I lost my... ahem... bra in West Virginia

We just got home from Oglebay Park in Wheeling, West Virginia where we attended Scouter's family reunion.

Oglebay is beautiful. There are three 18 hole championship golf courses, a par 3, putt putt, swimming pools, paddle boats, riding stables, gardens, and I'm sure lots of other things that we didn't have time to experience.

There was also Scouter's immediate family sharing one very rustic cabin. Eleven adults, six kids. No dishwasher or garbage disposal. Very rudimentary cooking tools. No washer or dryer. Six bedrooms, three bathrooms. Scouter, Taz, Rainbow and I shared a room with two double beds.

One night, I dreamed that I was being attacked by a gang, thrown on the ground, and beaten. Then I woke up with Rainbow's finger in my eye and her foot on my jaw.

I'm soooo not exaggerating.

Cabin life was as fun as it sounds, with the added pleasure of a nine month old baby and his psycho schedule freak mom (Scouter's sister) who went crazy and yelled at anyone who dared breathe in the cabin after 7:30 p.m. when she put the baby to bed. She said we were the most inconsiderate people she had ever met. Then one of her other brothers loudly proclaimed that she was the biggest bitch he'd ever met.

Ironically, she is the only one who ever woke the baby - by slamming her bedroom door to make a point to the rest of us.

Plus a 14 month old with a fever.

Good times.

On the plus side, there were four more cabins filled with aunts, uncles and cousins who are (mostly) super cool. I first met Scouter's relatives 20 years ago when we started dating and it is great to see that all the cute little kids have grown into fun adults. His cousin Natalie was four when I met her - she was my favorite then and she is still my favorite today. Every time I see her (which is once every two years at most) we talk about how much we adored each other back then and still do today. We become more affectionate as we add more and more alcohol to the conversation. By the end of the night, we aren't pretty.

Scouter has a huge contingency of cousins from Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana whom I've never really spent much time with - until this week. Others are from Tennesee and Georgia. They are so much fun! We made big plans for road trips that I feel fairly certain will never actually happen.

Last Sunday, we had a big cookout with all the relatives. There were literally over 100 of us in attendance. Okay I really don't know... but it sure seemed like 100 or more. We got there at 11 a.m. and left at 11 p.m. - lunch, a lunch re-heat that we called dinner, a cornholio tournament and many cocktails.

I have no recollection of Monday. I have vague memories of the driving range and the stables.

It took a lot of wine to get through the week.

Tuesday, the family had a golf tournament. Scouter, Taz, two of Scouter's brothers and one of our nephews were on a team. They were defending champions and came in second this year.

Mid-morning, I got a call from one of Scouter's brothers asking (begging even) me to come up and help the beer-cousin drive the refreshment cart. She was going solo and apparently the boredom factor was high. She said she was leaving when we got there but ended up hanging with us. So Rainbow had her first experience delivering beers from a golf cart. She got ice cream and soda; we had some cocktails. I was ready for bed at 4 p.m.!

Wednesday, Scouter's cousin Michael arranged a couples' golf scramble. I haven't golfed in about 10 years so I was a little nervous, but we were paired with a cousin who had never golfed. The guys carried the team! I used to think that the women's tees were a totally chauvinistic idea; now they can't give me enough of an advantage. We hit from the golds and actually used some of my drives. Now I have a huge golf bug and can't wait to play again!

Thursday, we played the Par 3 and I totally stunk up the joint. Apparently I need a tee for every shot. Interestingly, the par 3 course is under the ski lifts so as you may imagine the front 9 was pretty easy downhills while the back 9 was a tough upward climb. Then the kids and I went to one of the pools with a giant water slide in the afternoon - tons of fun. My calves burned from all the uphill climbing.

I should mention that I impressed the masses by running on Tuesday morning (maybe Monday? It's all so fuzzy...) GD it is hilly in West Virginia.

We left late Thursday night (~ 9:30 p.m.) and drove through the night to get home. It was great for the kids and me as we slept most of the time but it had to totally suck for poor Scouter. We got here just before 4 a.m. I tried to wake myself up enough to drive but just couldn't do it.

Oh - and I really did lose my bra. It's not a very interesting story - Rainbow and I went from the horse stables to meet Taz and lots of cousins at the pool. We changed in the bathroom, then I swear I rolled my bra up in my clothes with all of our stuff... but later I couldn't find it anywhere. We went back to the pool and retraced our steps to no avail. I had to wear a sports bra for the last two days, which Rainbow found hysterically funny. Every time we were in a crowd, she kept asking me loudly why I was wearing a sports bra instead of a regular bra.

Oh yes my friends. Good times.