Last weekend our family gathered at a local park for a picnic.

The occasion was the visit of my sister’s oldest daughter and granddaughter from Florida.

It was terribly hot that day, the temperature was well into the 90’s. We picked a shady area and tried to stay as cool as possible.

A watermelon pinata, purchased at Target, kinda gave us a theme, and a fun activity later for the kids.

Loved the cute, whimsy watermelon tablecloths, plates and napkins!  So festive!

The yummies were fried chicken, baked beans, fruit salad, and my brother-in-law’s famous mac and cheese.

I made a banner with family photos, tied around a large tree in the picnic area, our “family tree”!

There were many very old photos, and more recent ones, I wanted to include everyone!

My niece loved it!

Later, I gave her a small box to hold the photos, along with a note, as a keepsake of our gathering to take back to Florida.

We played games, of course.

Stenciled letters on cardstock and we played a version of “Bananagram” in the grass.

A hula hoop contest…

I remember the day when we all could “hula hoop”, not anymore!

We gave out simple gifts to our winners, wrapped in colorful tissue paper, tied with twine.

Made some silly tags to highlight which gifts were for men, women, or kids.

The pinata was filled with treats, a fun time for the kids.

Love those wonderful smiles on those beautiful faces!

I would like to end this post by saying a bit about families.

None of us are perfect, no family is perfect.  I think that is something we all should remember.

Ours has so much drama at times, and there are times when forgiveness is hard, but oh my gosh, how we all love each other.

We were all together for love, sharing our time together, to be with each other, making a wonderful memory!

I am so very emotional writing of my family, they, each and every one of them, mean the world to me!

Gather.

Love the imperfections of your family.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.