The Party's Over....

After nearly eight months of anticipation, our five days of togetherness at the 2012 Meekins Family Union came to an end Sunday morning with a farewell “donut breakfast” hosted by Deder, Andrea, Conor and Carey. Over these five days, we ate together, talked together, hula-hooped together, drank together, babysat together, ate some more together, hugged together, laughed together, played kickball together, ate more together, ran together, remembered together, and, well you get the idea. We did a bunch of fun stuff together.

Leading it off was dinner at Ambrosia for the first arrivals including Susan, Catherine and Moira; the Conor Sullivan Clan and the Holland’s. We took over an entire section of the restaurant and filled it with "Hello!', hugs and  plenty of laughter.  Members (and non-members) of the Rustlin’ Husses carbo-loaded before the Butte-to-Butte 10K run or 4.5 mile walk the following morning.

The Tim Sullivan’s arrived at 6 a.m. Wednesday from Seattle just in time for the 8 a.m. start of the race where they met up with other runners and walkers while the cheerleading squad (Kathy, Susan, Kevin, Peyton and Nyah) found a good spot along the race route. ‎The team finished 15th, with an overall time of 5:06:33. Individual times were: Conor Sullivan in 48:20; Madelin Siedler in 57:14; Moira Sullivan in1:00:37; Dederick Siedler in1:00:39; and Terrill Sullivan in1:19:43.

After the race, but “not before 1 p.m.” everyone headed over to Deder’s and Andrea’s to a BBQ and to admire their newly finished deck. The nine grandkids hula hooped, played baseball in the yard and generally entertained the older set. Young and old lined up to get their “K Street Kickball League” tattoos from Kathy. Gregor and Erica arrived in town, and later that evening accompanied everyone over to the Eugene Emerald’s game. We were all in one section and had a great time cheering on the team while we shared stories and chatted non-stop. The Ems won, 7-1! This being the 4th of July, we all went down on the field to watch some spectacular fireworks after the game.

Bright and early Thursday morning, Conor and Carey and their kids, along with Kathy, Elissa, Catherine, Moira, and Maddie enjoyed a beautiful drive to the coast where they picnicked at the breathtaking, although somewhat hazardous, Cape Perpetua.

Meanwhile, Tim, Terrill, Kevin and Marcy took their clans to Amazon Pool in town for a cool dip. There, Nyah and Peyton practiced synchronized diving (well, jumping).

When Conor and Moira arrived back from the coast, they joined Bill, Kevin, Tim and Deder for 9 holes of “best ball” golf at the Oakway golf course. Who won that game?

Barb arrived in Eugene just in time to meet the Holland’s, the Tim Sullivan’s and others for another dinner at Ambrosia, and Tess arrived by train, just before midnight.

Friday morning, everyine gathered at Susan's house for brunch, welcoming the two latest arrivals - Barb and Tess. Carey unveiled the reunion T-shirts, a baseball shirt featuring the "K Street" logo. these were the uniform of the day for the Kickball Tournament at Acorn Park, where the red-sleeved shirts were pitted against the blue sleeves. The “grannies” and babies (all in uniform) watched from the sidelines while everyone from 2 to 42 played.

The age range engendered some interesting rules: no pegging of any player under 30 (effectively under 10), faster runners had to take care not to overrun shorter runners, mandatory water breaks and one playground break, and being carried to third by your mother was perfectly legal. Many ‘home runs’ by smaller players were observed, but not recorded. A crucial late substitution was made when Drew arrived at the field, having been rushed from the airport to the game in Bill’s red convertible. Although Drew played for the blue team at first, he was traded to the reds when his own t-shirt arrived. The players followed the game with “good game, good game” hand-slaps down the rows of players, and, of course, team pictures.

Parents tucked their babies into their beds for the night, and the grannies, along with the older kids, watched over them while the 16 cousins enjoyed a cousins’ night out. Dinner in a quintessential Eugene restaurant, visits to the Ninkasi Brewery, Japanese Whiskey Bar and a grown-ups video arcade rounded out a night of talking, laughing and catching up.

Finally, Saturday arrived, the day of the “main event”, a BBQ at Kathy and Armen’s. While preparations were being made, some family members enjoyed Eugene’s attractions, including Saturday Market, Art in the Vineyard, and bike rides along the riverside trail. All 30 family members now in Eugene gathered on the Kevrekians’ deck and in their yard, where Armen held forth at the grill cooking lamb and chicken shish-kabobs, and grilled vegetables, served with varieties of Gregor’s hummus, Armen’s parsley dressing, a green salad, pita bread and San Marino Chocolate Bundt cake filled out the menu. A professional photographer snapped candid pictures throughout the afternoon, as well as family and group photos. Talking, laughing and sharing family stories with the youngsters lasted until well into the evening, when sleepy kids and babies were reluctantly taken home.

Sunday, departure day, Deder and Andrea, and Conor and Carey invited all of the family members to stop by their place on the way out of town for donuts and goodbyes. All agreed we should do this again – and sooner than the eight years that have passed since the last Meekins Family Reunion.