Not only is the summer about half way over, but I have met more than half of Jess' family. This previous weekend I traveled on the S.S. Badger from Manitowoc to Ludgington where the Matro clan picked me up. We then drove to a hotel, stayed the night and left for Ohio the next morning. We arrived at Buck Creek State Park around 4:00 on Friday while it was raining. A bit later, after the rain passed, I met over 2/3 of the Nehrenz family.
Saturday I went golfing a few of the uncles and 8 of the cousins. The first two holes were quite embarrassing, but once I started to make contact with the ball the round went much better. We returned and the girls had finished up Jess' first wedding shower (check with her for the details). The rest of the day sped by as all the cousins played a "spades" tournament (spades is a card game). My partner and I lost our first two games and thus we were no longer in the tournament. Jess and her partner went on much farther.
Saturday night consisted of dinner and listening to uncle Mike and aunt Dawn sing. Uncle Mike and aunt Dawn live in Colorado and Mike works on a ranch. He's a cowboy, but a very interesting one. Sunday morning we all gathered for a church service lead by Jess' dad and her uncle Dave. After lunch we found a park for the family to play games. First was the three legged race. I took third while Jess and her partner took first. After that was the water balloon toss. The young kids went first and then Jess and I teamed up for the adult competition. Sadly we did not win. After the competition was over there happened to be plenty of water balloons left. Thus a water balloon fight was declared. As I was still unarmed, the assault on Justin began. I out ran all but two balloons which did minor damage.
However, this was only round one. Little did Justin know there was another cooler of water balloons in another vehicle. One of the cousins whose name starts with an M and rhymes with "dark" assembled all the cousins to chase after Justin to welcome him to the family. Having already ran around for a few minutes the poor, and still unarmed Justin, continued to press on to save his dry life. Out running 20 of the 30 cousins is no easy feat and like all mortals Justin became tired. They soon caught up to him and realizing the inevitable Justin grabbed the nearest cousin to use him as a shield. This idea failed quickly but gave Justin enough time to recuperate while only sustaining minimal damage. Regaining strength Justin ran and doubled back the way he came avoiding most of the water balloons that came his way. His speed and agility was no match for the Nehrenz cousins.
After winning the water balloon war the valiant Justin then joined the kickball game. It was about to rain in 20 minutes, but the game still went for two innings. Each team was allowed to go through their whole batting order. When I came up to bat most of the other team did not know what was about to occur. They backed up a fair amount, but it was not far enough. The ball, a volleyball at that, went sailing into the parking lot over every one's head. My next at bat was even better. A tree marked the foul line on the right side. Everyone wised up and backed up even farther, some even to the parking lot. The ball was pitched and taking a few steps I made contact with the ball sending it curving around the tree over a few cars deep into the parking lot. As I rounded the bases I did a cartwheel on the way to home plate. It was a glorious game, and then it rained. We had won and I got my revenge for the water balloon massacre.
Sunday night we all crowded around a campfire and sang songs. Uncle Mike sang a few more of his songs for us, including one of his Reggae tunes which kept us all laughing. The conversations ended around 1:30 A.M. which is well past my bed time. Monday rolled around and we left at 11:00. We arrived at the ferry early so Jess and I spent our last remaining minutes together while the rest of the Matro clan went to eat dinner. Saying goodbye is always hard, but at least it is only for five weeks this time.
And that is my near death experience of meeting Jess' family. Oh, I must have left the near death part out. Is meeting 50 people all at one a near death experience? Probably not, but at least I remember them all!
Saturday I went golfing a few of the uncles and 8 of the cousins. The first two holes were quite embarrassing, but once I started to make contact with the ball the round went much better. We returned and the girls had finished up Jess' first wedding shower (check with her for the details). The rest of the day sped by as all the cousins played a "spades" tournament (spades is a card game). My partner and I lost our first two games and thus we were no longer in the tournament. Jess and her partner went on much farther.
Saturday night consisted of dinner and listening to uncle Mike and aunt Dawn sing. Uncle Mike and aunt Dawn live in Colorado and Mike works on a ranch. He's a cowboy, but a very interesting one. Sunday morning we all gathered for a church service lead by Jess' dad and her uncle Dave. After lunch we found a park for the family to play games. First was the three legged race. I took third while Jess and her partner took first. After that was the water balloon toss. The young kids went first and then Jess and I teamed up for the adult competition. Sadly we did not win. After the competition was over there happened to be plenty of water balloons left. Thus a water balloon fight was declared. As I was still unarmed, the assault on Justin began. I out ran all but two balloons which did minor damage.
However, this was only round one. Little did Justin know there was another cooler of water balloons in another vehicle. One of the cousins whose name starts with an M and rhymes with "dark" assembled all the cousins to chase after Justin to welcome him to the family. Having already ran around for a few minutes the poor, and still unarmed Justin, continued to press on to save his dry life. Out running 20 of the 30 cousins is no easy feat and like all mortals Justin became tired. They soon caught up to him and realizing the inevitable Justin grabbed the nearest cousin to use him as a shield. This idea failed quickly but gave Justin enough time to recuperate while only sustaining minimal damage. Regaining strength Justin ran and doubled back the way he came avoiding most of the water balloons that came his way. His speed and agility was no match for the Nehrenz cousins.
After winning the water balloon war the valiant Justin then joined the kickball game. It was about to rain in 20 minutes, but the game still went for two innings. Each team was allowed to go through their whole batting order. When I came up to bat most of the other team did not know what was about to occur. They backed up a fair amount, but it was not far enough. The ball, a volleyball at that, went sailing into the parking lot over every one's head. My next at bat was even better. A tree marked the foul line on the right side. Everyone wised up and backed up even farther, some even to the parking lot. The ball was pitched and taking a few steps I made contact with the ball sending it curving around the tree over a few cars deep into the parking lot. As I rounded the bases I did a cartwheel on the way to home plate. It was a glorious game, and then it rained. We had won and I got my revenge for the water balloon massacre.
Sunday night we all crowded around a campfire and sang songs. Uncle Mike sang a few more of his songs for us, including one of his Reggae tunes which kept us all laughing. The conversations ended around 1:30 A.M. which is well past my bed time. Monday rolled around and we left at 11:00. We arrived at the ferry early so Jess and I spent our last remaining minutes together while the rest of the Matro clan went to eat dinner. Saying goodbye is always hard, but at least it is only for five weeks this time.
And that is my near death experience of meeting Jess' family. Oh, I must have left the near death part out. Is meeting 50 people all at one a near death experience? Probably not, but at least I remember them all!
