Family fun

Yesterday we went to New Hampshire to celebrate my niece's 12th birthday. The 3 of us headed out at 6:30am. We stopped at our favorite breakfast restaurant and enjoyed a great meal before we buckled up for the long drive ahead of us. The 2 1/2 hours in the car just flew by this time! We sang along with "Moose tunes", "Lisa Loeb" and "Huey Lewis". We played "punch buggy" and we laughed all the way to New Hampshire. Yes, we laughed, you know, like people do when they are happy. Happy! We have been stressed out for so long we forgot we could actually laugh.

As with most family get togethers there is always some level of stress and tension that we just have to deal with at such a gathering. When you put so many people together there is bound to be people who don't like one another. This is definitely true with Rich's family. We all seemed to work through it without too much trouble this time and for that I was quite relieved.

The day was surprisingly wonderful. My niece M had her friends over for a pool party for this birthday celebration and the girls were fantastic. They were kind to each other and to the younger children who ranged in age from 6 to 9 years old. The kids swam in the pool, played games and had a great day. I found myself relaxing, yes, relaxing for the first time in ages! I sat in the sun and enjoyed myself. I had forgotten what that was all about.

We finally headed out at 8:45pm and arrived home at midnight. None of us actually wanted to leave but Rich had to be at work this morning so we couldn't spend the night. I was so surprised that everyone had gotten along so well throughout the day.

This is what I had always dreamed a get-together with Rich's family would be. Maybe there is hope for all of us after all!