GG Weekend...the Finale

"WHAT," you might ask, "is that?" Well, whenever Bryan and I head down to San Diego we try to always stop by Point Loma Seafood and get our squid sandwiches. That is calamari, battered and lightly fried on sourdough with tartar sauce and butter - with extra tartar sauce to dip into. It's to DIE for. YUM. This last weekend was our last "GG weekend." This started 7 years ago when Bryan's grandparents wanted their grandkids to come down and spend a weekend together with them (sans kids and parents). A tradition started and has come to an end this year. After dropping the kids off with my parents (thanks mom and dad!) Bryan and I meandered down the coast and made our first stop at the oceanside eatery. Then we headed on...

All the grandkids gave Gram and Granddad a special gift as a thank you for hosting this weekend every year. They were very appreciative. They put in so much of their time just preparing for this weekend each year that it takes a lot out of them. The food alone is enough work, not to mention housing us all at their place!

One of the annual competitions...ping pong. Inevitably either Evan or Bryan wins the tournament, but we all attempt to de-throne them each year...very unsuccessfully. This year we did a doubles tournament, which Bryan and Jen won. Surprise, surprise. Winners have always gotten a special Margarita and their names on a plaque. This year Bryan will get to take home the plaque, Jen the margarita glass. I was teamed with Evan, and we came in second, another surprise. *ha ha* A couple of those years have been SOOO humid and hot that it was all we could do to get up and hit the ball a few times. This year was perfect.

Another competition we've had (partly to help Gram out with the food) was an appetizer competition. All of us girls make appetizers and whoever wins the vote gets a gift certificate for Olive Garden. We spend Saturday afternoon making the appetizers, and then everyone judges them (without knowing whose is whose), declaring one of them a winner. This year we all won because Gram and Granddad decided they wanted us all to have the prize. It was really sweet, and all the appetizers were really good, too. I made meatballs surrounded by a cheesy, curried dough and baked. Then we dipped them in mango chutney. MMMmmmm.

The only baby to make it this year was Kadyn (whose dad is in the back of this picture - Bryan's cousin). Babies are allowed to come if they're still breastfeeding or in utero. hee hee. She's our youngest this year, although Michelle (foreground) is pregnant and due in December.

The clan - Evan and Tamara, Jeremy and Michelle, me and Bryan, Jen and Jeremy. We all get along really well and we're going to try and get together in the years to come. This tradition will not die!! It's amazing how we're all in the same stage as each other. It makes it so much fun to hang out because we all bounce stories off of each other about life.