70!

My mom is the youngest of four.  I've always *loved* her side of the family.  Everyone was close growing up.  Time together was full of fun cousins, holidays at grandma's, and summer gatherings.  We don't get to see them enough now that everyone is grown and has a family of their own.  And its hard to find a place big enough to accommodate us and the right amount of time that everyone can be there in the busyness of life.  This weekend we almost struck a perfect balance.

The reason for the occasion was my favorite Aunt Bettie's 70th birthday... my mom's sister.  I really love ALL of my aunts.  ;)  We eulogized my grandmother that she had 4 sons and 4 daughters.... and we never were sure who married in and who'd always been there.  My Aunt Bettie has two boys so I always got spoiled by her.  Actually, I am one of only two grandgirls (but lots of grandsons)... another contributor to me being spoiled, of which Mike is always thankful.  ;)

Onto the party.  We gathered at my parents' river house.  But this time we didn't all stay there.  So thankfully, we all had running water the whole time and an occasional dose of peace and quiet (well, except my mom... the party planner and hostess rarely gets to rest).  It was long enough to all have fun but not so long that we got sick of each other.  We all gathered on Friday evening.  And met new little cousins for the first time!

Lily got to hang out with my Uncle Henry.  She adores him.  On the way there, we drove past a boat lot.  Mike told the kids to pick out which boat they'd like and Lily said "I only want a boat if Uncle Henry is on it."  Then after we pulled onto the river house road, Lily said to Peter, "See I have a smiley face.  You know why?  His name starts with an H."  When we couldn't find her, she was usually with Henry.  And as my only other girl cousin said, we adored him too when we were little.  And still do.  So the legacy continues... 

 Dock Beauties...

 Feeling the scales of one of many fish Henry caught... 

 Checking the crab pots, all by herself.

Give me some more of this scene.

A Flythe-Garrison gathering wouldn't be complete without some sailing.

Everyone gathered on the back deck to say something about Aunt Bettie.  My uncle Richard, upper right photo below, is the second born, just 15 mo younger than Bettie, then Henry 2 years and 3 mo after Richard... so my grandmother had 3 children in 3.5 years, with a husband often away in the Army.  My mom surprised her six years later.

Uncle Ray's siblings came from Cape Cod to be there. Ray is one of four boys (!).  His twin brother is on the bottom left.

My mom put together an amazing party.  She is the hostess of the family.
This easy crusty brie was the hit of the appetizers.

 John and Audrey

 Matt and Sonoma

 Megan and Max

 The Birthday Girl.  Has there ever been a younger looking 70 year old?!?  Seriously, Never Ever.

 Maw and Audrey

 Fun with Birthday Balloons

 Part of the Gang.

My cousin, Turner, cooked us a delicious... 

Jeff and Tayloe

Its kinda neat... the little cousins came in waves and each have a buddy or two... Peter & Carson & Loulie, Lily & Max, Audrey & Sonoma, and the babies (thus far) of the bunch, Georgia & Elizabeth. 
We missed you, Molly and Justin, Emily and Will!!  :(

 Jeff was the kid wrangler!  

We fit in some canoeing while we waited for dessert!

 Cake Time!

 Turner couldn't resist a kiss from that face.

 There was a little dance party with Jessica.

Audrey and Peter are our early birds.  They had fun with Mr Potato Head.

Sadly, I was more than annoyed that we had to come back to the city (booo!) early Sunday for something that someone else was willing to do- poor communication (ugh!!)- and then didn't get to go back as I'd also been expecting we would (frustration!!).  Its taken me a while to recover from the disappointment.  I wish I could have spent more time with everyone.  When can we get together again?!  Mark your calendars for Sept 2014 for Richard's 70th!!    But it was so good to see everyone and lots of fun.  Thanks, Mom, for pulling off 95% of the work!!