Well for you working folk "It's Friday" is a good thing, but remember Sunday is Coming.
With that said it has been a busy week. I just caught my breath and thought I would solicit some input from you all. First I hope everyone returned safely and had a good time at the Reunion. Notice I did not say Branson. Nothing wrong with Branson in fact it is great!!!!! But the most important thing is Family and the Reunion was all about family. Yes it was vacation time for some and just off times for others, but it was all family. Someone said 7 days in the same house and we are still speaking, that was said kind of tongue in cheek but it does say allot about "A Gathering of Misguided Crazy Folks that Share the Same DNA and Love Each Other in spite of themselves" kind of clan.
Now that I am done pontificating let me ask some questions; Would you like to do this again? If so when? (understanding the expense and all) Would Branson be your next choice? If not what would be your suggestion? What was the thing you enjoyed the most and what could you do with out? Would you like more or less organized activities like the trip to Silver Dollar City or planned meals?
It would be great if I could get a comment from all who attended and those that did/could not make it this time.
Thanks to all,
Jim
6 comments:
Boy, there are so many different takes on this kind of thing. Both pros and cons on what we chose to do this first go around. Because this was a big expense for many, I think we chose a place that served both as a great reunion venue and vacation venue. Everyone tried to cram so many different things in, in what really was a short period of time. If you think about it, we really only had 3 days when everyone was all together. I would have liked more family time, laughing about old times and reminiscing. A lot of time was spent just figuring things out, preparing meals, cleaning up, etc. Not bad for a first time effort!
I have a co-worker that does this every year! They go to a “resort” in Oklahoma. Mind you the words resort and Oklahoma in the same sentence are a rarity. It really is like a camp with individual cabins, a couple of screened in pavilions for gathering times, a pool and golf course. They don’t plan anything besides one golf outing. The reunion is 3 days. Meals are all pot luck or on your own. They talk, play a lot of horseshoes, that kind of thing.
There’s also been the suggestion of a cruise. This may be cost prohibitive for many, but no meal preparation, no clean up, lots of activities. There are some pretty reasonable 3 day cruises out there.
This was so important to the 5 sibs that we spent a lot of time, money and effort getting everyone together. I wouldn’t have changed that a bit. I think in the future, we try to come up with a reasonable cost, shorter term alternative. Hoping that all can make it, knowing, just like this time, that not all will.
Now, who wants to take on the role of Reunion Chair?
I think for the siblings a cruise would be terrific! For everyone, a cabin in the woods somewhere with room to do cheap things like horseshoes etc. I also think that the whole family thing should be done once every two or three years to help keep the expense manageable - like save for 2 years, then a year in advance find the venue. I enjoyed myself tremendously but I did miss family time. I was so tired at night that I didn't get to sit in on guitar time. I really wanted to hear Rick sing Senor DelGato!!
what about hawaii? (totally selfish of me===it's 1/2 way between you guys and me!)..it's warm and gorgeous and i've always wanted to got here...just a thought!
I think Deb's idea is good.
I had already thought about the next reunion and was going to suggest every two years as well. I would also suggest planning the lodging so we are all in very close proximity as I feel my parents, Tony and I missed out on a few activities because of the distance or last minute planning. I was really looking forward to more time just sitting around and chatting, playing guitars, and maybe some other activities everyone could participate in.
The crossword puzzle was fun as well as the other charades type game (even though I didn't play, I observed).
I'm up for a cruise and there are some real good group deals. Actually I bet most people spent abou the price of a cruise during our week in Branson. I'd also be up for a good old fashion campout. In other words, I'm flexible. I found a good place in NC or VA that sounds similar to the place in OK that Eileen mentioned, except they have a pool with slides and a few other activities on-site. I have some brochures somewhere ass we were trying to plan a family reunion on my mom’s side last year.
I would volunteer to chair or help organize the next event.
All that said, I enjoyed myself but didn't get to relax as much as I thought I would. Too bad no one took advantage of the pool at or resort. Just the hot tub had a capacity of 30 (yes thirty) and several of them could fit into the pool plus the kiddie pool. Anyway, my next time back to Branson will be to take in a couple of shows or see some of the attractions. Silver Dollar was fun. I enjoyed the boat ride and would love an opportunity to do that again.
We would have liked more family time and planned meals together. We also like the idea of every two years for experience reasons. We also like the outdoors and think the Oklahoma idea is a real good one. We really had fun in Silver Dollar City, however with very young children (like we have) that sort of thing is also very hard to do. I really enjoyed the evenings talking and playing games together.
Love you all!
Bethany and gang
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