Wednesday, July 16, 2008

midweek huddle

My parents came up from their home in the South. They will be visiting for a couple of weeks, and staying with one of my brothers. I took Tuesday day off of work; we had a cookout, and guess what else we did?...

[clockwise from top: Craver, SIL (she refused to touch the fish she caught), S1, Brother (SIL's hubby)]

Our family grew up real tight, until we (six) siblings grew up. Now that people bought homes in scattered places, it's rare to have all eight (parents plus kids) in the same place.

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When we got together on Tuesday, I really felt close with my brothers. It was as if we had never moved away. Dad got a temporary fishing license, and hung out with us for a bit, but he later told us that fishing is not really his thing. That's okay.

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It was heart-warming to see our kids getting along so well with their cousins, but let me tell you about something that one of our kids did. My brother (the host) was visited by a friend of his family. We have never met her before. She was introduced by her first name to all the grown ups. My son (S2) asked her for her last name. Then said, "Hello Miss (last name)." And he gave her a hug. She was impressed, and as the lad's parents, we felt most honored. Atta boy, S2!

15 comments:

lime said...

those are special times to have together and it really does warm the heart to see your child conduct himself well. fun pictures too. thanks for sharing, hope the visit continues to be a delight.

Anonymous said...

rare visits and wonderful moments

thanks for sharing

Craver Vii said...

So tired!! I'm really dragging at work today. Last night, after a really busy day, we let the dogs out one last time before going to bed.

Bad timing! Pepe LePew happened to be passing through the backyard, and this startled skunk sprayed the dogs.

Instead of hitting the sack right away, I had to bathe one of the dogs and that skunk smell stayed in my nostrils long into the night. I didn't sleep well. Grrr... dumb o'l skunks!

Anonymous said...

Doesn't matter if you live at far away places. Wonderful & quality time you spend together with your family is what matters.

And your S2 was real intelligent gentleman.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful family time.

So did you catch that fish . . .or did you just snag a picture with someone else's? :)

Unknown said...

Impressive catch there! http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/

Craver Vii said...

Thanks Lime and NaNcY. I should probably also share stories about some of the inappropriate things S2 does when he is trying to be funny. Comedy is a tricky thing, and sometimes these young civilians ought to just leave it to the trained pros... like me. ;-)

Thanks Cuckoo, and I try to encourage good behavioral standards, but my wife is the true champion of this arena. Last night, I was barking something at the kids while driving. She gently touched my arm and suggested how I might rephrase what I was saying. She is profoundly wise!

Gasp! I wouldn't do such a thing, Spaghettipie. Not ever... unless I was absolutely sure I could get away with it. ;-) No, these were all our own. As an additional measure of integrity, I try not to hold the fish out too far in front of me. We measured some of our catches that day. The one I have in this photo was thirteen inches. The whopper my brother has was only three inches longer, but he had his arm extended a bit more. I cropped a copy of that photo to remove his hand and forearm. It looks HUGE!!!

FtP, we caught a couple 16-inchers. We wanted to keep one or two to eat, but the owner of the property stocks his pond for game fishing, and we surmised that he would not be happy with the removal of any of his fish... at least not without prior consent.

The one that impressed me the most is the one that got away. Yes, I realize fishermen are known for embellishing stories, but this one felt like I had hooked Nessie! I tried to carefully reel it in, but it finally broke the line, and I never got a good look at it. Boy, what fight though!!

imac said...

A grand time was had by all. great post Craver.

dot said...

I enjoyed hearing about this very special occasion! It's sad that families can't be together more often but that's just the way it usually goes now days.
Ya'll sure got some pretty fish!

Shammickite said...

Families getting together in the same place should be a RULE! It's hard when everyone lives in scattered locations, I suppose that's what makes faily reunions so special.
Too bad about the skunked doggies. That happened to me once.... let the dog out and she came face to face with you know who..., she ran into the basement, up the stairs and under the kitchen table, wiping her face on the carpet all the way! AAARRGGGHHH! It took all night to clean up and the dog stank every rainy day for 6 months.

Craver Vii said...

Imac, there were a few good photographic opportunities there, and I wonder what the photos would be like if someone with your talent had been there.

Hi Dot! The REALLY special occasion comes this Saturday, when we have a huge family reunion on a relative's farm. I'm glad for my kids and my brother's kids that they will at least have their immediate cousins to feel some security and be familiar with.

Shammy, I really should turn the skunk story into its own post. There is a home made solution out there that works better than tomato juice. I just put her in the tub and used the most fragrant shampoo we had available. Lather, rinse, repeat. That's really all I did this time. I think the key was quick action, because it came off of her pretty quick.

Lilli & Nevada said...

Oh those look like some good eating fish. Glad that you had a great day

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Craver: Nice catch of bass from the lake.

Craver Vii said...

L & N and Fishing Guy, I wanted so bad to keep one or two of those and throw them on the grill! I think I'm developing more an more of a taste for fish, but my wife can't stand them. If I fish to eat alone, does that put me in some kind of pathological category?

Unknown said...

Hey Craver! Glad you all had fun fishing. I like fishing too.

My dad used to bite the worms in 2 or three to make them stretch further, lol.