Mikkelsen Reunion

For three and a half fun-filled days we basked in the company of my dad's side of the family. It reminded me how much I like them, and how lucky I am to know, let alone be related to, such wonderful people. What: Mikkelsen Family Reunion

When: August 17-August 20

Where: Marin Headlands Nat'l Park in Sausalito, CA (about a 15 minute walk from the Golden Gate Bridge)

Why: For the purpose of reacquainting ourselves with the world's most golden of people.

All 60 or so of us stayed in a hostel minutes away from some neat old army batteries, the chilly beautiful beach with a bounty of nasty smelling creatures and shells, and the Point Bonita light house.

Michael and I ponder life on our walk to the lighthouse, with an ethereal Golden Gate Bridge behind us. The fog would cover it completely, then all at once it would materialize out of nowhere. (Interesting fact: My Grandpa Mikkelsen was one of the elite marching band members picked to play during the official opening of the GGB. He played the sax as he walked it's length joining the band in cheerful music.) My only regret was that we never got to run it (4 mi round trip) due to some excitement later on...

Will (aka Robin Hood--thank you, Grandma) got to walk to the lighthouse on Grandpa Mikkelsen's shoulders. He'd never been so tall! I like this next picture.

My sistas and me chillin' with Mom (next to me), Grandma Margot (in a fairy crown the little girls made for her), and my sweet cousin, Susan (behind me). If I look a little dazed it was because Susan had just given me one of the best back rubs I've ever had.

Clara Margaret, our little flower fairy, again, thanks to Grandma. All the little girls made fairy wings and crowns, all the boys made either bat/dragon wings or Robin Hood hats. Then later in the evening they had a dance, accompanied by my ever talented Papa. In this performance the flower fairies are dancing when suddenly their dance is interrupted by the mean bats and dragons trying to eat them. Just when all is nearly lost Robin Hood (supposedly) comes to save them! Unfortunately, Will was the only Robin Hood and he'd just been sent to his room for throwing a tantrum. So in the end the flower fairies all died, which was nearly as much fun for them as escaping.

We must have been in San Francisco. Get a load of this sign we saw near the entrance of the Muir Wood National Monument? Here's Jacob, taking full advantage of his opportunity. If any of you kids have something to say there's your chance!

Robin Hood, minus the hat, plus the cape, feeling the true spirit of the place. His little wing span was so minescule compared to the girth of this huge coastal sequoia. What an enchanted place.

An impressive banana slug we saw. Beppy, do you remember using one of these as a chew toy when you were but a baern? The kisses have been slimy ever since... And no family reunion is complete without the token injury. Below is the culprit.

And here is the victim. Poor Jake! Midnight games of capture the flag are not without their dangers. The boy had the flag and was making his last wild dash for the border when he tripped over this sewer access, and that was the end of that. Two people threw up at the sight of his knee. Because we had neglected to bring our first aid kit that had the sutures in it (something that both Michael and I had thought of, but didn't heed the thought) we got to spend most of the night in the emergency room where I got a nice look at Jake's knee cap and the subsequent sewing.

But! we were undaunted! We kept our chins up through the last day which brought us: Isaac's fever and 5 episodes of vomitting (3 of which in the car during our 8 hour drive home); Michael's cell phone getting destroyed; blow-outs; coming home to learn that our neighbor had accidently hit Michael's truck--badly; a mutiny in Michael's office (I feel for ANYONE who owns their own business); and to top it off, the painter painted the front door the wrong color!

But, this is all just stuff and generally fixable and it didn't diminish the wonderful time we had at all. As I said at the beginning, what a blessing it is to have good happy people all around me. What an honor to be related to such decent and interesting people as the Mikkelsens.