Boxing Day.....or Really the Family Feeding Frenzy 2017

And so it begins.....the great family get together! Kathleen, Stu, and Crew were back in town.

Cole and Shane were ecstatic to see each other.

Evelyn was a lot more brave and social than she was at the beach!

And Tenley.....Tenley has grown! She can walk now.

It got loud, fast. Carrie wisely set up shop in the cat room. She had travel agent work to accomplish and prefers a less raucous environment.

My uncles and cousins started to arrive next. Kevin, Cindy, Kerry, and Dr. Matt were the first wave.

I took the first shift with the over-stimulated boys. They ran wild trying to chase me all over the house with Evelyn trailing behind.

After everyone wore down (aka: Me), the kids were calm enough to build a fort with Dr. Matt.

A massive fort.

Dr Matt may have minored in architecture for his undergrad. He really got into it and the kids followed suit.

I helped gather materials at the end to push it to the next level. Shane said the fort was his favorite thing about the whole day.

More people started to arrive. Caitlin and Alex walked through the door. Then there was Dennis, Cathie, Kyle, and Little Matt. There was food to be had and stories galore. I wish we all got together more often.

The boys retreated for a Ninjago movie break.

Tenley ate with the big folks and Evelyn floated in between.

Tenley took a nap not long after.

The cousins and I settled in for a game (it's not like I hadn't brought a whole stack). I taught everyone how to play 5-Minute Dungeon and then played clean-up.

Instant hit. They cleared the first several bosses with ease. I made them switch roles to up the difficulty.

Carrie came out to fill in for Kathleen for Rounds 4 and 5 when Tenley woke up. I may have emptied a Nerf gun into everyone while they were trying to take out the final boss. Those few seconds of shock nearly cost them the match. They paused time with Kyle's wizard ability at 3 seconds with two cards remaining. They counted cards, got in sync, and then threw everything down in succession. Kyle had a brain fart and sat still for a crucial second. Dr Matt grabbed his hand and threw it on the table.

I ruled that it counted. The group won the game 5 and 0. We retired to talk and play with the kids (now awake and done with their movie).

Uncle Kevin gave Shane a dose of what we all got growing up.

He crawled through the fort and the children roused to oust him from their manor.

Uncle Dennis gave Kevin some needed reinforcement.

Carrie wowed them all by breaking out Shane's drone.

She even attempted to land it on Kyle's head.

It's a shame that batteries on that sucker only last for a hot second.

Dr Matt's big sister came by to meet some of the family somewhere in there. Kerry introduced me as, "This is my cousin, Mike. He's trouble. Don't believe anything he says."

Which is like begging for trouble.

I immediately replied, "Nice to meet you! How do you like the fort *I* made with all the kids?"

I introduced some other family as Crimson Tide fans to her and then ducked out to the sound of boo's and hisses (They were Clemson fans and the Tide was their school's first opponent in the playoffs).

All good things must come to an end, though. People started to filter out. Kevin's clan were the first to go.

The fort was still a big hit with all the kids.

Dennis' family stayed for a while longer, so that he could rough-house with the kids.

Or was it the kids rough-housed him?

Finally, only the local branch of my clan remained.

There were leftovers and still stories to tell.

Everyone was wiped when the party finally ended. I wish we could have a large gathering like that monthly instead of bi-annually. It'd be even better if everyone could come, too. The Nebraska branch, Jim, Sean, and the rest of my siblings weren't in attendance.