75th Jubliee

 Our big family trip this summer was to Florida to celebrate my GrandmotherJane's 75th birthday.  The party was set in motion over nine months ago, as that's how long it takes to gather this many people.  I have said many times on this blog how thankful I am to belong to such a large, tight-knit family.  It's celebrations like this, and annual girls' weekend trips on my mom's side that make me feel so special to have been born into such love and family-ness. 

75th birthday, or the 'jubilee' as we coined it, wouldn't be complete without a shirt to always remember the party!  What would be more befitting for G-Jane then a 'God Save The Queen' shirt?  All the grand kids love the picture of G-Jane looking oh-so-Jackie-O in her twenties, we all proudly rocked her face across our chests.

My kids love, love, love their cousins!

And by love, I mean LOVE!

GrandmotherJane with (almost) all of her grandchildren.  Cousin Jordan flew in the next morning.  If only I could figure out a way to Photoshop him in with us....

Great-GrandmotherJane with all her great-grandchildren.  My boys are incredibly lucky to have three of their great-grandmothers in their lives. 

The 'Kevin Smith' family.
A nice looking group, if I do say so myself.

G-Jane was given an awesome golf cart to putt around in her neighborhood.

Uncle Chris heaving Harrison to block the pummel of water heading his way.

There was an intense water gun fight held at Aunt Melissa's house. 

Gavin was better prepared to handle the direct hits of the water 

gun after he donned his goggles. 

Identical twins Aunt Judi and GrandmotherJane.  So easy to tell them apart now, but as children and young adults it was much harder.  

My soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Dixie!  Justin proposed on their way to Florida.  

So happy for her to join the family. 

Uncle Brian doing his best Johnny Cash

A Smith family gathering would be incomplete without an impromptu jam session.  This one was a little more planned because the music was themed around G-Jane's favorite singer--Elton John.

Dad tossing in a couple crabs to meet their untimely death.

Steve talked endlessly about doing a traditional New England crab boil.  The kids thought it was fun to play with the crabs, but when it came time to actually eat them......

 ...they passed and had corn on the cob instead.

  

It was a week of some good-eatin'!

 

 

Like, finger-licking-good-eatin'!

The bugs in Florida are HUGE!  My kids loved it, while I feared it.  I felt like I was in the movie "Jumanji" and kept waiting for a larger-than-life locus to take me down.  

Cannon is pretty good with the whole potty training thing, but when business calls there's no putting it off.  Having a boy makes this process much easier!  Find any tree, shrub, or rock and call it a bathroom.

 Cannon giving a shout-out to Ohio State.  

Wut-wut. 

Cameron and me. Seriously love this guy.  He's made me look sooo forward to my boys growing up into teenagers.  I'm trying to talk him into coming and spending next summer with us. 

Me and Geedge.  

We had a bake-off competition complete with a secret ingredient--Florida citrus.  Justin really tried to make this as 'Iron Chef' as possible, even debuting the secret ingredient by surrounding it with dry ice while Alex did his best Japanese accent.
That lovely pudding concoction in the middle took first place, giving the reigning champs, Uncle Chris and Aunt Stephanie, another victory.  I think Steve has finally given up on beating them.....it's only taken about five losses in a row.  

Justin and Aunt Melissa were the judges.  The judging was serious!  

They kindly let Harrison be a junior judge.  I thought his voting was really funny.  If Harrison were the only judge, Cameron and I would have won.  We were contestant number 3 with the vote of "good!"

 

GrandmotherJane-- Cannon says, and we all agree, "you da man" when it comes to planning a party!  I love that you kindly demanded our attendance so that everyone was in attendance.  If I've learned anything from you it's that life and family are worth celebrating. It's worth the sacrifice to take time off work, hassle of traveling, and money spent to gain the time and love shared with those who love you. 

Being a family means that you are a part of something very wonderful.
It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.
No matter what.