In-Lawin' It with the Booren's

Every two years, Meg's family--34 people now--meets in Oregon for a reunion. I don't have many pictures or videos yet, so check back later to see what might be new.

July 15, Wednesday

We arrived in Sherwood around noon, just in time to see the bounce house, super slide, and jousting arena being blown up. They also set up a slip-and-slide on the side of the house, which Aaron and Eddie both enjoyed. Near the end of the day, some of the older "boys" (myself included) began doing flips and somersaults down the slide. No one went over the side of the slide, but John and Paul both came pretty close; I just experienced lots of wedgies.

After dinner, many of headed across the street to Sunset Park (best city park ever?) to play kickball and soccer. Aaron tagged along with me and enjoyed both games, and Nichole was kind to bring and watch Eddie, although he spilled his little box of Nerds and wouldn't calm down until he led me to the spill site, where I helped him pick up every single Nerd we could find. I sprained my ankle (what's new) and was dripping sweat by the time we walked home, but this was probably the funnest activity of the reunion for me. Amazing how the things I like doing best are free or of little cost.

July 16, Thursday

After breakfast in Sherwood, we drove to Mt. Hood Ski Bowl to spend the day. I took Eddie and Aaron down the alpine slide about six times (Aaron rode solo, while Eddie and I doubled-up). It was a nice contrast of riding the slow and serene chairlift up the mountain, and then flying down the half-mile ride in two minutes. The Asay's escaped injury, although several others found themselves in the first aid tent being patched up.

The latter half of the day we spent at the other side of the park doing other things, like terrorizing the pitching machine for my complimentary 10 balls in the batting cages. I remember spending much of my time walking Ian around and resting in the shade once he fell asleep. I don't like hot days, but I got used to it after a while.

Once the park closed, we headed just down the road to our cabins in Government Camp. They were pretty swank and a lot bigger than I had expected--we actually had our own, large room for all of our family. Ian and Aaron make lots of noise when they sleep--and Aaron had an asthma attack(one of many during the reunion)--so Meg and I didn't sleep very well.

July 17, Friday

After breakfast and cleaning the cabins, we drove back into Portland and spent the rest of the day at Blue Lake Regional Park. We played soccer, tossed a frisbee around, played in the water feature thing, ate a ton of pork, shot bows and arrows, held a talent show, held an auction to raise money for the next reunion, and went home sweaty and tired.

July 18, Saturday
I woke semi-early in the morning to play golf with Skip, Phillip, Jared, John, and Paul at Sandelie in Wilsonville--the course where I played my first round of golf as an adult with roughly this same group (I first played golf with my friends at Cottonwood Lakes in Salem--which sadly no longer exists--when I was about 18). I expected to decline at running and basketball as I aged, but I thought I would get better with golf. Nope. I played probably the worst game in memory (not that I have played that many rounds to fill my memory--I play once or twice a year), but at least I had fun. But I feel kind of down because I didn't learn anything while looking for my balls.



After lunch we all drove to a nearby barn to take pictures. It was hot, there was little shade, and Edward and Aaron were the least happy of the bunch to be there. But I thought the rustic barn made for an interesting site. I'm not sure how our pictures turned out with the boys misbehaving.

That evening we played at Wilson Pool for two hours. The first hour was very crowded, but the last hour we had the pool reserved to ourselves. I took Ian for a long swim, which I enjoyed, but I wasn't sure what he thought of it. He doesn't show much emotion or personality yet, but at least he didn't cry or look terrified.

We drove home to our house in Salem to sleep in our own beds for the night, which was good for all of us.

July 19, Sunday
It was nice to sleep in our own beds, although Aaron had another asthma attack during the night and needed help. We attended church with the Booren's in Sherwood, had lunch together, and talked about very high-level plans for the reunion in 2011, where our numbers could very well be around 40.

July 20, Monday
I took today off because I knew I would need a day to get our normal lives back in order (unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.). What I didn't expect was for Meg to have to take Aaron to the doctor's office because he was having continual asthma attacks, despite Aaron taking his medication, and which in the past had always brought his breathing back to normal. Even though Aaron could barely breathe, he feared going to the doctor; maybe he thought he would have to spend a few nights at the hospital like last time. But after spending a few hours on a machine receiving oxygen and receiving a shot of steroids in the butt (courtesy of Jose Canseco), he came home very happy and full of energy.



It's been almost three years since his asthma attacked this hard, but I'm guessing it was just a perfect storm of circumstances--spending several days outside in the heat, being more physically active than usual, not taking his medicine on a regular schedule, his eczema kicking in, not sleeping enough at night, and having a slight cough--that led to his condition.