Nothing like family

Summer is a great time for vacations, travel and family gatherings. Our family reunion happens every other year in odd-numbered years, which means we are just returning from a wonderful time with our very own wonderful people.

Some years ago, we realized that, with family spread out from sea to shining sea, we would have to plan something formal. Otherwise, our only meetings would be at weddings and funerals. Not everyone can make it even to those. With that in mind, we began planning our first reunion.

Son John, who is in business and marketing, alerted us right away to the problem of calling it a reunion. "That sounds like a couple of maiden aunts sitting under a tree, sipping lemonade and gossiping. You need to call it something exciting, you know, like a rock festival, like a something-palooza." On that day, AylaPalooza was born. This past one was AP 8.

Forty-two of us met in a cozy lodge near Bear Lake, a beautiful, natural lake on the Utah-Idaho border. Our daughter, Rebecca, hosted and divided up meal prep so no one ended up stuck in the kitchen. We had the lake for fun, but also the local Raspberry Festival (yum!), ATV trail-riding in the hills, a few organized group games, and an impromptu family dance on our final evening. Mostly, we had each other.


At our first AylaPalooza 14 years ago, some of our group had doubts about how well it would work. For the second one, the doubts coalesced around the question, "Can it be that good again?" By the end of the third, AylaPalooza had become an established tradition. We already know the June dates and the place for AP 9 in 2021.

I love seeing the cousins playing together. I love it that when a baby cries (our youngest this year was ten months old), an aunt, uncle, or cousin is on the spot to lift, cuddle, and calm. I grin at the impromptu games that arise when a son starts quoting lines from old favorite family movies and a brother jumps in to one-up him. I love these people and our precious gatherings every two years are worth all the money, time and trouble they take. There's nothing like family.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 18 published novels. Her latest is SUNNY'S SUMMER, a romance set in the Sierra foothills near her northern California home in the aftermath of the devastating #CampFire. Watch for AMBER IN AUTUMN, coming in September. She lives with her husband of 49 years, Roger. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com, @SusanAylworth, susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com, or facebook.com/Susan.Aylworth.Author. Also on Pinterest and Instagram.

Nothing like Family!

By the time you see this, I will be on my way to a gathering of family. When we first conceived this particular gathering, our son, John, who has a better grasp on marketing than I, said, "If you call it a Family Reunion, that sounds like a bunch of old maiden aunts, sitting under a tree, drinking lemonade and gossiping." I had to give him props for that. His next suggestion? "You need a jazzy name, something that sounds like a rock festival, like . . . how about AylaPalooza?"

We now stage an AylaPalooza every two years with different family members hosting from one to the next. This year, our daughter, Rebecca, is the host of AylaPalooza 8. She and her husband, Jonathan, have found a resort lodge on the shores of Bear Lake in the northeast corner of Utah where we can all kick back, relax, and enjoy one another.

We will spend most of a week in the company of people we love. Since we'll be on the borders of two other states, we plan to visit caves in southern Idaho and a fossil dig in western Wyoming.

That's in addition to a day on the lake, family game night, a kids' talent show, posing for family pictures, and a variety of other silly, fun, share-the-love activities. This year I'm packing bubbles and beach toys for the little kids, puzzles for the slightly older ones, and a variety of nonsense photos to play 'Remember This?' with the teens and grown-ups.

The future of AylaPalooza will also be on the agenda. As the next generation grows up, will they want to take turns hosting? Will we recycle the hosting sequence we've run through once already? We will have plenty to talk about. Then, as we drive away at AP's end, my husband and I can look at one another and say, "We started all this!"

Past AylaPaloozas have seen us gathered on the shores of Lake Almanor in northern California and on the shores of the great Pacific in Baja. We've gathered in mid-summer and once, at Thanksgiving. The planning takes up plenty of time and there's expense involved for everyone, but the moment AP8 is over, we'll be planning for AP9. It's worth it. There's nothing like family.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 18 published novels. Her latest is SUNNY'S SUMMER, a romance set in the Sierra foothills near her northern California home in the aftermath of the devastating #CampFire. She lives with her husband of 49 years, Roger. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com, @SusanAylworth, susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com, or facebook.com/Susan.Aylworth.Author. Also on Pinterest and Instagram.