Picture This (#3) - AKSR#1

The Rockies. May, 2007. The weather was perfect for the inaugural celebration of the Annual O'Grady Sibling Reunion (AKSR for short.) Sunny and bright, warm but with a nice breeze. The Rockies were at their best with the grass all green and the freaky ski people gone.
We left Wednesday afternoon. This is a picture of us packed for a four day weekend. The basket to the left of the suitcase has the alternate clothes we washed and then couldn't fit in:

Truth be told, Tarzan would be content with his loincloth and his laptop. The rest of the stuff is mine - how did I know if I would need the black pants or the charcoal pants? What about the many top options? Sweater? Jacket? Take both just in case. One must be prepared for all contingencies.
The flight was uneventful except for the part where I thought we were getting the movie for free - it had flashed the little sign that I had to swipe my credit card in the next 15 minutes and I was going to keep watching until the very last second thankyouverymuch - and it kept playing...score! Then Tarzan explained that the whole plane was getting the movie and I felt a little let down. We were putting nothing over on anyone. It was a welcome diversion however - Bridge to Terabithia was not too terrible - and we got to keep the headphones so when we fly Delta this week and they try and charge to watch the movie I might appear prepared.
Thursday started with a play group in the park. MQ and Teaq go every week and Rocketgirl, Sunshine and I were invited to join them:

This is me taking Sunshine down the slide - I love the "are you crazy woman?" face:

Teaq was hiding in the grass, and then couldn't decide how to get out of the jungle:

I was showing Teaq how to use the camera and he snapped this one of Aunt Rocketgirl and cousin Sunshine (not bad for a kid who's only 18 months old):

The afternoon I spent hanging out, bonding, with Rocketgirl and Sunshine. Tarzan was with his brothers. QC made dinner for us all at his and MQ's place before we left for Wicked! (There was a bit of a kerfuffle with the tickets. We had seven, six of us were going (Tarzan and QC staying to babysit) and the seventh was MQ's mom who bought two additional tickets so her husband could go too and then we needed another person. QC decided to go in the end and Tarzan sat both babies.) I think it's safe to say I converted a few to the land of Oz. Rocketgirl was through the roof - she and I are more alike than I thought - but everyone enjoyed it. I hadn't imagined that everyone would own green attire but it worked out especially with PFiddle wearing Tarzan's Wicked tie. We are a snazzy looking group:

Here's Uncle Tarzan all set for the night:

**As an aside, the show was FANTASTIC. Victoria Matlock was exceptional as Elphaba and Christina DeCicco was a really nice Glinda. I thought Cliffton Hall was weak as Fiyero - not strong enough vocally to keep up, DeeDee Magno Hall (yes they ARE married) was a great - really great - Nessarose and P.J. Benjamin made a decent wizard - though they cut the waltz AGAIN from "Wonderful" - so not amused. Josh Lamon was a good Boq which is more important than it seems initially. Madame Morrible, perhaps because the character doesn't sing hardly at all, is almost a constant no matter who plays her and therefore very good. Other than the production with Stephanie J. Block, my first show in The Jungle summer of 2005, this was the best performance I have ever seen. I am SO glad that I got to go and SO glad that I got to share it.** Friday we went to the Museum of Natural History (though I carried my camera with me all day I didn't take a single picture) to see the Benjamin Franklin exhibit and the Cosmic Collisions show in the planetarium which was awesome. We went to the LDS temple in the afternoon:and then out to dinner at the Macaroni Grill (I was sitting to the left of Tarzan there and had the camera stretched out to my left trying to keep it candid and unobtrusive okay?): It was an early night because we were all up at 6 the next morning to surprise QC with breakfast for his 30th birthday. There are some great pictures of that - especially the first "SURPRISE" moment:

This is almost as good:

Yes, I DID make the crown AND I made him wear it:

Super cool party people:

The food was delicious, waffles, eggs, fruit etc...:

We went to Heritage Square that afternoon - I having never been on the Alpine Slide. They had neglected to mention to me that it involved a chair lift ride, one where my feet dangled out over the forest and a single rusty piece of metal my only safeguard:

I did, however, make it unscathed to the summit:

After the ride up, down was not going to be a problem:

This is the sweetest guy on earth (MQ's dad) taking his grandson down the slide (that is love for you; BTM is 6'-9" and those sleds are all the same size...):

This is a great photo because MQ's mom is threatening me with bodily harm AND leaving me off the invitation list to her funeral if I take it. Taken and posted D34! Whoo-hoo, I am a wild woman!:The cousins taking a gander at each other:

Nothing like a hamburger when one is hungry:

The four siblings, and the second generation:

Those holes are not made for normal sized heads:

Then we did some Go-Karts. (I wonder if Teaq will grow to love speed as much as his parents do?) :

After all the fun and games we grabbed some dinner to-go and headed out to Lion's Park for a picnic. Again, no pictures because I was running with Teaq all over the playground. (Rocketgirl has many pictures and she promised to make up a montage and set it to music. She's so talented that way.) We were pretty tuckered out after - though Tarzan and I found some time to teach MQ and QC some East Coast Swing moves.
Sunday was quiet, as it should be, but being Mother's Day, Rocketgirl and PFiddle played their violins and Sssssshhh don't tell anyone but I took pictures: They are so freakishly talented. Here's a video on YouTube that I shot of them just messing around:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04vUUVx2Kiw
It was decided that next year's party should be in The Jungle so I guess Tarzan and I are hosting. Where are we going to put them all?

This is me planning next year already.