Sanchez Soiree 2012

If you look up the meaning of soiree in the dictionary it says, "a party or reception held in the evening." Our family stretches that meaning a bit to mean a party or get together that last for a weekend. Each summer Steve and I, our three daughters and their families get together for a special weekend of fun and laughter that we refer to as, THE SANCHEZ SOIREE. We try to plan an interesting venue that offers fun for all ages (ranging from 2years old to older than I want to admit). This year our Soiree took place in Missouri. We divided our time between sight seeing at the Gateway Arch of St Louis,playing at the City Museum, also in St Louis and spending time at Tana, Nic and Cohen's house in Columbia. It was a fun and exciting time, at times more exciting than we would have liked. We lost 3year old Henry for nearly 15 minutes in the City Museum. Now the City Museum is a very unique place. It is a 14 story building with tunnels, slides, climbing tubes, hide-outs and an outdoor section. Henry was with Papa crawling through one of the tunnels when he slipped into a part where adults didn't fit and wouldn't return when called. By the time we found his older brother and sent him in after him, Henry was off on a new adventure, who knew where. We had every employee in the museum on the look out for the little boy wearing the shirt that had a name tag printed on it that read, "My Name is Trouble." How appropriate was that? His older brother found him three floors down playing on a large stone fish. When my daughter told one of the workers that we had located him, the worker started to give her a lecture about keeping track of your children but she couldn't stay to listen because Henry ran off again and she had to chase him. She made a special bracelet for him with my her phone number on it in case he was lost again and as the worker tied it onto his wrist he asked Henry, "Were you really scared when you lost your mom?" Henry gave him a look somewhere between disgust and annoyance and replied in a firm voice, "NO!" Henry tried to get away two more times before we left a couple hour later but we got better at catching him. We traveled on to Tana and Nic's and watched the four grandchildren play in the yard and in the house and were amazed at how an eleven year old boy can entertain a two year old and two three-year-olds without multiple quarrels and fights. Cohen was so excited to have a "sleep-over" with his cousin Henry and was a little disappointed when Henry said he wanted to sleep with his mom on the air mattress instead of in Cohen's little tent. Cohen tried to make the best of it an crawled into the tent alone but soon retreated up to mom and Dad's room. By morning Marley and the three boys were rested and ready to start playing again. They were disappointed when we explained the Indiana Sanchezes would have to leave and return home. As the boys hugged good-bye at the door Henry told Cohen, "You can come to my house for a sleep over next time." And "Next time" will be here before you know it. Thanksgiving is only 19days away and although we won't celebrate until that Saturday, so Tana and Nic can celebrate with his family in northern Indiana, in a blink of an eye we will all be together again making memories and watching as the next generation brightens our world with their energy, antics, love and Laughter.