Indiana trip - Family reunion wiener roast

We didn't always have a wiener roast as part of our family reunion. Somewhere down the line it was added to make it an interesting weekend of family fun. The roast is Madison' favorite part of the reunion so we try to make it when we can so that she can be one with the fire. I wasn't sure that we would have it this year due to the drought here in Indiana, but I was told it would happen even if we had to use a grill.

The matriarch of our family is my father's sister, Mildred Lorene.  No one calls her Mildred, but I ran across that in stuff I was looking through in her basement and liked it.  She is Aunt Lorene to me and my girls.  She has really been, along with my great Aunt Helen (now deceased), the only "grandmother" figure in my life as both of my grandmothers died when I was small.  Aunt Lorene is 97 years old, and although she has been knocked around some this past year with pneumonia, she is still going strong...with a few naps in between.

When we arrived at the farm where the reunion is held each year the bonfire was going strong down by the pond.  Apparently it had rained just enough that day to wet the grass enough for a bonfire.  There was plenty of hotdogs to go around.

The pond looked great and the kids wasted no time in getting wet.  The boys jumped off the diving board while the girls tended to stay closer to the beach area.

This is my cousin Shad, one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, but I think that's because he married the most awesome woman alive!  Not only is she gorgeous, but she is smart and very witty.  She runs a hospital (and is always trying to get me and my scrubs to come work there) and a household with three cute kids.  Oh, and she is my biggest blog fan!

My cousin Darrel works his butt off taking care of putting the farm together for the reunion (and cares for it all year long) and wiener roast. He mows and thinks of everything that is needed including the games.  He set up the badminton net, and I thought of how much my Dad would love that the next generation was all here to enjoy the family farm.

We had 45 people at the wiener roast and everyone ate tons of food and roasted marshmallows.  The weather was great with a breeze that had a few people putting on sweaters and jackets.  We closed the night around 11:00 pm. and the girls and Kelly and I went back to Aunt Lorene's ready to hit the sack.  Little did we know that wasn't going to happen...