Dang it. I have already lost the Sydney Sweepstakes and we haven’t even gotten to Pigeon Forge yet.

This weekend is the semi-annual Mayhew-Harbin-Mayhew family reunion at Oak Haven Resort. The weekend revolves around

Nana and Sydney

our sweet granddaughter, Sydney, of course. Poor Tammy. She had barely joined the family when she got pregnant and after Sydney arrived that was all she wrote. She is not Granbunny’s first grandchild, but she is mine. And I think that inexperience shows when it comes to the Sydney Sweepstakes.

I am talking to Bunny on the phone last night, coordinating food. We already have spaghetti with salad and garlic bread, chicken biscuits, breakfast casserole and that’s just Bunny getting started. There will be more and we haven’t even gotten to Tammy and my offerings. And then she drops the Bomb.

“I found the cutest thing for Sydney,” she says slyly. “A princess tent!”

A princess tent. A princess tent. Where in the hell do you find a princess tent?

I was very proud of myself up until that moment. The boys and I had gone to Claire’s Sunday and picked out cute hair bows and necklaces and bracelets and put them in a little purse with flip flops embroidered on it. I am known for my love of flip flops and it is a trait I hope to instill in Sydney. But now, my offerings seem uninspired.

I would be remiss if I did not sadly say that the patriarch of our family will not be with us this reunion. Granddaddy is unable to travel at the moment and probably never again. He is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and is being very well cared for at a rehabilitation center in Knoxville. We will, of course, go visit during the reunion. But there will be no oysters on the half shell for me and the boys this year. Some traditions are hard to continue without the founder.

One Comment

  1. JoAnn Rhodes Grose (Gram)
    July 13, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    I LOVE this photo!

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