What Do You Get When You Mix a Bunch of Polish People, Beer, a Ukulele, and a Dunk Tank?

Why, you get my family reunion, of course!


So this weekend was my Kaszynski Family Reunion. The last event took place in 2000 (I did not attend). These people are my maternal grandmother's relatives: everyone who attended is a child or grandchild or great-grandchild of one of the ten children of John and Frances Kaszynski. The photo above shows them all (Back Row: Art Kaszynski, Evelyn Thompson, John Kaszynski, Genevieve Meagher, Ben Kaszynski, Della McPartland, Leonard Kaszynski, Bernadette Heathcoat. Front Row: Gertrude Martinkus, John Kaszynski, Frances Kaszynski, Walter Kaszynski). My mom's mother is Gertrude- aka "Grandma Gert."

There were people there I haven't seen in twenty years or more. And despite what I titled this post, the ukulele was just there for show; when I was a kid, my mom's Uncle Len would play it for all of us kids and sing songs. Music was always a staple at those family gatherings, and this gathering was no exception- Cousin Joy managed to find a keyboard, and a few diferent people took turns playing music. It was a really nice afternoon at Cousin Joy's home that included good food, good conversation, and well-behaved children. I don't think I was annoyed even once by those kids (BIG kudos to Sissy for organizing all the kids' activities!). Maybe I'm mellowing? Nah...

I do need to say that the most amusing parts of the day came when: 1) family members (including- but not limited to- my father, two sisters, and two brothers) wound string tied to wrenches up one person's pant leg and shirt, then down the next person's shirt and pants, then up the next person's...you get the idea. I'm not sure why, either, but it was funny; and 2) Bobby Kaszynski dared four lucky relatives to try dunking him in the dunk tank. Only Brother Peaches was able to take the old timer down. I managed to get a nice picture of Bobby right before he bit it (below).


And what kind of celebration would be complete without cake? We had that, too (see below). Sure it was grocery store marbled, but man, it had some good frosting! Cousin Joy even had the bakery ladies write "Rodzina" on the cake; that means "family" in Polish.


My next big road trip adventure will be to see My Favorite Redhead in lower Michigan, and after that...it's Hog Days, baby!

What? You don't know what is this "Hog Days?" Good gravy, do I have to teach you everything?

Go here to see how I've spent the last 30 Labor Day weekends. I will post more on this as the holiday draws closer, but for now, have a great week.