Entries Tagged 'Sullivan Fest' ↓

Last weekend my mom’s side of the family got together for the fourth annual Sullivan reunion in Alvord, Iowa. It seems there are fewer farm kitties and less card playing with each year that passes, but we still manage to have a very good time.

It was Hannie’s first road trip! She slept most of the way, and then got antsy towards the end. I totally understand.

My mom swears that Hannie’s pinky is crooked, like the rest of the Sullivans’. So we all looked at each other’s pinkies.

Michael had collected many dead tree branches from around the farm, and Dad and Bryan cut them up for the fire.

Mom and I drove the golf cart to visit some other relatives. Peace, homies.

Jenny and Jeremy found the scientific way to health, beauty and relaxation hidden in the old house. (Only part of the box, and that’s a-okay.)

My mom and her family lived in this house when she was in high school. She tells me that she came home from school one day and Grandma and Grandpa had moved into the other house (the house they currently live in), so I guess they got all new everything because they certainly left a lot of stuff in the old house. Slowly Grandpa is dismantling the old house, but there are still many moldy treasures to discover.

Seriously. Some of this stuff would be so awesome if it wasn’t all disgusting.

Jamie groomed a couple Shih Tzus, Diego and Puddy.

Kim was attacked by the snipe! Karyn has a better photo.

Did I mention that I brought hula hoops? Oh, yeah.

Jenny was the reigning champ.

TOO MANY PHOTOS! Okay, just a few more.

We were joined by neighbors and extended family for awesome food from Dad and fireworks Saturday afternoon/night.

I’ll link here to the photos of Sullivan generations that I took for Karyn: ladies – ladies with Grandpa – mixed – and re-mixed

This one is cute because Grandma and Hannie are smilin’ at each other.

I also brought glow sticks, which were way more awesome than sparklers.

Bryan picked out some really awesome fireworks this year, but I only took one photo.

There are many more photos on Flickr, of course.

Next year is #5! Jamie and I are planning to bring commemorative t-shirts.

The second annual Sullivan family reunion was quite the event. We had many things to entertain us (snipe hunting, ladder ball, kite flying, fireworks, s’mores, etc.). I had something extra special to entertain me: a new Canon Digital Rebel XTi purchased for work at the Bell Museum. I also got a 70–300mm zoom lens. These two things are the reason I had an ungodly amount of photos, but I weeded my way to just under 80 photos.

This was also the last time we’ll be seeing Jane and Ryan for a while as they are moving to Taiwan in 3 days! Travel safe, you two!! We’ll miss you… but hopefully we’ll all come visit, too! At least me, anyway.

The past week, summarized:

Wednesday
After working a very full day, it was time to enjoy a four-day weekend. That evening, I was joined at karaoke (at both U Otter Stop Inn and Legend’s) by Barry, Kristi and Karyn. It was fun. We ate nachos.

Thursday
Karyn turned 30 on the 10^th, and we both had the day off. I joined her at True Thai for lunch, then I hung around her apartment all day. She dozed and I played with the kitties while uploading music onto my new computer. That evening we joined Barry (who was celebrating his 32nd birthday) and other friends at Psycho Suzi’s. We ate almost every appetizer that was offered. And drank every tiki drink that was available. I love Suzi’s patio — it’s easily the best patio in Minneapolis.

(My photos from the birthday celebrations are on flickr.)

Friday
Karyn and I drove to my grandparents’ farm in Alvord, Iowa for a two-day family reunion. That evening was spent camping out in their yard, drinking beer, and playing with the pile of kitties.

And now for excessive cat photos (but they are so cute):

Saturday
On Saturday we spent the morning and early afternoon cleaning some of the house — a couple bedrooms and the kitchen cabinets. I took a walk around the grounds after lunch. Eventually I sat down in the campsite and took a brief nap in the sun. Afterwards, my dad joined me and we watched nature and drank beer. Very chill. That evening we were joined by my gramma’s sister, Mary, and her husband for dinner. Mom, Jane, Aunt Kim, Cousin Michael, and I worked on illegally igniting fireworks for the rest of the clan after dark. And we made s’mores.

(I took a bunch of other photos but I’m feeling really lazy about linking to all of them. I like a lot of them and you can check them out here.)

Sunday
After lunch, Karyn and I headed back to Minneapolis. We stopped in Rock Rapids, IA, to visit our Gramma Dee. Then it rained, rained, rained for the rest of our drive. It was a quiet evening at home, though, and that was nice.

Monday
Kristi came over to my apartment to watch the two-hour finale for Hell’s Kitchen. I’m so mad that Heather won! But it was very exciting and we enjoyed watching regardless.

That’s it. I’m sleepy.