bereft [bi-'reft]
to leave desolate or alone, especially by death; deprived of something; lacking something needed or expected
Synonyms include: bereaved, cut off, deprived, devoid, abandoned

Bereft...I get that feeling every two years, after every Bautista family reunion. My family and I, who come from all over the place, saturate our 4-5 days together with as much bonding as we can get...and then it's SEE YOU LATER all over again. This year we celebrated up in Vallejo, CA from June 30-July 5th. I think that's the longest I've ever celebrated a reunion (except for when I was in Maumee, OH for a week. But that was to hang out with Chrissy & Melissa, my cousins). Anyhow, it was one funfilled and memorable (well, maybe except for Ben. hahaha! JK pinsan!) series of events.

On July 1st, we spent the day at the park, eating, playing games and just having a grand time catching up with everyone. Aside from the t-shirts that we had made, we each got a name tag to wear all day. I swear my family cracks me up. And each sub family got assigned a color to wear for the day too. My parents, Tin and I got assigned orange. At first we were like, what the heck. But it worked out and we looked just fine. Man, my family rolls deep huh! And this group picture is even missing like 10-15 people!We were at the park from 11:00 am-7:00 pm, where we all suffered sunburn, creating tanlines that we fondly call our "pinsan ("cousin" in Tagalog) tans." All of us have these terrible lines on our arms, and I've got a box around my neck because of the neckline of the shirt I wore. Geez!

We spent that evening in one of our rooms, and had In-N-Out for dinner. My cousins from the east coast LOVE their In-N-Out and Del Taco. Sadly, there was so Del Taco nearby. Our nieces and nephews kept us pretty occupied the entire time we were there. My niece Sabrina (above) is a 24/7 smiler! I swear, the coldest-hearted person would melt if they saw this little girl. The next day, Sunday, after mass, a buffet brunch and a few hours at the mall across the street from the hotel, we had our dinner dance at the ballroom of the hotel. We did some eating, some dancing (TRIED to remember the Todo-Todo but lost it! Booo!), lots of laughing and more catching up. See that crowd up there? Oh man, it was INSANITY! The next day, despite not getting to bed until 3:30 am, we got up early for the San Francisco tour. We took up a whole tourbus, complete with a tour guide who gave us SF tidbits as he drove us up and down the city's hills. We stopped at Twin Peaks (where it was foggy as hell so all our pictures have this gray backdrop! hahaha!), this part of Golden Gate Park where there is a windmill and BEAUTIFUL garden, the Golden Gate bridge, and our last stop was Fisherman's Wharf where we got to walk around a little bit after a hearty bowl of clam chowder in a breadbowl from Boudin Bakery. Mmmmm! After the tour, we all had a quick rest and then it was off to this retaurant/ karaoke place, where we, again, took up the whole space! That's my dad there with his buddies (my kuyas and Uncle Eric). My dad loves his karaoke! And though I like to sing a tune here and there, I am TERRIFIED of singing in front of crowds, but Ben got me to do a duet with him. It was hilarious because I hid behind that big tv and when I started to sing, my whole family was like, "Who is that? Where is that coming from?!" That was a one-time deal family! Hahaha!
The next day, 4th of July, we opted to hang out instead of trying to drive to the city. In an effort to lose the "pinsan tan," we thought we'd go swimming to try to even out. We weren't planning to stay long, but then my niece, Bianca and my nephew, Roman, came down and we played in the pool for like 2 more hours. We were all such SUCKERS for them, I tell you!
And then, just like that, it was time to leave again. I hate saying good-bye. I have so much fun when I'm around my family, especially my cousins who, despite the distance, I feel I grew up with via email, cards and phonecalls. I must say, though, that this time around, it wasn't as hard for us as the previous farewells were. Maybe we're getting used to it...or maybe it's because we know that good-byes really mean "until next time."

See you all in Vegas in 2008!!!