More on my trip South

Where do I begin? There are so many highlights of my trip to visit with my cousins, I didn't even scratch the surface in my last post.

I am just so grateful that my cousins - Bruce, Richard, Debbie, Rita, Pam, Kenny - and I could get together again and that after so many years apart, we picked up right where we left off as kids. We are all different in so many ways yet so much alike.

On this trip, Bruce brought his two youngest daughters, Ashley and Lindsey. Gosh, I haven't seen them since they were toddlers and now they are in their twenties. And there was Aunt Ileen. Eighty-eight years old and still as active as any person half her age. Did I tell you she recently won $100 in a contest dancing on a bar??? She really did. . . beat out an 18 year old! No kidding.

On the two day drive down last week, I laughed most of the way, thinking about the different personalities and the good times I knew I was going to have! There is Kenny. Oh, my God! Kenny is just like his dad, Uncle Harding, who passed away a few years back. Kenny is a born comedian. He and I share a love of guns and target shooting. Friday, when I arrived, we decided to go over to our land and do some target shooting, since we were expecting a crowd on Saturday and didn't want to be shooting guns with people running around. When I would aim my gun at the target, he'd say something funny just as I was about to pull the trigger to keep me from hitting the cross hairs. That's okay. I managed to con him into cleaning my guns for me!

I spent time laying in my lounge chair that day, looking up at the tall Southern pines swaying in the breeze. It was such a peaceful setting, being on land that my dad and his siblings played and worked on as children. My grandfather was once a prosperous cotton farmer on this land.

After a long and fun-filled day at the lake, we packed up all our gear. Some of us went to Rita's in-laws' vacation home on a huge lake just like we did last year. Now that was really fun!

Football is a religion down South and my family is no different. For decades, I have been a rabid fan of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide - they won the National Championship this year, you know! My other cousins - Kenny, Pam, Bruce, Richard - are all strong University of Florida fans. Now Rita just loves to poke fun at people. When we arrived at the home on the lake, Rita arranged for "Big Al" to greet us. Big Al is the University of Alabama elephant mascot. Big Al stood easily 8 feet tall and was held up by a motor pumping air into his gargantuan body! It was too funny.

Sunday morning was a real comedy. Rita prepared a wonderful breakfast casserole, Kip, her husband, made absolutely, totally, without-a-doubt, the most delicious Southern Buttermilk Biscuits I have ever tasted! The conversation at the breakfast table that morning was lively, to put it mildly! After many laughs, Rita said, "I must remind you that "somebody" at this table has a blog so I would be careful what I say around "somebody"!!!

Yes, it was tons of fun and we are all looking forward to getting together again next year.