Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Perfect Weekend

I went to the Bay Area last weekend for a surprise 50th birthday party for my uncle (my mom's cousin), and it was the by far the best weekend this year.

My aunt rented a house close to the beach on Half Moon Bay (about 30 minutes from SFO airport), and got food catered for the surprise party on Saturday.

My parents, sister and I got in on Friday night, and the different arrivals of family members throughout the weekend kept the surprises coming for my uncle. A lot of the people were already there, but my cousin from New York came in on Saturday afternoon, and my sister's fiance came in on Sunday morning just for the day!

I'm not sure if it was because we were on the beach, or because we were in a rented house, but everyone was in a really good and relaxed mood for the entire weekend.

Oddly enough, we didn't even do that much. On Saturday, after the party, we went down to the beach to watch the sunset, and my grandaunt (my uncle's mother) gave gifts out to all the women in the family. On Sunday morning, we went to pick up my sister's fiance and later went to a 4th of July parade (complete with a "Down with Big Banks, Credit Unions rock!" float - only in Cali).

The trip reminded me a lot of the cruise my family went on a couple of years ago. Although we didn't do a whole lot, everyone was in a great mood and that made the trip really memorable (even though there's not a whole lot to remember ;)). I think it also helps a lot when it's neutral territory so it's a vacation for everyone.