Reunited and it feels so good!

What happens when you mix 8 adults, 5 kids and a backwoods mountain home together? Hub's Sibling Family Reunion (or HSFR for short!). Hub's older sister had the idea to get all the "kids" together for a fun weekend in the mountains. Unfortunately, the weekend the other siblings could go was the weekend AFTER my high school reunion. Because of travel and the cost of the reunion, we didn't think we'd be able to go, but the ball was dropped on the reunion and so was the cost, so we grabbed our moonshine and headed to Tennessee!

I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive. I'm a control freak, and like to do the planning, but Hub's older sister handled everything. No one had actually SEEN the house we rented and after comparing virtual tours to actual houses while house hunting, I was a wee bit worried. Also, the thought of all those people (and kids!) in one place for an extended weekend scared me more than a wee bit.

We met up with two of the siblings "downtown" and made our way toward the house. It should come as no shock that Madge had no idea where we were (and even if she did, I refused to listen. I'm still convinced she wanted us to drive off a mountain. She's out to get me!), so we were following the rental company's directions which included, "Turn left at the blue house on the corner," and "take the dirt road all the way back."

The first part of the drive was lovely. The mountains were gorgeous, the leaves were changing, the kids were pretty happy. However, after turning left at the blue house, I could hear the Dueling Banjos from Deliverance playing in my head. I locked the doors and told Hubs I was glad that we were driving in during the daylight hours.

And then, the house! It was....not like the pictures. At. All. And there was a creepy stone slab that I was convinced was some sort of burial ground. BIL's wife and I got out to look around and discovered that there was another dirt road that extended beyond the dirt road we were on. We told the boys to drive on and we'd walk. Down a hill and around a curve, and there it was! Like a beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert! I still felt like it would be a great setting for a scary movie and was convinced some mad man was going to cross the stream and cut off all our heads while we slept, but kept it to myself and tried to enjoy the weekend.

And can I just say that we had a GREAT time. All the kids got along, there was this giant outdoor pavillion where the boys could go drink beer and build a fire, the girls could stay in the main house with the wii and the kids. The weather was gross enough that we didn't want to go anywhere, but not so gross that we didn't go out and enjoy walking in the stream. The house was very newly refurbished, and even though there was quite a few of us, we weren't on top of each other all the time.

And the best part? All the girls there. SIL (mother of three), me (mother of two), SIL (elementary school teacher) and other SIL (nurse). So basically 4 women who are completely in sync with taking care of other people. One would be entertaining the kids while another would be cooking while another was sweeping the floor and another washing towels. It was like a ballet. At one point, I said, "You know. I'm thinking I could get really into the idea of sister-wives." BIL asked what I was talking about. "You know. Like on Big Love. All the sister-wives working together. This is really nice. EVERYTHING gets done and there's no nagging, reminding, begging or complaining. We all just know what needs to be done and we do it!" Then BIL reminded me of one tiny little complication. "Yeah but who ELSE would want to be married to Hubs?!" Touche, bro. Touche.