Lessons Learned at the Bryant Family Reunion 2008

1) When your brain isn’t letting you organize your thoughts and belongings BEFORE you even go, it’s a sign! Me and my brain seriously struggled just to get out the door! We hosted Mom, Dad and Granny the night before we left, and they were so organized and out the door at 6:30 a.m. Granted, we weren't going as far as they were that first day, but man! Last minute trips to Walmart and losing my packing list put us a bit behind. It wasn't a huge deal, because we were just going to Vegas. Lily and I picked up Sarah and headed on our way (only 2 hours later than planned...)

2) Cozymel’s is definitely the best Mexican restaurant. For the past few years, I have had to go to Vegas for work occasionally - we would always go to this Mexican restaurant - it seriously is the best! If you go, get the fajitas!

3) Two hours of wasted car-seat time for Miss Lily equals a lllooonnggg journey ahead! We were supposed to pick Wow up at the Vegas airport early Thursday morning, then make our way to the park. I tried all night to get a hold of him on his cell phone, but the battery was dead. So we loaded up bright and early and headed to the airport, hoping for the best! We waited and watched, watched and waited. No Wow. Finally we got through to the airline, and confirmed he didn't make the flight. Given my propensity for over-reacting lately, this was about the most tragic turn of events I could have been faced with. Bless Sarah's heart. If she hadn't been with me, I seriously would have turned around and gone back home! After thousands of phone calls to every friend of his that I could find, finally I talked to Wow. He had stayed behind to play in a rugby tournament, had been hanging with friends the night before his flight and crashed in his buddy's garage (a guy thing, I guess???) It took us a few hours to figure out what the plan would be, all this time little Lily is strapped in her carseat, and we hadn't even left town!

Poor kid - that was a LONG day of travelling, although she did pull it together for a cute photo!

4) Someone somewhere out there understands that not all campsites have to have stinky porta-potties! When we finally got to Kings Canyon and found our campsite, it really couldn't have been a more beautiful setting. The gigantic trees abounded, and the most beautiful thing I saw there was a deluxe bathroom with running water, electricty and auto-flushy toilets!!!!!! (Anyone's who as pregnant as I am will completely understand this gal's affection for the ladies' room!)

This is the view upwards from our campsite - look at the size of these trees!!!

5) I have a very real fear of bears! Lily and I camped alone that first night and you wouldn't believe the petitions to heaven that we wouldn't be eaten by bears! We were in serious bear country, so much so that we had to lock up carseats and couldn't leave food of any sort in your cars even. It was a blessing that Lily slept as well as she did - I think I finally did collapse from exhaustion, but was the first one up the next morning. All I can say is that I was just so glad to not have been some bear's midnight snack!

6) It’s not a good idea to tell your husband you’ll pick him up from his later flight into Fresno, and send your mom and Granny to do it for you instead. Wow wasn't exactly pleasantly surprised to see his mother-in-law at the airport. (Personally, I think he was worried what she would do to him for letting me camp with the bears all night!) His irritated mood carried on throughout much of our time there - I think he was mostly bugged that he was missing out on the rest of the tournament (which his team lost in the first game he missed). He did want to come and see the family, but to him the Samoans he left behind were moreso his family than my distant relatives.

7) Try on your baby’s ONLY PAIR of closed-toed shoes before leaving to make sure they fit! Poor Lily kept walking out of her shoes - I tried everything I could think of, stuffing those darn shoes every which way, and bless her heart, they just wouldn't stay on! We double socked and tugged and pulled, and it was a lost cause. That kid ended up in her barefeet and sandals the whole time, which leads me to #8...

8) It is confirmed – my kid is definitely the dirtiest. I know you can't see it well in these pictures, but this kid had dirt from head to toe, even in her hair. Unbelievable!

9) I can make a MEAN Samoan chicken marinade! On our second night there we had a big family barbeque. I made the marinade for Seuao's famous Samoan chicken and it was probably the best ever! I definitely have the touch!

10) Just because one person gets sick before the trip and is “on the mend” when you all arrive, doesn’t mean she’s not going to share the love! The day before we all left, Becca was feeling under the weather. Ok, it was more than just under the weather, it was a nasty stomach flu. When we all got together, she was feeling fine, but we surely underestimated those little parasites feasting on her girl's immune systems, which they shared lovingly with the rest of us! Those poor girls were in rough shape by night two, and sure enough by the next morning, it hit me. (Again, a shout-out to the flushy toilets - they came in handy!) I was so sick that day. That bug spread like wildfire, and within just a few hours that morning, all of the babies and most of the parents were sick. Thanks Becca!

11) Just because your campsite reservation says one thing and a ranger says another, don’t assume everything will be hunky-dory! So, while I'm trying to recover from emptying my guts all morning, I was laying down in Granny's cabin for a few minutes. Wow came back to the cabin and told me that while I was gone, a ranger had come up to everyone (the entire family had gathered for a family breakfast) and told us we had to move our camp. Technically I had reserved the campsite, and although I wasn't the first one there, the ones that were there were told we could take our pick of the two group sites. Long story short, Wow drug me back to camp, and we had to pack everything up and move 100 yards away. Everyone was distraught and stressed out (not to mention sick). At that point, most of my family decided that rather than setting up camp all over again, we would just pack up and head towards home later on that day.

12) More lost car keys = too much stress! So, after being sick, moving camp, trying to regroup everyone and go to the "show-n-tell" for updates on everyone, we decided we were going to head out. But wait, where are the car keys???? Yes, I managed to lose them again. This may sound like an excuse, but given the amount of stress I was feeling, the repeated barfing I was doing, and the heat (not to mention the placenta-suck my brain seriously is suffering from), I think this was just inevitable! Keys were found, and we were on our way. But not after driving for 45 minutes down a CURVY road, and literally hanging out the window barfing because there was no shoulder to pull over on. Good times all around!

Grandmother at the "show-n-tell"

13) 2,000 miles round trip with a one-year-old is a LONG drive. We drove to Barstow that night - both Lily and I were sick. We ended up staying with Seuao's cousin Manu and his darling family. They were so hospitable and sweet. Getting to spend time with his cousin put Seuao in a much happier place, and we left Sunday morning, just grateful to be on the road back home!

14) Family is wonderful! I know this recap has a lot of complaining, and truly I am grateful we got to see some of the most beautiful nature God has created, and some of my dear family that lives so far. I felt so bad for all of the drama I personally caused and inflicted on those around me! I guess all we can say is, after this reunion this year, next time can only get better!

My cute Illinois cousins

California relatives

My little rag-a-muffin