The rest of KC
Something I was selfishly excited about for Christina and Will’s wedding was that it was a chance for my family to meet Gina, Steve and Luca! I consider Gina and fam to be, well, family… so it was important to me for them to meet my blood family. Ha ha. Said so eloquently.
Who are your friends that you consider to be family, and want your kin to love as much as you do?
Gina and fam had obviously met Christina and Will (since they were at the wedding to start with!), and had met my mom by chance in the Dallas airport, and Steven’s brother Andrew when we all came to NYC for a race… but that was it! I tried to do as many introductions as I could while wedding festivities were happening, and I did a decent job, but I know I failed at making a few connections. Luckily, there are talks of a Labor Day get-together with our families so maybe I can make up for it then!
And! Also luckily, quite a few of us stayed for a few days after the wedding, so it was a perfect chance to hang out together! My dad stayed until late Monday, my mom stayed until Friday, and the rest of us stayed until Wednesday (and Steven’s dad and brother stayed there forever since they live there, ha ha).
I have to say… this is one of the best times I’ve ever had in Kansas City. Everyone got along so well, and we all had a blast together – whether we were playing tourist or chilling! It really made me feel good to see everyone having such a fun time, and excited for future get-togethers!
And I do think it’s important to give an update on Luca’s best friend list:
Themocracy
My best friend Genevieve used to come on family vacations with us. My parents would rent a cabin in Michigan for a week every summer, for relaxing and swimming and fishing, etc. My brothers had each other, and after a couple years, my mom felt bad that I didn’t have a buddy, so she let me bring one and I invited Gen. So now my parents think of her as kind of a second (distant) daughter, and Gen feels very comfortable with them.
That is awesome!!! How come you guys no longer do the family vacations? Or do you? 🙂
We stopped going when I was 18. My brothers are older and I don’t think came with that year due to summer jobs or just not wanting to. I think that was one of the reasons it was our last year – we had our own lives and schedules. Plus my parents wanted to start vacationing on their own. I would LOVE if we could coordinate a big family trip to Michigan and rent a big house that we all could fit in but I doubt I could get everyone on board with that idea or find a week that works for everyone.
My middle-older bro and I, and some of our friends, went up to Michigan for about three summers in a row a few years ago – the first two times staying at the same spot my parents took us. But we stopped that because it became hard to get everyone’s schedules to line up plus friendships change.
A couple of my Air Force girl friends are just like family…being military for over half my life and away from home made my friendships very tight knit. Also, I am blessed to have made a couple of very strong friendships since moving to IL!!
It sounds like so much fun! It’s sad that it seems to take major life events to get everyone together like that. My bachelorette/bday party this weekend was the first time I have seen some of my college friends in years.
Aww man, that stinks that you haven’t seen them all in so long! I guess you will see them all next at the wedding?
We try to see Gina and her fam a few times a year, and we see my family A LOT in the summer 🙂
I remember reading somewhere that knowing your friend’s family is a sign of a really strong friendship (or something corny like that). My best friend from Ohio and I know each others’ families – she invites me along to hang out with her mom when she’s in town, and her siblings gave me brotherly/sisterly advice when we were younger.
The same probably goes for Melanie – I actually just hung out with her family yesterday, and I love years when we can spend Thanksgiving with them (based on my BIL’s schedule). And Bob and I think of their kids the same way you guys do Luca.
But aside from a few close friends, my family doesn’t really know a lot of my friends (probably, in part, because they don’t live here), though they do at least know of a lot of them.
I love that you have that relationship with some of your friends and your friends’ families. I think it’s especially nice, when you don’t live close to your relatives! 🙂
My mom was best friends with her best friend for 60 years. That’s right, 60! 2 of her kids are a lot older, so I don’t know them super well, but when we were all together at my mom’s wake, we were like a big family. It’s really awesome. They lucked out because Mare (my mom’s best friend has the same name that she did, haha) married George, who became one of my dad’s best friends too.
That is so cool that they were best friends for so long and that you feel that way around their family 🙂
I love that everyone got to meet up in one spot! Looks like you guys had a blast. That’s what summer (and vacations) are all about! And those pizzas look amazing…that must run in the family 😉
Hee hee! Yeah, it’s Steven’s recipe! 🙂
It’s always fun when your adopted family and ‘real’ family get along so well!
Look like tons of fun! That video is priceless!
He usually picks a few different names for the best friend list but it totally cracked me up that I was #1-5 on the list for most of the day!
LADY AND THE TRAMP! I love it! (But who is the lady and who is the tramp????!?!) 😉
I love when my friends and family get along so well. As you can tell, my family and Kim’s has intertwined pretty well over the years even though we all live far apart!
Ha! I think you know I am not a lady!
YES! I saw that! I really loved that about this weekend. It was like one big happy family! 🙂
i love all the pictures. looks like it was a fabulous trip!
i have so many people that are considered family. my hubby tends to adopt several “children” everywhere that we’ve ever lived.
I grew up an only child, so I was always allowed to bring a friend. My best friend Jess is definitely family and has been on TONS of vacations with us. She gets married in August and I cannot wait!
Yay! That is exciting! What role are you playing in the wedding?
I am a bridesmaid. Her niece is the MOH, but she’s pretty young and has never been in a wedding, so myself and another bridesmaid have been doing lots of cool things!
Yay! I’m happy you had so much fun in KC. It’s all about the people sometimes, isn’t it? 🙂