It explains a lot.

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending some time with my extended family.  I know I’ve mentioned more than once that my grandfather was one of 12 siblings.  That tends to result in a fairly large extended family.  Once a year, at my Uncle Dave & Aunt Carol’s house, we are all invited to gather to share food, memories and catch up on all the happenings of the previous year.  When I was younger we did not always make it to the event but since Monkey was born we’ve attended each year though it seems we missed 2009.  We can’t let that happen again!

It’s so nice to be able to sit back, look around and realize, “Oh, hey, that’s where I get that from!”  For instance, I know my tendency to say things just to get reactions out of people, preferably to make their jaws drop in shock, comes from my Papa.  He didn’t say this around me but I heard after the fact that he was telling someone about giving his lawn tractor “bl*w jobs ((He was talking about blowing into the gas tank to get it started.  No, I don’t know why this would work or be necessary but there it is.)).”  The question seemed to be, did he know what he was saying or was he trying to get a rise out of people?  If you know Papa, you also know…he totally knew.

It’s also a chance to pick the brains of the older generations.  I picked up a couple potato growing tips from a couple of experts that I’m sure will pay off next year.  Seriously, if they can get 100 lbs of potatoes out of a bag of potatoes going soft and sprouty in the pantry there is no excuse for my pitiful little hauls of 20 lbs based on 10 lbs of fancy pants seed potatoes.  Do you want to hear the biggest tip?  Fertilizer.  Seriously.  It seems like the farmer gene in my family tree has completely atrophied in me.  *Sigh*  Next year.

Monkey really seemed to enjoy himself once he had a chance to settle in.  There were some rocky moments because he’s not always able to join in and play with other kids appropriately but when he stuck to playing ball with some of the adults he did great.  He was happy, talkative and relaxed. The best part of the reunion for me was when one of my cousins ((second cousin, I think)) approached me.  He will be 30 this year and he has full mutation FX.  First,  he told me that he and Monkey both have Fragile X, which I knew.  He asked if he was going to have anyone to help him in school so we told him what sorts of help Monkey gets.  Then he said to me, as he watched Monkey playing, “Don’t worry.  He’ll be fine.”  It’s always good to hear and I know he’s right!

When the time finally came to leave he was very, very specific about where we were supposed to go and how he was supposed to get there.  Fortunately, Grammy and Grampa had no issue with him riding to “Grammy’s house” in “Grammy’s van.”  The only cwappy part of the day was when it was time to leave Grammy & Grampa’s house to go home.  When I told Monkey it was time to say good-bye he said “See ya!” to ME…and then waved me off.  Umm, nope, you’re coming WITH us little man.  That’s when he got mad, burst into tears and stomped out of the house.  Way to make Mommy & Daddy feel good, jeeze louise!

Grammy made some noise about not liking to see him cry but we all know she is thrilled he likes spending time there so much, lol.  Of course she had to admit that aloud too because there was no hiding the smile as she’d said that bit about the crying.  Now Duhdee and I are left wondering how on earth we can manage to give Monkey and Grammy this much needed time together.  It looks like Duhdee and I might have to plan some additional overnights.  Oh, woe is me!