We drove down to Florida Friday morning. We went to Venice, it’s 1 1/2 hours south of Tampa, so we stopped in Tampa to pick up my father. My Uncle turned 80 on Sunday, so we had a party and family reunion. It’d been over 10 years since I’d seen most of the people there. Everyone couldn’t make it, and we missed them.
My grandparents came down with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin. My dad’s side of the family is HUGE. My grandfather had 12 brothers and sisters, and then they got married and had kids, and they got married and had kids. And my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle are all brother and sister. My Aunt is Papa’s sister, and my Uncle is Grandma’s brother. They all grew up together.
From left to right: Uncle Chuck (father’s brother), Papa, Grandma, Uncle Tommy(birthday boy, and grandma’s brother), Auntie Shirl(Papa’s sister), Dad, me, Cousin Paige. Back row: Husband and Aunt Sue (Uncle Chuck’s wife) – my brother and cousin weren’t able to make it, so we’ll have to retake this picture next time we’re all together!
We got there Friday night and went to the beach for a little sunset party, of course because of traffic and picking up daddy at the airport we got there after sunset, but still had fun, and got to see everyone. After the beach we all went to Uncle Tommy and Aunt Shirl’s for an after party. First we went to the hotel and checked into our room and got settled. Husband and I were exhausted from driving all day, so we stayed for a little while.
Saturday was pretty relaxed during the day, we had breakfast at the hotel, gotta love Holiday Inn Express and their free breakfast! We spent time with Grandma and Papa, and then got ready for the day. We had lunch with some more family. There were 13 of us, we went to this place within walking distance of the hotel, we thought it was bigger, but it was a small mom and pop place.
The only one who wasn’t part of our group is the man in the yellow…but my father and Rocco are sitting at the counter.
Lunch was really good. They had burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, fries and onion rings. It was called BrewBurger.
After lunch we waited for Uncle Tommy to come by with the JumpStart, husband left the lights on when we got back from the beach party Friday night, and my battery was DEAD! We found it dead earlier that morning, I asked if he had left the lights on, and he said he didn’t remember, so I went to look, and of course my lights were set to “on.” Uncle Tommy, Dad and I got it started, so Daddy and I took it for a drive. The radio needed to be reset, and since we had the car shipped I hadn’t put everything back in it, so I didn’t know the code, nor that the code was on a sticker inside the glove box, so dad and I drove to the Honda dealership! It gave us time together, and Daisy (my car) needed to run for a while. While we were out everyone else, but Husband, went out looking for the Tervis store. They couldn’t find it, the lady at the hotel gave them back directions. So we hung out at the pool and then got ready for the actual dinner party for Uncle Tommy.
The dinner was at the Italian American Club, Italian food and open bar, it wouldn’t have been a family get together without the two! There was a lot of alcohol consumption that weekend. Like I said, it wouldn’t have been a get together without it! There was cake, of course, and Uncle Tommy and a few of my cousins got into it!
From left to right: Cousin Dan, two of our newest editions, Cousin Tara and Uncle Tommy
Sunday morning we met at Uncle Tommy and Auntie Shirl’s for brunch. it was a lot of food, like always! Before we hit the road, we went to the Tervis Tumbler Factory in Osprey with Aunt Sue and Paige. That store is awesome. We had 15% off coupons, and for every $40 you spend you got a free lid, handle or straw. We got a few Tumblers.
The weekend was amazing, and I was so glad Husband got to meet all my family. I know he was overwhelmed by it all. We are quite loud, I mean, we are Italian!
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