Funny Stuff is all around

Summertime’s almost with us, and surround our house that means it’s time for the annual gathering with all relatives near and far! Unluckily, all the hard work of planning a family reunion has fallen to me this year. With grandparents, four uncles and their four spouses, and eighteen (that’s right, eighteen!) cousins, it’s a great job for an army. But there’s only one of me, so I want all the assistance I can get.

Click through if you prefer an article about other types of announcement parties.

The first hurdle with planning a family reunion has often been where to go. When you’ve got relations in Colorado, North Carolina, Missouri, Utah, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Florida, there’s actually no such thing as a convenient spot! In an effort to maintain any one group from getting to travel forever, we chose a beautiful location in the hills of Kentucky.

I was relieved to find that there are certainly websites designed to assist poor saps like me who are trying to keep six families happy! I found all kinds of information designed to help me plan our event from the beginning to finish. My first great find was free software particularly designed to assist in planning a family reunion. I downloaded timetables, checklists of things to carry, ideas for icebreakers and games, and all kinds of random tips for making our gathering special. The program also helped me with essential details like invitations, choosing our lodging, deciding on how meals will be served, and coming up with a budget everyone could live with.

Planning a family reunion can certainly turn out to be a blast

I get to admit that sorting out the logistics was tough. But this time that we’ve got our dates and our destination set, I can concentrate on the fun part! I discovered special t-shirts online that we could purchase pre-made or custom design for every person attending the gathering. The best portion is that they’re just $5, and the shipping is free. I also discovered sites where you could order photo buttons, custom invitations, and goofy party favors that have everybody’s pictures on them. I didn’t think planning a family reunion can actually give a little retail therapy!

One of the great fringe advantages of being the one in charge of planning a family reunion has been putting up our own special website. It’s been a clearinghouse of information for the families, and we’ve certainly had a great chance to get to know each other even better as our plans were being formed. It’s been a lot of hard work, but now that the huge event is almost here I am extremely excited, and I believe it’s going to be a terrific time. Who knew planning a family reunion can certainly turn out to be a blast?

Peter Holmes is a party planner & Event management specialist. If the content of this article is relevant to you then it can be assumed you are going to need party invitations. Visit the Events Listed website & learn how you can design your own electronic invitations and build our a fantastic multi media rich web page for FREE.

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One backyard activity that everyone enjoys is eating outdoors. Whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you may want to consider having your next meal outside. If you have a barbeque grill, you and your family may enjoy having tasty food that was prepared on the grill. If you do not have a grill, but are interested in buying one, you have a number of options. A large number of retail stores, both on and offline, carry a fairly large selection of barbeque grills. Charcoal grills are a cheap way to cook; many can sell for as low as twenty or thirty dollars.

In addition to having a backyard barbeque, your family may also enjoy a backyard picnic. Backyard picnics are often easier to prepare than most barbequed meals. If you wish, you could easily prepare all of your food inside. Popular picnic foods may include, but should not be limited to, sandwiches, subs, coleslaw, salads, crackers, cookies, and pretzels. If the weather is warm, you may also want to make sure that you include extra water. Water, especially during hot weather, is important for hydration.

While eating outdoors is a great way to spend time in your backyard, it will only take a few hours. If you are interested in spending the whole day in your backyard, you will want to find other backyard activities. One of those activities is likely to include swimming. Swimming is a favorite summer pastime, for individuals of all ages. The only downside to swimming is that you must have a swimming pool. If you do not have a swimming pool and cannot afford to buy one, do not worry. There are literally an unlimited number of other backyard activities that your whole family could enjoy, even without a pool.

Other popular backyard activities involve the playing of sports games or water games. Water games, like many other backyard games, are ideal for individuals of all ages. To cool off or just participate in a family fun activity, you can purchase a water sprinkler, water balloons, or water guns. Many of these items can be purchased for an affordable price at most, on and offline, retailers.

If sports are more your family’s style, you may want to think about purchasing a volleyball net or a basketball hoop. While a basketball hoop or a volleyball net may be an expensive purchase, it is likely that you and your children will enjoy them on more than one occasion. If you are concerned with the cost of a basketball hoop, volleyball net, or other sports equipment, you can purchase cheaper alternatives. Other popular sports games, which do not require the purchase of expensive equipment, may include kickball or softball.

Spending the day in your backyard is a great to not only have fun, but to spend quality time with your family. A backyard campout may be the perfect end to the perfect day. And why not have your face painted as part of the fun. It’s easy to learn and with step by step instructions you can create many designs. Discover more
Kids face painting Face painting for halloween face painting ideas

Backyard camping is great, especially if you have small children. Not only may they enjoy the new experience, but you will also be close to you home if something goes wrong. For a reasonable price, if you don’t already have one, you should be able to buy a tent and other camping supplies.

As you can see, there are a large number of backyard activities that your whole family may be able to enjoy. In fact, the above mentioned activities are just a few of the many that are available. For additional activities, you may want to ask the rest of your family for suggestions. It is possible that they may alert you to a fun backyard activity that you never even heard of before.

“Can’t We Talk?” (condensed from: You Just Don’t Understand)
by Deborah Tannen

A married couple was in a car when the wife turned to her husband and asked, “Would you like to stop for a coffee?”
“No, thanks,” he answered truthfully. So they didn’t stop.
The result? The wife, who had indeed wanted to stop, became annoyed because she felt her preference had not been considered. The husband, seeing his wife was angry, became frustrated. Why didn’t she just say what she wanted?
Unfortunately, he failed to see that his wife was asking the question not to get an instant decision, but to begin a negotiation. And the woman didn’t realize that when her husband said no, he was just expressing his preference, not making a ruling. When a man and woman interpret the same interchange in such conflicting ways, it’s no wonder they can find themselves leveling angry charges of selfishness and obstinacy at each other.
As a specialist in linguistics, I have studied how the conversational styles of men and women differ. We cannot lump all men or all women into fixed categories. But the seemingly senseless misunderstandings that haunt our relationships can in part be explained by the different conversational rules by which men and women play.
Whenever I write or speak about this subject, people tell me they are relieved to learn that what has caused them trouble - and what they had previously ascribed to personal failings - is, in fact, very common. (more…)

Rick was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary.   His wife was really angry. She told him “Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in less than 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!”

The next morning Rick got up early and left for work.  When his wife woke up she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.  Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, and brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Rick has been missing since Friday. Please pray for him.