A Stupendous Saturday

Me in the middle, ready to go. Cousin on my left (your
right) and my "son" (my right, your left, right?). Even if I
stood upright, both of these guys TOWER over me.

None of these "kids" are under 10 y.o.

Happy Easter to the Christians, Happy Passover to the Jewish readers, Happy Pascha to any Eastern Orthodox followers,  and Blessed Be this Ostara to the Wiccans. We joined family members for a day at our cabin in the country. Our grandfather and some of his buddies built their man cave in the early 20th century. It was a place the men-folk could use when they wanted to hunt, drink, gamble, scratch and spit. My cousins and I are co-owners now. Yes, women ARE allowed!

Go for it, Slugger!

The Husband whacking the
shit out of that log.

For the past few years, we've gotten together on the Saturday before Easter to hang out together and have some fun! This year, activities included: egg hunt (there was really only one "little" kid, ie under age10, but there were a TON of high school, college kids and graduates running over each other to get to the candy-filled plastic eggs....just sayin'), egg toss (I didn't win; I'm pretty sure it was my partner's.... ahem..... *cough*...Susan......fault), sack race (no, I didn't win that either, but I didn't fall down which is a HUGE improvement for me), and two pinatas (TMPCTEL did a great job!). The men-folk had a wood-splitting contest (it was for the under-40 group, which did not include The Husband, but when he took a turn, he whacked the shit out of it......take that, 20 year olds!).  And, of course, there were guns. Lots of guns. My poor puppy, Duchess, hates the sound of gunfire and stays in the car the entire time (we had to take her....long story). 

Some of the "wimmen-folk" with
the signed hunk of the ceiling

We have some interesting traditions in the family. For example, at Christmas we all sign a white table cloth that is later embroidered in red thread. We don't actually use the tablecloth for its intended purpose, ie "a cloth for covering the top of a table, esp. during meals" per dictionary.com; it is merely the cloth version of a guest book. Likewise, at the cabin, people have "signed in" on the ceiling in the main bedroom for years. My mother signed Rooney (her nickname) Ryan (her maiden name) 1939 (she was 20). But my brilliant cousin simply took a hunk out of the ceiling for us to sign (no climbing on chairs!). 
The day was beautiful anyway, but it was glorious because it was spent with family. If any of you read this -- and still claim me as family -- I love you!


Do you have special (or weird) family traditions?


Have you been there?


P. S. Stop by tomorrow (Monday) for the giveaway! The contest ends at midnight 4/9/12.