"Pham"ily Time

When I was younger (say, middle school) I remember two girls making fun of my last name. They would joke about "Pham"ily as in "family." Well, it didn't bother me so much back then. And now, it definitely doesn't bother me in the least. Actually, I find it rather amusing and maybe even a bit proud. As I grow older (and hopefully, more mature), I have become even more appreciative and grateful for my family. And I have definitely been reminded of how wonderful our family is today as well these last few days with Nhat and his family visiting with all the "Pham"ily time we have been having.

James and I joke about how much bigger my family is than his side. Papa is one of nine kids while Ngoai is one of five. I have over twenty first cousins on my dad's side and nine on my mom's. And on Daddy's side, Granddad is an only child and Nonna has one sister, Auntie Eilleen. James has just two first cousins. So, sometimes, when my family gets together, we can definitely get kind of loud and crazy and silly. Kind of like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", but Asian style. We no doubt had some of that tonight!

But first, this morning, we drove down to Galveston with Uncle Anh Tuan to spend the day with Uncle Nhat and the gang to hang out and have some fun in the sun. After we arrived, we headed down to the beach. Andrew and the girls played in the sand making sand castles. We bought some cars for Andrew and he and Uncle Anh Tuan made a huge sand mountain to drive the cars up and down on.

Later, Andrew got into the water. This time, though, he wanted to jump the waves by himself without us holding him. I have to admit I was pretty nervous about it worrying about him not being able to time the waves right or swallow too much water. I was also nervous about him not being about to gauge the force of the waves too. But all in all, he did pretty well and didn't swallow too much water.

After lots of more playing, we packed up our things, grabbed some lunch at Sonic, and headed back to the condo. After we ate and rested for a bit, we headed down to the pool there at the condo. Andrew chose to hang out in the jacuzzi (no heat and no bubbles). I think he likes being able to walk around. He spent most of the time diving back and forth to Daddy and Mommy.

Later, we all headed back to League City for dinner at Papa's and Ngoai's house. Andrew conked out in the car as well as Daddy and Uncle. While the boys stayed home to sleep, I took Jackie to Joann's for more shopping.

We had a very nice family dinner. Ngoai made some bun bo and goi, which were so delicious. We were so full!! We spent lots of time looking at old photographs, especially ones from Vietnam and then ones back when Uncle Minh, Nhat, and Duc lived with us. Oh, we laughed so hard looking at the pictures and telling old stories!

Also, Aunt Jackie had bought Andrew some foam stickers of vehicles and foam airplanes, which Andrew played with while we were catching up. Andrew ended up with stickers on his face for sideburns and goatee thanks to Daddy and Uncle Anh Tuan. He was laughing at himself and it was contagious.

It was really really late and past Andrew's bed time. We had already planned on spending the night in League City so we could hang with Nhat tomorrow too. So, we took Andrew into Papa's and Ngoai's room because he said he wanted to sleep with them instead of us. No love!! It took him such a long time to fall asleep. He was totally fighting it and kept saying "wait" for Papa.

James and I had thought about going on a date after he went to bed, but the punk took too long to fall asleep that he ruined any chance of that. Ha! Go figure!! It's like he knows or something. Anyway, it was such an awesome night--date or no date. I love quality "Pham"ily time like this. I am glad that Andrew is getting some exposure to how big and crazy my side of the family can be. I love that he has been able to spend time with all of my cousins and their kids. It was a really awesome day!