Family Reunion

As Mom said it was lots of fun. House that Rhonda and John rented was pretty spacious, Mom and I shared a room on the main floor, the only bedroom on that floor. There was a bedroom in the basement, and one on the 2nd floor, so not a lot of bedrooms for the amount of space. Rhonda organized a Barbecue on Friday night for the descendants of Duke and Jean, so Neil and Marilyn, and their families and Stan came. it was John's birthday so we had birthday cake. Christine was so proud of herslef, she went down the zip line at Whistler, she is certainly braver than I am. I had a nice long talk with Geoff and his partner Genny, about buying houses, since they just bought one and move in in two weeks. I think that is the most I have seen Geoff in my entire life. The MH Robins, as always were lots of fun. Hannah took Mom under her wing, and kept an eye out for her. Cousin Hugh's youngest son Patrick was the MC, and kept us all on track, a bit like herding cats I think. Aunt Dora could not make it, she is 98 years old, and still doing great, the last of Grandpa Robins sibs. Her daughter brought addressed envelopes with stamps on them, and asked people to write to her, let her know how the reunion was and send pictures if possible. What a great idea, she gets mail and feels involved. Hugh and Molly's two daughters were there, Laurie and Bea, with their spouses, and both of Laurie's children. What nice ladies, they look almost exactly the same as when I last saw them, so they were very easy to pick out. Mom and I got a special mention at the dinner, one of us for being the oldest, the other for the longest distance travelled. I am sure you can figure out who got what. Stan and Fred and Neil, were tossing around the football on Saturday, and I think were a little sore on Sunday. There were all kinds of pictures, and a huge Family Tree, showing all of Grandpa's brothers and sisters, and their offspring, for some reason Mom's line did not show any of us, so I added them, luckily I knew everyone's birthdays, but if I ran into trouble I knew Christine would help me out, she is the queen of remembering birthdays.

I was a little nervous about finding the house that the Macneil's rented, more about actually getting out of the city, because I had some excellent directions that Rhonda sent, but I remembered how to get to Marine Drive, which connects to the Trans Canada, from when I worked in Vancouver, so that was good. When I got to pick up the car, I gave my name, and the guy said our cars are parked in stalls 8 to 50, pick one out. I got a nice little PT Cruiser, it was fun to drive and I like being up a little higher.

And on Sunday it was all over. Fred, Christine and Raeann drove Mom home, the MacNeil’s were staying at the house till Wednesday, and Ramona and Leila and Hannah were heading to the island on Monday. Stan took the bus home on Sunday morning, Neil and Marilyn, Geoff and Genny were going home, and the Robins/Waddington/Horne’s were heading to Nelson for a bit of a vacation. I drove back to the airport and caught the 2:00 pm to Toronto.