The Terrible Catsafterme

I had been in Colorado during Memorial Day 2011, so the only person in the world whom I spent the last two Memorial Days with was my cousin Chris. That has little bearing on this posting, but Chris likes to see his name in print. Nevertheless, I kicked off this holiday weekend spending some time with him since he was back in Dayton for a month or so. After work on Friday, May 25, 2012, Chris came over and we went to the Pub at the Greene for some drinks and appetizers. My choice naturally was Strongbow Cider. He didn’t make a conscious choice to get snubbed by an old schoolmate named Melissa, but he did anyway.

We chatted about the snubbing and music for a while, and then headed over to Heidi’s for the first bonfire of the year – at least the first one that included me. So therefore, it was the first bonfire of the year. This bonfire became the only bonfire at Heidi’s to date that I ever built or even contributed to without the aid of gasoline. We sat out there through the night sipping beer, grilling hotdogs, and enjoying the fire that I built with my own two hands. Chris also had the notion to tempt me into some martial arts action, but later recanted out of fear for his life.

Beers and a bonfire. Chris has a staring problem.

Heidi and I enjoy yet another summer bonfire

Chris and Heidi. Yes, definite staring problem.

Chris assumes his most deadly karate stance

In all though, it was a splendid time. Splendid. It was quite late when we got back to my house, so Chris just stayed over. He eventually made his way out the door, but I’d be seeing him soon enough, as we had our Memorial Day picnic later on that day.

This was a bit more than the standard Memorial Day family gathering. It’s a rather serpentine story, but I’ll take a crack at it. Darlene was originally scheduled to host the picnic, but Bev & Ed’s kids decided to throw them an Anniversary party for their 40 (great) years. Inviting several people outside the family, they knew Darlene’s house couldn’t accommodate them all, so they called on my Mom to host. Darlene made up an excuse why she couldn’t host and my Mom took over the duties. Meanwhile, Bev was planning a surprise party for Ed’s 70th birthday, and arranging to invite even more people for Ed. So we had a double surprise party, combined with the traditional Memorial Day picnic.

After the previous night’s activities, I was mostly interested in the fact that they had food.

Oh, and Silas. I was quite interested in Silas. Ashleigh had headed out of town for a music festival in Illinois, so I had to pick up Silas from Stephen’s parents house and take him to the picnic myself. Even though it was my first full day of being completely responsible for him, it all worked out quite well.

I picked up the boy around 11:30 and we stopped at Kroger to get some potato salad, and then headed out to Mom’s place, arriving around 12:30. I missed the moment of surprise, but was in plenty of time for the burgers, hotdogs, chicken, oriental salad, baked beans, chips, desserts, and soda. But of course, I made sure Silas was taken care of first. Ashleigh had given me two jars of food that I was charged with injecting into him. He ate amazingly well, and I got a nap in with him, and changed his diaper twice. So what if they were both put on backwards?

One of the Bev & Ed collages on display

Vicki and Dad await the food. Denise peers in.

The Bobs get to work and rustling up some grub

Bob just minutes before his bangs were singed

Denise and Carolyn’s new baby, Levi

Zac Robinson gets lewd with a signed photo of Zac Robinson

My buddy and me

Susan brings on the birthday cake, complete with map

Ed celebrates 70 great years

Mom allows Silas to eat a lid

The kids run amuck in the yard amidst a sprinkler

Jacob, Charley, and Charles discuss what to do with the next water balloon

We were attached at the hip for much of the day

Ed and Chris: lovers of maps

Debby and Tyler. This kid certainly knows what to do when he sees a camera.

Carolyn, Jeanette, and new baby Levi

Ed gets pensive as he reflects on old family photos and leftover food

The turnout was great with the following members of our family present: Diana & Tom, Cathy, Lori and Abbey and Elise, Debby & Mike and Bradley and Tyler, Mom & Bob, me & Silas, Denise & Aaron and Adam and Megan, Bev & Ed, Susan & Charles and Charley and Sam, Chris and Livi, Karen & Joe and Andrew, Abby, and Allie, Jim & Jan, Ben, Eric, Bob & Darlene, Jacob, and Zac.

Others who came included Ed’s sisters Virginia and Jeannie, Jan’s Mom Lois, Jeanette and Carolyn – along with Fiona and her new baby boy Levi. Because I was tending to Silas so much, I was rather neglectful of taking photos of the event – capturing only about fifteen useful images. Thankfully, Karen was also taking photos, so I knew I could use her to supplement the posting.

After Silas and I took our naps, I stayed to eat leftovers for dinner and hang around to watch some Mexican (aka Dinosaur) Train domino playing, letting Silas roam around amongst the other kiddos. The other kiddos, by the way, wound up in the attic where Abby, thinking she was using a toy phone, dialed 911. Naturally, the police eventually showed up. I didn’t head out until around 9pm, dropping Silas back off on the way home.

Post-nap Silas

Lazy boy gets exposed to his first Brad-point

Post-popsicle Megan

Abbey and Elise, all the way from Virginia

Shirtless Silas and the bottle

Denise and Bev and some domino action

Since Karen was so busy taking pictures throughout the day, I made sure that she got into one with the birthday boy

Bob takes Megan and Silas on a short adventure trip

It’s all fun and games until one of Karen’s girls calls 911

I had a relaxing afternoon Sunday, laying out in the sun, and then headed over to Dad’s house that afternoon. I helped him get sticks off of his roof, install a chimney cap, and unload his new motorcycle from his truck. He, Vicki, and I then went out for dinner at KFC/Taco Bell. On the way home, I stopped by for a visit with my ex-girlfriend Jackie, whom I hadn’t seen in over a year. It was nice to catch up and see her daughter Grace.

Monday the 28th – the holiday itself – was even more relaxed. I laid out even more, worked on my iTunes, watched Smallville, and took a walk around the neighborhood. Overall, it was a very nice weekend.

2012 will continue in June…

This entry was posted on Friday, June 15th, 2012 at 6:56 am and is filed under 2010's - Early, Family Life, On the Town. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.