Generations, celebrations, education and precipitation

Apologies for no photos yet. A lot were taken but not enough non-identifying in my phone files (and hey, you would probably think that I was some sort of AI if I had my act together that much, admit it!)

Amongst reasons to visit this foreign land were rites of passage for V's family.

Two have passed, some have been born and we have all gotten older.

One to a year of significance, a round number and the first in the family to have reached such a milestone.

Thus the opportunity to gather all of those from that part of the family - especially after events of the last few years - was grasped.

Of the about 60 descendants of V's grandparents, over half rolled up to celebrate this beautiful lady and the culture of the clan.

The table groaned under tributes to their shared memories mixed with the nostalgia for Denmark of a past generation through the medium of Wisconsin cheese curds and brats.

I attempted to convert an estimated crowd figure into units of indulgence through the medium of cake flavoured by the childhoods of Aunty L and her younger siblings, Uncle B and V's mum, Aunty (to a great many of the attendants) R -

Lemon Meringue Pie (or rather, Pies- I used the muffin pan and was forced to use the mini-muffin pan as well - I used a Splenda recipe so it was sugar-free);

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (ended up being quite a slab and learned a bit about timing and the geometry of laying such a large square -footage of pineapple rings. Tasted good but); and 

Carrot Cake (with the birthday lady's desire of no nuts as she can't stand pecans).

There were many of V's generation, most in their 50s now, each with their own story of getting there from a generally similar starting point.

There were also many wonderful ring-ins - bringing to the gathering their own journeys with those who grew up with this influence.

And then there were the children of the children, although none the age of Paris. She did get star status from a younger fourth cousin (or some such connection).

Stories abounded of Grandma R (Paris's middle name is a tribute to this lady) and Grandad (who V apparently bears an uncanny resemblance to), Aunt G, Aunt B and the other Aunt L. 

I attempted a diagram of the family connections.

Swimming was undertaken, burgers and brats were cooked; there was car guy talk and baseball talk and glory days and reminisces; new insights made, old connections renewed and fresh understandings discovered.

I apparently did not convert any new recruits to the shrine of Vegemite.

We learned - or relearned - the card game "Dirty Thirty-one".

We had fun.

It did not rain, although the promise of such did break the heatwave of the few days prior.

Today it tried harder. We ate leftovers.