A nice game of pass the baby!

My lovely parents threw a huge get to know Mo picnic this past Sunday. When they asked Bry and I in May if we'd be up for it, my first question was "what would we have to do?". When the response was "just show up with Moira", we were in!

My mom swears that she wanted to have this party so that the entire family could meet Moira, but I secretly believe she had ulterior motives. Because of said party, she was able to get my dad to complete quite a number of home improvements that he has been putting off for the past months. Her living room is now painted the palest most whiteish shade of pink and the back patio has been taken apart and reassembled, all in preparation for the party.
It was a hit! Moira of course, was in a pleasant mood. No one could believe how alert and happy she is. Seriously, she is my child! She was passed around from relative to relative, friend to friend. At one point, I realized I hadn't seen my kid for almost an hour! Lo and behold, Aunt Theresa had her outside passing her to great aunt Ele, while I was snacking in the kitchen. (The roast beef was pretty good!)

I feel really lucky to have such a great set of parents who threw this little shindig, and Mo has a fabulous godmother (Aunt Jeanna) who was partially a finacial backer. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I especially enjoyed seeing so many people.

When I was little, my parents would throw a Labor Day picnic every year. It was never a small get together. We would have well over 100 people there, granted most were relatives. We'd have great aunts & uncles, second cousins and their children, friends from the swim team, neighbors, and every once in a while someone that we didn't really know, but somehow that didn't matter. My dad would bring out the grille, (that one day) and make burgers and hot dogs. The beer would be in the coolers, the huge tables would be filled with pasta, potato, and regular salads, not to mention desserts like Aunt Celine's cherry cobbler, and always a jello mold (ugh!) would be laid out on another table. There would always been kids running and screaming around. You'd hear some uncle yelling to watch out for the beer cups on the ground, as they played horseshoes. The older relatives would sit and talk about their aches and pains, while the younger kids would take part in one of the many games my mom had up her sleeve- water balloon toss, pie eating contest, pinata. Those picnics every year were my favorite. Not only because it was my birthday. (Hint, hint, send gifts Sept. 2) but also because that was one of the few times everyone would get together. For the most part now, we only see some of these people at funerals.

Sunday brought a lot of those feelings back to me. Even though my family has a lot of hmmm....characters... I wouldn't wish it any other way. Not everyone's parents have 5 or 7 siblings, and ridiculous numbers of cousins and second cousins, and great aunts and uncles with whom to celebrate. Mo is one lucky girl! Not only does she have Bry and I for her parents, but she has all those people who came to the party and so many more to call her family.