Every year without fail since 1982, my mom’s family has held a summertime family reunion. My mom is one of seven kids and the catalyst for this was her dad passing away in 1981. All of the kids–my aunts and uncles–felt that they needed to be sure to get together for fun times, not just the sad ones. And they made it happen, alright! Each year, a different aunt or uncle plans the long weekend extravaganza. It is (almost) always in Florida in July. It loosely follows the same format, which is designed for maximum emphasis on laughing, drinking, playing, competing, and general ridiculousness and tomfoolery. There is always a Talent Show, usually some sort of costume theme night, featured cocktails, and silly games that result in some sort of injury. There is also always laughing, loud storytelling, big hugs, and a thousand small conversations going on at once.

I love it and look forward to it all year, as does the rest of the family. People very rarely miss it. I for one have only missed one reunion, when I had just started my first Big Girl Job  and was too green to know I could ask my new boss for an advance on my vacation time (the company handbook had CLEARLY STATED no vacation leave for the first three months and I am nothing if not a rule follower). It wasn’t until I was describing just how awesome the reunions were, at which point he said, “well why aren’t you there??” Lesson learned! Ask and ye shall receive.

Kearney Reunion 2018 was set to go down in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Two big differences this year–one was that we shifted the date to the last weekend in July to properly ring in Louis’ 40th birthday (whoo hooo!) and two, Mike, Caroline, and I were going to stay at Matt and Tommie’s house (rather than the beach resort with the rest of the family), along with Louis, Jocelyn, Oliver, Robbie, Dom, and Leo. The thought on this was that there would be so many events held at Matt and Tommie’s house that having all the people with little kids stay there would make it much easier for the kiddos to get good naps/nighttime sleep, and us parents wouldn’t have to miss the fun. A win-win! This plan ended up working brilliantly and I am so grateful to Matt and Tommie for generously hosting us all.

Enthusiastically, I might add:

THURSDAY:

Thursday morning, armed with Caroline’s favorite backpack stuffed to the gills with toys, snacks, and books, Mike, Caroline, and I flew off to Tampa!

Navigating TSA like an old pro…

Waiting at the gate and already busted out the plane snacks…note the outfit Caroline started out wearing…

Without fail, this child has an epic diaper on each and every plane ride. Which is ironic because it NEVER happens in normal daily life. But on a plane? You can guarantee it. Before we left, Mike was trying to weed out the contents of the diaper bag and proposed leaving the extra outfit behind. Crazy pants! I actually didn’t know how dire the situation was until I was in the plane restroom, which is the approximate size of a deck of cards. It’s especially enjoyable when you are pregnant and are trying to change a toddler. I had to have the flight attendant get the extra outfit from Mike and deliver it to me. Sigh.

Annnnnnd, here we are having just arrived at Matt and Tommie’s house! Is this girl happy to be here or what?!?

Let’s just get a closer look at those cheeks:

There we go!

Thursday night, all of the ladies in the family gathered at my Mom’s house for a step by step painting party, which she led. This was a delightful brand new addition to the typical reunion fun. It was hilarious–as well as I thought I knew my family, I had no idea how many Type A perfectionists we have! Truly remarkable. My Mom was an amazingly patient teacher–I think the 4 Bud Lights she consumed during the 2 hour session may have helped. 😉

She may have thought that teaching a class of twenty 4-year-olds was challenging, but it was nothing compared to 12 wine-fueled Kearney ladies! We laughed, had wine and M&Ms, and tried the best we could to follow my super talented Mom. At the end of the session though, everyone was thrilled with their masterpieces. Whew!

FRIDAY:

Friday morning bright and early, we grabbed our coffee and headed out for a boat ride in search of dolphins, which Matt lovingly refers to as “squirrels of the sea” because they are just so ordinary down where he lives, they are just not a big deal. HA. Well this little lady absolutely loved the boat ride and the wind in her hair!

Here she is with the newest love of her life, Matt and Tommie’s dog Lindsey…just two sailor girls:

Sugar Bear spotted some dolphins!

Boat hair don’t care 🙂

You know it’s a beautiful day when the wind blows your skirt up just a little, revealing a sneak peek of your diaper!

After the boat trip, we headed to Preston’s drama-themed day camp to watch his adorable Talent Show wrap-up and then to Publix for a few goodies. While there, Preston got to introduce Caroline to the beauty of the Publix bakery and the free sugar cookies they give out. It was so cute to see them in the double kiddie seat cart:

And as one would expect, this girl LOVED her free cookie…it also may have been because she ha never had a cookie before. But hey, when you are at Publix, you just have to!

Friday afternoon/evening, Matt and Tommie hosted the Welcome Party at their house and as family by family arrived, the reunion kicked into full gear. Mom and Dad hosted a delicious welcome BBQ:

Matt and Tommie’s gorgeous house is actually the perfect venue for this group because there are so many places small groups can gather and chat–inside on the comfy couch, gathered around the giant island or Matt’s bar, outside on a breezy balcony where you can also catch the sunset, in a hammock, or by the pool, in the pool, in the hot tub, or in a poolside lounge chair.

You can wander from conversation to conversation and feel like you talk to everyone.

SATURDAY:

Saturday was Louis’s actual birthday and it was also BEACH DAY. I had been craving time at the beach and wanted to spend as much time as I could “frolicking like a dolphin” in the gorgeous west coast aquamarine surf. We spend the morning with all the little kids getting ready and having breakfast, hanging out in P’s playroom. It was so nice to have them all together.

Tommie surprised Caroline with this GORGEOUS new “rufflebutt” bathing suit and it is THE cutest thing she owns. Monogram, seersucker, and ruffles? Yes please!

The weather was perfect and we spent many hours making 1,000 trips to the car to load it up and then we took 1,000 trips to unload ALL of the THINGS onto the beach. (And this is why, as Matt will tell you, DADS HATE THE BEACH!) But it was worth it…

Right, Mike?? 😉

Us Kearneys really like to blend in when we go out in public…we are a subtle bunch, not ever wanting to call attention to ourselves…

Ha!

And here’s the Birthday Boy himself! Yes, he’s a sophisticated fella.

This little girl loved the ocean. She actually loved drinking the salty water. Isn’t that nuts? The only thing she loved a bit more was her snack bucket.

Look at these beauties! 3 out of 4 are in college…can you guess which ones?

And what’s a day at the beach without the musical talent? Thanks, Donovan, for the serenades!

While these two built an animal castle of sorts.

Everyone relaxed in the share of the tent, frolicked in the water like dolphins, or played in the sand. Such a great day.

I have NO IDEA what is going on here other than P is getting showered with love and affection from all these ‘sirs’:

 

These two–is there anything cuter?

We blew right threw nap time because everyone was having so much fun (and Sugar Bear ate enough snacks to keep herself content for a loooong time). We headed back to Matt’s in time for her to have a quick snooze before the evening fun began…but not before she, Kay Kay, Preston, and I took a quick dip in the Betancourt Resort pool!

Saturday night, we had BBQ catered and celebrated Louis in style–decorated the house with Star Wars themed flair and watched a slideshow featuring the Birthday Boy and of course, lots of footage of ourselves, too. If there is one things Kearneys love, it is seeing ourselves on the big screen!

Immediately following the slideshow, the little people were fading fast so we put them in their “Moana” themed costumes and let Heather and Brittany work their magic. They had the adorable idea of singing “How Far I’ll Go” as a duet and having all of the little ones dress up as Moana characters and dance. It was a huge hit!

Caroline twirled to the music, Leo rocked the ukulele, Preston danced with both Heather and Brittany, and Oliver tolerated all of it and was even OK being away from his mom for the performance. So cute!

Of course, Caroline tried to steal the ukulele from Leo, as to be expected, but it wasn’t a total meltdown situation. Her Moana dress barely fit and just the right amount of toddler belly was exposed for all to see, especially when she spun in circles during the song. 😉

After the little kids went down, the big kids got to work on the serious business of the REAL Talent Show…and there was some talent, to be sure.

Louis, Matt, Tommie, Dom, Robbie, and I did a spinoff of the SNL skit involving tiny hands and Louis being creepy; this is us “backstage” in the Green Room (aka Matt and Tommie’s gym):

Billy’s crew did a skit making fun of the Travelin’ Chicks (featuring the Betancourt Resort):

While Preston and Pa won the “Cutest Duo” prize for their artwork of a ship and accompanying song about the ship…note the matching boat shirts 😉

And then as a Grand Finale, Corrine did a skit involving Shark Week and making a Jaws Conga line that was hilarious…she started off by getting the seven Kearney kids up to the stage and I had to grab a shot of all these crazy cats. If it weren’t for them, none of us would be here!

Do you think they like each other?

I believe we closed out the night by eating Louis’s birthday cake (inscribed with ‘May the Fortieth Be With You’), huddled in the hot tub, and around Matt’s bar, which is just where you want to be when you get the chance to catch up with family.

SUNDAY: 

We enjoyed a lazy morning with the adults drinking coffee and reliving the night before, the kiddos sharing breakfast, fighting over ukuleles (okay, that was just Caroline), and playing in Preston’s playroom:

(Do you see a theme of the ukulele not leaving her side??)

Later we headed out to the pool, where my cousin Joseph snapped these awesome pics of Caroline on the kiddie roller coaster that Matt had set up…thankfully Joseph did NOT capture Caroline’s passionate NONONO tantrum whenever she had to let Leo take a turn. I turned to my Mom after one such episode and said “this second baby cannot come any sooner!” Someone needs to learn how to share!

Here’s my spunky girl:

Ready to roll!

Later that afternoon, we were all treated to an amazing display of skill and accuracy watching the 2018 Inflate-a-Bull Riding Championships, where everyone (except for those who were pregnant or nursing injuries) took a turn to show off their skills…or lack thereof. It was hilarious.

Here is the bird’s eye view of the festivities…note the pink flamingo floatie in the canal, where you could go if you needed to get away from it all and just relax:

And the brave souls who took on the Inflate-a-Bull deserve a LOT of credit…especially Aunt Carole, the most ‘mature’ of the bunch, who handled herself (of course) with nothing but grace and impeccable style. See that wine glass? No beer for this cowgirl! She is all class! Can I please be like this when I am 70??

And then we have her grand-daughter Heather, also gorgeous…who made this look easy and how about that fantastic hair?!?

The Best In Show prize though, might just have to go to BJ, who is not, by the way, a trained professional:

Yup, that happened. Followed by lots of drinking and relaxing in the perfect pool!

And of course, in the canal on the flamingo floatie!

After our waterlogged afternoon, we dried off and donned our very best Star Wars costumes.

We headed to John’s Pass for our Sunset Dolphin Cruise. The costumes were a continuation of Louis’s birthday festivities, in honor of his favorite movies of all time.

I must say, the Kearney clan does NOT take the easy road when it comes to costumes. We REPRESENT.

And my little family–Sugar Beat was Princess Leia, I was BB-8 (yes, you guessed it…I selected the ONLY costume that I accurately predicted could accommodate Little Peanut!), and Mike was Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The dolphin cruise was delightful–not only did we see dolphins AND manatees, we also saw a DOUBLE RAINBOW! It didn’t hurt that the cruise played a fantastic playlist of ’80s hits (another Louis fave) and had an open bar.

The weather was perfect–it wasn’t even that hot or humid, which says a lot for Florida in July. Everyone had a blast!

Louis, in true Louis fashion, made not only his amazing costume, but Jocelyn’s and Oliver’s as well. Amazing!

I love this picture of me with my brothers…and our CHILDREN. Who can believe that we each have children?!? (And who let that happen??) I also think it’s fun that the boys each have a boy and I have a girl. For now anyway!

And Kay Kay had a delightful time with all of her grandbabies eating ice chips on the back of the boat:

Princess Leia never goes anywhere without her snack bucket!

Such a great night!

Double Princess Leias!

MONDAY:

No one likes goodbye day, but we were lucky our flight left in the early afternoon, so we got to linger just a little longer. We took the requisite kiddie pics (where the animated adults are visible in the mirror):

And I caught a few good shots of my little ham of a nephew:

Who is totally making a Louis face in this one:

Caroline made sure to give Lindsey enough love squeezes to be remembered.

And got to take one final ride on the rollercoaster before we headed out for the airport. Not, however, before Caroline ran over to Matt and gave him a big hug around the neck. It was almost like she was thanking him for such a fun time. I felt the same way…cheers to an amazing family reunion, all thanks to Matt and Tommie and Preston for being the best hosts ever!!

Can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2019, Kearney clan!