Let the games begin

I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm too lazy to do a search: at the end of the month, we're taking a family vacation to the Outer Banks. Nineteen of us in one house, although it's now unclear whether everyone can stay the whole time becuase of a couple of work conflicts. All these people with solid work ethics; what can I say?

Anyway, we figure that we need to be pretty organized about the trip so we don't end up eating pasta every single night or having everyone bring five beach chairs but no one bring a towel, or toilet paper or something. So, on Mother's Day, my mom trotted out sign-up sheets for meal preparation (each little family is responsible for making one dinner for the whole gang while we're there) and communal goods (laundry detergent, English muffins, condiments) so we know who's responsible for what. Each little family (6 -- five kids plus my parents) also got a packet containing information about the house and a handwritten list of everyone's cellphone numbers. Not even a photocopied list -- my mom wrote out six sets of 13 cell numbers.

To save her from having to handwrite six sets of who's-bringing-what assignments, I volunteered to type everything up and email it around, which I finally did this morning (the Smelmooo and I were both up and about before 4:30 this morning, and it's unbelievable the things I've gotten done already today; it feels like 2 in the afternoon, at least).

Anyway, there's already been a huge flurry of email activity around the stuff I sent out. I was expecting more of a "I said I'd bring dish soap, not hand soap!" kinds of crap, but once my oldest sister said she was bringing Scrabble and a wiffle ball set, the trash talking began, and it's cracking me up. I'm reminded of the little family softball games I used to organize as a kid, where I rounded everyone up on a Saturday to go play in the front yard, and they humored me because I was the youngest, I guess, but we haven't as a family played a game of wiffle ball or softball in at least 20 years, and it's been at least 10 since we've even all played Scrabble or Taboo or cards or anything.

So I'm starting to get a little bit excited about the trip. I realized that I was always giving a little eye flutter when I talked about this vacation, a hint of a "Crap, can you believe that 19 of us are going to be in one house for a whole week?" and "The Smelmooo and I are going to need a vacation just to recover from this one."

But I sort of don't feel that way anymore, in part because today's email traffic about the trip has been so lighthearted and fun and has helped to assuage my fears that everyone's going to be difficult and nitpicky and stressed-out about the trip. But I think the other reason is just realizing that we won't always be able to take trips like this. Our parents are healthy; their grandkids aren't old enough yet to be cranky about family vacations; we for the most part have jobs where we can up and leave for a week without too much difficulty, and where we make enough money to go on a nice trip and board the dog at a resort. And who knows when we'll get to do it again. So I'm really now in a place where I'm thinking it'll be really nice to have this time with the family, despite all our quirks and flaws, the adolescent tendencies that we still tend to dust up when we're together for too long, the kids shrieking and giving us headaches. Because along with that will be time to relax on the beach, building sand castles with the kids; to chat in the kitchen while we're making dinner; to laugh and reminisce and have real conversations with my siblings after their kids are in bed.

And to kick some ass at wiffle ball and Scrabble.