We spent the Fourth of July weekend in Odessa at a family reunion. The family was my husband's father's family. Two thirds of the people attending were from my town. There were probably sixty or so from here. I had never been to a family reunion. It was not quite what I was expecting. First of all, I was expecting it to be held at a park or large facility. It was in the backyard of some distant uncle. They had an average size yard with a small pool. There were about thirty kids swimming in this small, maybe eight to ten thousand gallon, pool. (At that moment I was thankful that we no longer have a pool! I would have been so stressed out with all those kids in my pool.) We were all crammed into this backyard.
Another thing that I found interesting was this: We all stayed fairly isolated. There were only a few people that went around introducing themselves. So I found that we were sitting at a table with our family that we see everyday. I thought, I could do this at home. There was no need to drive to Odessa for that! Even the kids in the pool were only socializing with their own siblings or first cousins. It was a little sad.
After the reunion we went to the motel, which was the type with the indoor rooms and an indoor pool. We had a really nice time. All of the kids, including my son spent hours in the pool. My husband was carrying the baby in the pool. He kept laughing and squealing; he was so happy to be with his daddy in the water! I wish I had taken my camera but I forgot it. (I did, however, bring my camera charger.) I sat down on one of the lounge chairs and read some of The Odyssey. It was a very relaxing evening. Later that night, we went outside and sat on our cars and watched some great fireworks. (It turns out the county park where the city was having their Fourth celebration was very close.)
All in all it was a nice weekend. The family reunion was not at all what I was expecting. The nice evening poolside and the firework show afterwards were great. My family spent some quality time together relaxing. It was worth the drive for that alone!