Family Picnic 2008

Nearly two months after the fact, I thought that maybe I should write about the family picnic that we specifically went to Oregon for. I have babbled on previously about our other adventures while we were there, but I have missed a few other notable events that I need to get updated. Procrastinator? Yes. Lazy? Yes. Going crazy with three evil wee people bent on my destruction? Heck yeah! So here are the details (as I know them at least, so assume that something important will be missing):

The annual family picnic is referred to as the "Steele Family Picnic". This is because there are lots of Steele's there, or previously Steele's in some cases. Who are the Steele's? Well, let me tell ya... My great-grandmother Alicia, (sound familiar?) married a man named Donald Steele and they had seven children with my grandmother, Dianne Alicia (still some familiarity with the name) being the oldest. The other six were Linda, Leanne, Donald (Don), Dave, Myrna, and Jan. In any case, between all of them having kids who had kids, who have had kids- there are alot of us! The picnic has been a tradition since before I was born and hopefully will continue for many more years to come. We all get together twice a year and try to remain in contact somewhere in the middle. It is always a good time!

I do have to confess that this year I fell down on the job as far as taking pictures. Not sure why, or how, but I ended up with no pictures of the event that was so important that I would travel 1500 miles for. I suppose that makes me *special* in a helmet wearing sort of way. Anyway, my dear friend Heather bailed me out as always. *hugs*kisses* She took a break from her usual subject which I was grateful for. This is Addy's 2,986,002'nd picture of her life. Heather has a compulsive disorder involving her daughter and the camera.

I kinda can't blame her there, because who could resist this face?

This is me and my Aunt Jan from San Francisco. She is fun and wise and I love her!

And here, well, what was it I was saying about helmet wearing? I wonder if my Uncle Neal thought his would weigh him down in the water?

Aunt Lisa bought the girls new swimsuits for their birthday, so they got to sport them for the first time at the picnic. Syd was in and out of the pool all day, but Mel only got out to eat a few times and spent the other 8 hours or so in the pool. She may like the water a bit...

The highlight for many of us was when it got dark, Neal hooked up Guitar Hero to a projector so that we could play on a screen that was large enough to make a drive-in theater proud. Awesomeness... All in all, a great reason to travel 1500 miles. In a car. With three children. And Jack. Ooooh, and Jack. And three children. In a car. Crap, it was horrible, but worth it.