that we look forward to each year.  

   Sadly, in 2000, while visiting her daughter in Hawaii, Sharon suffered a heart attack and passed away.  We miss her at each gathering--she was the fireplug of the group, always ready with stories and advice and stuff to do!  But we went on with our gatherings each year, knowing Sharon would chew us out royally if we didn't!

  A few years ago, we expanded it to include our daughters, then granddaughters.  This, of course, has changed the dynamic of the gathering, but in a good way, mostly.  Our games are more hilarious and somewhat dangerous....Last year we met in the Twin Cities and played a game (for which I take complete credit) where we each wrote 5 cards, each with a fact about ourselves that not everybody would know.  Then we had to guess who each card was written by.  And there were prizes.  It was quite an eye-opening experience for all of us, let me say!!!Lots of fun and good memories!  And nobody was injured! Then there is the Heins family's notorious "Dice Game"--which is why I used the word dangerous.  Each person supplies a whole bunch of small prizes, in wrapping paper.  The zillion little packages are piled in a ginormous pile in the middle.  We all sit in a circle, and pass around a pie pan containing 5 dice.  Each person shakes, and if she gets doubles, she can choose a prize.  That's the easy part.  The hazardous part begins during the speed round:  after all the prizes are distributed, we compete for the chance to take the ones we want from the ones who have them.    Believe me, I don't understand how those girls survived being raised in a family of six.  Just sayin'...

In between the games, there is food, shopping, snacks, swimming, treats, and lots of talking and laughing.
   This year is a little different because Linda, one of the senior members, had knee replacement surgery and won't be there for the very first time.  We will miss you, Linda!!  And Michele also will be missing this year because of a wedding in her family.  So we will miss you, too, Michele!!  Don't even think about not being there next year!

   But we will have Emma, who has been counting the years til she's old enough, and Grace, and Kelsey all there for the first time.  We will have Mary Lou and Marisa from Seattle.  We will have Angie, who is the fiancee of my nephew Carl.  (She will probably want to break her engagement after this weekend:) )  So, Cousin's Weekend continues in an ever-changing form, which new faces and new fun!

We will all gather tomorrow night at the Moose Lodge to celebrate my dad's 95th birthday with lots of fun and dancing!

So, I gotta go and get my bag packed.  Bet you wish you could go!