Food and Fun and Way Too Much Sun

Four summers ago shortly after the birth of my youngest, somebody in my husband's clan got the wonderful idea to get everyone together at the family lake house in Oklahoma ... all on the same weekend. They obviously didn't think through the ramifications of inviting THIS branch of the Potter Family Tree, what with our THREE children under the age of FOUR. It was a dreadful pain to pack up two toddlers and a newborn and all the accessories that go therewith (pack-n-play, diaper bags, portable swing, etc.), but when it was all said and done, everyone had a great time - and here's the amazing part - THEY INVITED US BACK FOR THE NEXT SUMMER!!

Here we are four years later (WITH NO INFANTS!!!) continuing the tradition, and I have to tell you, it just gets to be more fun every year. There are no "in-laws" at these weekend food-and-water fests ... everybody's just family.

Each year, the ladies of the family commemorate the weekend in a unique way. One year it was with pink light-up flip flops. The next year it was pink sunglasses. This year we all had matching pink T-shirts sporting our new logo: "The Potter Perfect Pontoon Party Weekend." Cute, huh?

A few highlights for your viewing enjoyment:








I only wish that I'd gotten pictures of the massive spread of food, because the amazing potluck is such an integral part of our fun. We really only eat one meal while we're there. It starts on Friday afternoon and doesn't end until the last person leaves. No one is allowed to talk about dieting, carbs, calories, fat grams or anything else related to health and nutrition.

You're starting to understand why we only do this once a year, right?