Summer Vacation Part 1- The Boucher Family Reunion

This summer Pat and I took a real summer vacation; it was awesome. So awesome that it deserves two blog posts. To begin our travels, we headed to Saint Francois, New Brunswick in order to attend the 'Boucher Family Reunion' with my parents....

Pat and flew to Connecticut, where my parents picked us up and drove us 6 hours north to Bangor, Maine. We saw the sights and spent the night in order to rest up for our upcoming day of travel. The next day, we woke to travel 5 more hours on the Trans Canadian Highway up to Saint Francois. Upon arriving in Saint Francois, we headed to my aunt and uncles' house on Baker Lake, where we were greeting with family, food, and bevies. It was a great way to start the reunion weekend, as it had been quite awhile since I have spent any sort of time with my aunts, uncles, or cousins.

The next day, the official 'Boucher Family Reunion' three day event began in my dad's hometown... right down the street from the house he grew up in. There were over one hundred family members in attendance, including several of my father's aunts and cousins. Some family members that he had not seen since he had left Canada at age 16. Many family members were those that he grew up with and attended school with in the tiny town of Saint Francois. While old memories were shared, new memories were made as well. It was quite the experience... and I must note some of the events/happenings:

• Cousins, cousins, cousins
• Songs- each family was required to perform a song (Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini was ours, and it was amazing)
• Cribbage tournament- we drew for partners and played each other, a great way to get the different families to mix
• Dancing
• Drinking
• The Boucher Book- one of my dad's cousins put together a genealogy book, which included stories and photos (a wonderful way to keep everyone organized)
• Bugs- biting flies and mosquitos
• Dad as the Devil- my dad was the devil in his 3rd grade passion play, his cousin was Jesus.... apparently, my dad had an amazing performance

Pat and I were impressed with the organization of the event, and must thank the committee for all of their hard work. We were also in love with the bed in breakfast, and certainly must show appreciation to my uncle for discovering it and having us stay all together. Of course, I have a crazy amount of photos and I must include them (in no particular order).

Part 2 to follow- The Coast of Maine!