BroCo Twenty Ten

We had another fabulous trip to Brown County, Indiana -- it's a perfect midpoint from Chicago, Toledo, Louisville and Nashville for a reunion with my dear sorority sisters and their families. Eight adults, eight kids, one roof, lots of wine. We took turns making meals for the group, chased kids around the house, soaked in the hot tub daily and retold hilarious college memories until we could hardly keep our eyes open. Despite our weekly phone calls, there's nothing like being together: we met Makaio, Jamie and Eric's beautiful new baby boy, and hugged Tara for the first time since her recent brain surgery. The guys have become tight over the years. They played poker and sat around the fire pit every night -- we could hear bursts of laughter wafting in through the windows. One of my favorite moments was when all of the kids were wildly chasing bubbles in the front yard -- shrieking, rolling in the grass and giggling until Ella and Madeline's joy bubbled over and they peeled off their clothes.

One night in the hot tub, Erin, Tara, Jamie and I counted at least 20 trips we've made together between all the Kentucky Derbys, bridal showers, baby showers, weddings, Illini football games and Brown County reunions (and that's not even including the times one of us couldn't make it). We decided to send in a picture to our Delta Gamma alumni magazine (I'm on that, girls). Travel isn't easy with kids -- especially with Charlie's incessant car barfing and a dead battery in the portable DVD player -- but I wouldn't trade anything for the fun we have and the memories we create every year.