Fun with the Fams

This blog is appropriately titled since Eric and I have spent the last 2 out of 3 weekends with either his family or mine. First there was the 4th of July with my family at our lakehouse, then this past weekend we attended his family reunion in Waco at Moon River Ranch. This blog is all about our weekends with our families!

Meet the Pattersons:
Eric flew in on Friday and we headed to the lake. On the way, we stopped in Round Rock to eat at a little restaurant we ate at as a family years ago. Dinner was excellent and dessert was out of this world!! Day 1 at the lake consisted of cleaning around the house and preparing for the family to get there. Day 2 everyone arrived. We had a huge crowd: my grandparents, aunt, cousins from Mississippi, cousins from around Texas, and my gran-c's sister and brother. We had over 20 people at all times throughout the weekend, even though people came and went. We spent most of the first day with everyone hangin out in the lake on the Colosseum, which was a big float that held 8 people! SO MUCH FUN!! Our 3rd day was the 4th of July, so we all participated in the annual "Lake McQueeny" water balloon fight! Everyone got really into it...even the big (grown-up) boys! Unfortunately, there weren't any fireworks this year...stupid drought! haha It was still a really good 4th of July, though! The last day with Eric there we went to Schlitterbahn with about 1 million of our closest friends. SO CROWDED! We stood in lines for the majority of our day, but that didn't stop us from having fun! I must say that without Eric there to keep me calm and in a good mood I wouldn't have been able to deal with the crowds and longgg lines! (Thanks, babe! :) ) That night after dinner, Eric and I went into town and watched "Larry Crowne". It was nice to get away and have some time alone, without our sweet little chaperone, my cousin Shelby! She followed us around the whole time Eric was there. He was so sweet with her. We had fun with her, but I will say it was nice to get to talk to him and have a chance to have a little "date night". Wednesday morning, we dropped Eric off at the San Antonio airport. I was sad to see him go, but very happy he got to come and stay for as long as he did! The rest of the week was a lot of fun. Overall, I'd say Eric meeting my extended family went well! He hasn't run for the hills....yet! I was also so happy I got to spend time with the family members I never get to see. Its so neat we still all get together as much as we do!

Meet the Schmeltekopfs:
I thought my family was big...until I met Eric's extended family! Wow, I met A LOT of Schmeltekopfs this weekend! Anddd...I loved them! They were all so welcoming and sweet to me! Oh and the place we stayed was amazing! Nice rooms and on a huge, beautiful piece of land! I was so happy to get to be a part of their family reunion! They have so many fun family traditions and an interesting family history. We watched a slide show with pictures and family history, which was narrated nicely by his aunt, Cynthia, and little cousin Michael. Michael knew absolutely everyone in all the pictures, even though he's little and most of the pictures were in black and white. My favorite comments were about a picture of kiddos and a slide of family connections that explained how everyone was related. About the pic of the kids he said, " I think these kids go to my school, but I'm not sure of his names". In regards to the slide of family connections he said, "This looks like a list. Its probably a grocery list." He was precious!! We did Zumba one morning, led by one of Eric's little cousins. That was fun and a good workout! Two nights we did Karaoke. I got talked into singing a song with Eric. He chose Sweet Alabama for us, even though I don't know all of the words. Even though I was insanely embarrassed, I have to admit I had fun and I'm glad his family talked me into it. We also played charades, which was SO much fun! Oh, and pictionary! I have to say they are probably a tad more fun than my family in some ways! (Not that my family isn't fun!) I met so many great people, Eric has an awesome family. I was so fortunate to get to know everyone this past weekend.

Spending time together with our families brought us closer and was a whole lot of fun! The past few weeks/weekends have been so much fun! Its only gonna get better...we leave for Barcelona and our Mediterranean cruise this Saturday! I'm so excited!! Stay tuned for the low-down on our trip!! :)