Sunday at the Parents

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Another beautiful Sunday day. Once again it is an on Sunday to head over to the parent’s house for dinner. I don’t know if there is any way to describe a Sunday dinner with the family. It always starts off with the men standing around the grill discussing who knows what and the women in the kitchen talking about the latest happenings in the family. And for the kids well that is anyone’s guess. They could be down in the basement playing, or in the gully building forts or best of all standing by the soft serve ice cream machine begging their parents for just one more ice cream cone before dinner. As the time for dinner approaches the chaos begins. Everyone is trying to serve up their kids while getting everything on the table. Once dinner begins we have to have a minimum of at least two conversations going on at once all the while having kids yelling for more food or that they are finished and want to go play. Dinner conversation is always eclectic. We talk about everything from what is going on in the world today, to what is happening in the family or just reminiscing about past events in our lives. It is always a treat when everyone can be there, but it has become apparent that we are running out of room. Mom has asked everyone to stop having kids. Since this is kind of out of the question I don’t know what they will do. Once dinner is over (which is always really good and I always eat too much) we flip for three people to do the dishes. Each week I dread doing dishes because that means you miss out on all the good after dinner conversations, but eventually your luck runs out and you flip in. After dinner everyone heads down stairs for more conversation. Also the little kids who have been up to now stuck to their mothers pant leg get a chance to play together. This is always fun and amusing to watch. As this is going on the older children continue to run in and out of the house working on their fort in the gully, helping grandpa build a tower out of Jenga blocks, and of course getting more ice cream cones. Eventually the evening comes to an end and everyone leaves with a sucker. This is one of my least favorite parts. Nothing is worse then getting a 1 year old home from grandma’s house with sucker slobber everywhere, but I guess this is a sacrifice I am willing to make. I love going to the parent’s house. This is a tradition that is near and dear to my heart. I love seeing my family and reconnecting with everyone. I am hoping that we will be able to do this for a very long time into the future, because as my children get older I want one of their favorite memories to be of going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house and all the fun times they had there.