Candy Mountain before the hordes of people arrive.
Candy Mountain being scoured from top to bottom. Just a note, fruit snacks, when left out in 90ish degree heat, do actually melt and make a horrid mess.
After Candy Mountain, we went back to the town hall where the reunion continued with races, sports, games, naps, and a pie-eating contest.
that's me flanked by my older brother Jeff (who later emerged victorious) and my cousin Eric.
The aftermath---chocolate pudding in nostrils isn't very fun.
The next day we headed to Lewisville, for the 57th (and last) AW Ball Reunion. This reunion includes all of my mom's cousins on down. There are almost 800 people that could be at that reunion, but as it was, there were probably about 250-300 there. It mostly consists of eating, drinking pop (they rent a fountain), eating, racing, napping, etc., much like the day before, however, there is a lamb chop fry provided by my uncles.
And I can name 2 whole people in that picture. Really. The other great thing about this reunion is that there is always the possibility of injury. That is because of a piece of playground equipment of yesteryear, lovingly called "The Swing." Essentially you grab a metal handle and run around until you can get enough force that you don't have to touch ground for a while. And sometimes the only way off is to let go, as my sister in law's sister found out. If you look hard in the back of this next picture you can see her letting go..
Then she lands on her mouth...
And continues to roll...
It really helps when you have a couple of guys in the middle pushing it around so you don't have to run. My oldest brother may not weigh much, but he didn't touch the ground for about 5 revolutions. And you can get a little bit higher than that.
My cousin's daughter. When I took these pictures, I just sat in one spot and held the shutter down, taking a few pictures. Until this point, she seems to be enjoying the ride, but probably not much after that.
That's it for this update. the next post might be in moscow, but it might not.
After Candy Mountain, we went back to the town hall where the reunion continued with races, sports, games, naps, and a pie-eating contest.
that's me flanked by my older brother Jeff (who later emerged victorious) and my cousin Eric.
The aftermath---chocolate pudding in nostrils isn't very fun.The next day we headed to Lewisville, for the 57th (and last) AW Ball Reunion. This reunion includes all of my mom's cousins on down. There are almost 800 people that could be at that reunion, but as it was, there were probably about 250-300 there. It mostly consists of eating, drinking pop (they rent a fountain), eating, racing, napping, etc., much like the day before, however, there is a lamb chop fry provided by my uncles.
And I can name 2 whole people in that picture. Really. The other great thing about this reunion is that there is always the possibility of injury. That is because of a piece of playground equipment of yesteryear, lovingly called "The Swing." Essentially you grab a metal handle and run around until you can get enough force that you don't have to touch ground for a while. And sometimes the only way off is to let go, as my sister in law's sister found out. If you look hard in the back of this next picture you can see her letting go..
Then she lands on her mouth...
And continues to roll...
It really helps when you have a couple of guys in the middle pushing it around so you don't have to run. My oldest brother may not weigh much, but he didn't touch the ground for about 5 revolutions. And you can get a little bit higher than that.
My cousin's daughter. When I took these pictures, I just sat in one spot and held the shutter down, taking a few pictures. Until this point, she seems to be enjoying the ride, but probably not much after that. 
That's it for this update. the next post might be in moscow, but it might not.