I have a beautiful family...not a problem in the world. But there is this one issue....
I am one of the chosen cousins who has been assigned the job of planning our extended family reunion that happens once every four years or so.
The problem? It's my family. We have a trillion of them at last count.
I'm not exaggerating.
And we're not one of those low-maintenance families that can agree on stuff. You've heard of those families that all like to camp or all enjoy Disney type vacations? That's not us. You've seen the ones that all agree to wearing the same t-shirt and posing for the photo? We will be lucky to get Uncle Earl to wear a shirt at all.
I need your help. You most likely have a family and have attended a family reunion. Tell me about it. What did you do? Where did you go? How affordable was it? What was your favorite part about it?
Where do you go to have one of these things and how do you make it affordable so that everyone can participate? I'm looking for a specific suggestion on location or a type of event or activity.
My wife will judge the best comment and the winner will get...a new hula girl air freshener or something else mostly new that will be a delightful surprise to you.
Please help!
10 comments:
My wife's family has one every year at Red Rock Canyon http://tinyurl.com/yl9law2 It's a cabin/camp situation and I always dread going (too old for those hard cabin beds) but I always love it once I get there (beautiful outdoors and hiking, etc.) My advice is "the stomach wins." They have super delicious food every year and that's the thing that keeps people coming, cheap (it's free for most of the attendees) and delicious food.
What time of year are you planning to have it? What part of the country? Can there be / will there be travel? What is a "fair" mid-point? Midwest US? Southern states? With some more info, we may be able to provide better ideas. You mention millions-ish. How many, really? Will there be little, little ones? Old (ancient) ones? I have some ideas, but dont' want to be rambling (much like I am now) and not even be close to being helpful. (Afterall, I kinda like the hoola air freshnere!)
Ugh. Family reunions. Does anyone really like them? My hubby's family has one every 3-5 years (I always vote for 5 years in between reunions). Our last reunion was in Port Angeles, WA. I was soooooo put out because it is a 2 hour drive from Seattle. After I have travelled all the way from New England the last thing I want to do is travel in car for another 2 hours. But in the end it was GORGEOUS!! We ferried over to Victoria, BC and I was ENTHRALLED by how beautiful it was/is! This coming reunion is at the Grand Canyon. Again, more driving after flying all that way. Ugh. I voted yes in the end because it is one of those things you have to see and do before you die...unfortunately! So, here's my advice. Choose a destination that is close to a major airport. It really is a whole lot nicer for those of us who have to travel from far away. Good luck!!!!
Hey Jason & family.
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Yolanda
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Two Ideas to give you:
Churches usually have the most land and yard to do activities in and if someone can ask thier church to be the location, most times they understand with a small donation to the church. Then breakout out the typical One-legged sack race, frisbee golf, etc.
The other idea is to find a Cabin in Hocking Hills southern Ohio. It's a wonderful place that is very cheap and comes with tons of space to run around: Best of all, you can all have your own cabin.
Bonus 3rd idea: City Recreation cetners love the business and there are TONS of things to do in those things.
Tough one. I'd skip the shirts, though, because they're cheesy. The last time my family got together, we all met at a state park in Alabama (appropriate because most of them lived within an hour of the place). The rooms were cheap, there was golf for people who liked that sort of thing, and lots of food. And it only last a couple of days—remember, family shouldn't spend more than two days together.
Vegas in a hotel without a casino and a great big waterslide pool park, OR a cruise.
both have shows, food, pool, activities, food...hover dam near vegas for day trip, a few stops for cruise wherever....food....everyone is happy. :) Food.
Deedra :)
Our family has a larger group of cousins in 3 seperate areas of the country.(Arkansas, Arizona, Washington) They take turns hosting the reunion every 3rd year. When it is your areas turn everyone who has room offers to take in a family. This saves travel costs and makes it truly affordable for everyone. Then the oldest generation of cousins take turns cooking an evening meal for the whole group. So you may be cooking one meal out of 7 for the big group. We just do simple basic food. It's about the fellowship not the food. One person usually volunteers to organize the sleeping arangements and come up with an agenda of various items that attendees can choose to attend or not. (i.e. the older generation likes to tour grave yards with relatives in them, not the rest of us). We have at least one night where we rent a large facility and have a pot luck. The main thing is to have lots of time to visit and get reaquainted.
where did you get the hula girl? ive searched all over the internet...
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