Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Pass the Sangria, Please

The Captain's "baby" brother Beardsley (#4) is in the house this week, along with his lovely wife, The Archaeologist. Beardsley, now being the only brother still in his 20's, has scheduled whompins on his older brothers to once-and-for-all make up for decades as the pesky little brother.

He will first attempt to showcase his prowess in the pool.

A year ago, Beardsley rode Boo's new inflatable swan into oblivion within a matter of minutes, to our great entertainment.

If last year is any indication, the boys will test themselves by counting numbers of somersaults they can do in the water before passing out. They play aqua hoops (entertaining since all of them are terrible at shots; one of the girls usually wins this competition). This year the contest will expand to include whatever they can think of to do with our newest pool toy, the pool legos modeled here by brother #2, TomTheFool.

When everyone is pruney and sun-dazzled, the party will move indoors, so Professor Beardsley can attempt to steal the title of Game-Master from TomTheFool. The Captain (#1) is a formidable game player also, and sometimes pulls ahead in this competition, especially when he tries the tactic of introducing a new game that he already knows how to play. But brother #2 is somehow savant with games, and he usually figures out the game and conquers it in pretty short order.

In the late afternoon we will return outdoors for more pool time. Sometimes if it's not too hot (although chances of that are slim of that this week) we go for a walk or pull out the bocce ball. In each instance, Beardsley will attempt to assert his dominance. And brothers #1 and #2 will do their best to keep him in his place. But he will still claim victory, even if just for the sport of watching his brothers' indignant reactions.

After awhile, everyone will get hungry, and happy hour will commence. There will be lots of guacamole consumption, and a perpetually refilled pitcher of sangria punch on the counter. The boys may even compete to see who makes the best guacamole, although everyone knows I am the master of that. But I enjoy it no matter who makes it; my secret ingredient (shh) is avocadoes. Just please let's not run out of chips.

For dinner, the families will share food duties. Generally each family takes a night or two to showcase their favorite large-scale recipes. This year I'm going to showcase Freebird burritos and Killer Shrimp, with the Captain's help (assuming he hasn't drowned himself in the sangria). I'm hoping for some awesome stir-fry from the Minnesota pair. The rest of the nights, cooking hour is part of the companionship. Last time, the Archaeologist worked with my kids to make individual pizzas.

I think this vacation will include more fun memories, and we may even attempt some new activities. As of today, it's a blank canvas on which to paint.

What I do know is that there will be lots of sangria, lots of pool time, a bit of heated dialogue, and as much of a good time as we can squeeze into ten days.

And at the end of our too-brief time together, every brother will be declaring himself the winner.

1 comment:

  1. Great post. Yall are so blessed to have such incredible family time. I am jealous! And I love the new pictures of the kids--capturing the fun bubbles and a superhero at rest! Too cute! And Lulu's hair is adorable!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! I love hearing from you.