The Wheeler Family Reunion 2011

 The 17th Wheeler Family Reunion

July 29 - 31, 2011

Wheeler cabin, sawmill, ranch, Pinon Cove, Grandpa’s place

Greeted by a “BELL OUT OF ORDER, PLEASE KNOCK” sign and the ugly remains of a witch who got squashed by the cabin, all the Young in Heart came together for the latest Wheeler Family Reunion.

The weekend began with dinner from Kaye and the flying monkeys: ham from Uncle Henry’s pigs, corn on the cob from the Scarecrow’s cornfield (he never could keep the crows away), Tinman Hearts of Romaine salad with Poppyseed dressing, twisted taters, green melted witch punch and for dessert - crullers - “here, can’t work on an empty stomach, have some crullers” - Aunt Em.

We gathered Friday night, visited, hugged and played games - Chinese checkers and nertz, of course. That evening we got a visit from Josh Wheeler and bride-to-be Kensie Brown who stopped on their way to Washington. It was a quick visit but at least we all got to give our nod of approval (which Josh needed, of course) to his choice of companion. We also had to warn Kensie of the craziness she was marrying in to, but it was too late - she was already clued in. Big time.

Saturday morning Paul and the beautiful people of Emerald City created Emerald’s Diner for breakfast - cubes of lovely green jeweled melon, scrambled monkey brains, Toto doggie treat sausages, the most delicious poppy field yummy bread ever and liquid courage. It started off a memorable day.

The Astlings arrived and many wanted to hear Lisa’s story of her harrowing four-wheeler accident a few weeks before. As Lisa told the details of her accident and the many amazing miracles that came into play for her rescue, tears flowed and a huge group hug entailed. We are happy she wasn’t hurt worse than she was and that the little girls Jara and Tessa, weren’t hurt much at all. And we’re glad Jed has superhuman strength and came to her rescue!

Then it was off for Oz-related games and fun!

Kathy and Paul mixed up the group in an “Over the Rainbow” color game where the color blue was yelled out a lot so the Mead girls could chase Devin and the Astling boys.

Kaye had an Oz competition where teams had to build a scarecrow, throw Over the Rainbow colored balls into tubs, put an Oz puzzle together, and dress a good witch (Sabryna) and a bad witch (Julia) and carry them to their thrones. The winners got Smarties for having the brains of the Scarecrow and the runners-up received Sour patch candies for having the courage of the Lion.

Grandma provided midday snacks of ‘Dorothy’s red chews’ (licorice), monkey eyeballs (grapes), a yellow brick road (cheese and crackers) with haunted forest greenery (broccoli and peas), and yellow brick road mix (trail mix).

 









Grandma’s Over the Rainbow fishing pond was a hit several times with kids and adults fishing for fluffy purses, eyeball glasses, whirly bird sky toys, punch balls and more.

During the weekend we had Steph and Dell’s puppies at the cabin, lizards galore and even a rattlesnake Riley caught and showed to the interested yet cautious masses. Puppies, lizards and rattlesnakes, OH MY!

 














Since several birthdays were taking place during the reunion a lovely hot air balloon cake was made and presented to DJ and Julia, complete with the birthday song and a BIG surprise - a silly string salute to celebrate birthdays but also to initiate Ju into the family. Bwa ha ha.

DJ was also begging to get a little bit wet so Jan obliged. It didn’t start the humongous water fight of years past, thank goodness, just got DJ a bit soggy.

 












There was an Oz coloring contest where participants could choose to color Dorothy, her sidekicks or the Wicked Witch of the West. As usual there were strange entries (the lion with nun chucks) but in the end Emma’s picture of the Tinman finally finding true love beat out all the rest. She received a large Lollipop Kid giant lollipop.

Brandy gave grandma a lovely pedicure and Ju had fun painting glittery pictures on anyone who wanted one.

Riley, Jason and Dell worked to fix the front porch rock which was teetering a bit and Riley and Mark fixed two beds upstairs that only people grandpa Poulson's height could use because of the foot boards. Now the beds are higher and tall folks can sleep in them!

A few gunslingers headed over to the woodshed to show off some shooting skills. They all did so well everyone returned.

During the afternoon groups of family members gathered in areas around the cabin and yard to color, catch up, share stories, watch twins Chase and Chloe roll around, throw colored balls, run through the sprinklers and enjoy each other’s company. While there’s tons of fun at a Wheeler Family Reunion it’s these precious moments where we get to reconnect that are most treasured.

Brett and the Winkie guards fixed a delicious meal for dinner.  If we had known exactly what we were eating we might have stolen Emma’s sucker. We had lion balls with witch’s hair (spaghetti and meatballs), scarecrow salad, Winkie soldier sweat, yellow bricks, Munchkin turds (really quite tasty), Flying Monkey dandruff (I think it was Brett’s actually), and Tinman oil.

The Wheeler Reunion skits were memorable for the strange twists each group gave to how the Wizard of Oz might have turned out if the Wheeler family had skewed the original script. With light showers and darkness looming outside the skits were held in the dining area after a bit of furniture relocation.

Kaye and the flying monkeys produced a rap worthy of signing to Atlantic records with a 30-line synchronized, hip-hop version of the whole movie. The flying monkeys were almost as frightening as the real ones but a little bored with the whole thing, wanting, in the end, dinner, a new shirt and to just go play nertz.

The Paul Wheeler family’s version had an evil Tinman trying to chop Dorothy in half at the sawmill because he was jealous she would miss Scarecrow more than him and he should have asked for social etiquette instead of a heart which made him feel jealousy and rage! Dorothy, luckily, was able to get back home before she lost her head.

 

The Brett Wheeler bunch had a group therapy session where Auntie Em tried to get to the bottom of each person’s character flaws. There was a bare-chested Tinman hitting on Glinda, a large rear-ended Wicked Witch, a Wizard with a lantern growth, a funky scarecrow, a bored Dorothy and more. 

 













The Gray/Mead families provided an entertaining fashion show with Mr. Jorge (Hor-hay) describing each lovely Wizard of Oz fashion piece including a dramatic lion, a Wal-Mart greeter Glinda, an errant goose, a teen Dorothy and other Oz characters taking the runway to strut their lovely Oz fashions.

Between acts a few Wizard of Odds troupe members provided entertainment.

Marc and Ju performed an interpretive dance number to Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and Marc and DJ leg wrestled. I’m pretty sure DJ’s strength had melted earlier in the day when Jan got him wet so Marc was declared the winner.

 













The grand finale was, of course, grandma Wheeler and her moral to the story. Dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West grandma introduced us to several animals who helped Dorothy find her way home to her auntie Em - first, a repeating toucan who hollered “Auntie Em, Auntie Em,” a flying monkey who wanted to screech rather than fly and finally a not-so-cowaradly lion who Aweem-o-wayed his way into our hearts. These friends helped Dorothy find her way home. The moral to grandma’s story was that her home is always open to all her family. To help drive that point home she sang a beautiful song called “Always” which, thanks to Marc and Brett, can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTkSRw72ROk

I'll be loving you, oh always
With a love that's true always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand Always.

Always.

Days may not be fair always,
That's when I'll be there always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But always.

No matter where we roam, grandma will love us, always.

Brett had a surprise award for Kaye, pointing out her brains, heart and courage for creating such a memorable Oz-filled reunion. The award - a yellow brick with “One brick short” written on it. Such a nice reflection on himself for Kaye to remember. 





The last activity of the night, before a final game of nertz, was an Oz trivia family feud contest, provided by the Mead/Gray families. Wheeler family members were pitted against each other in a duel of Oz wits. A sample question was “How did they make the horse change colors?” Only true Oz aficionados know the answer to that one! And of course, Kaye won.

Breakfast Sunday was by Jan and the munchkins: We had a yellow brick road made of Twinkies, Wicked Witch of the East eyeballs, heart of the Tinman, Courageous Lion pieces, straw chunks from the Scarecrow, Home Sweet Home juice and Witch’s earwax. Or Brett’s - couldn’t tell.

Those who stayed to the very end got to beat the crap out of Toto. Or a piñata that looked a lot like Toto. That was the final event before we all packed up into our individual hot air balloons and broomsticks and flew back over the Oz landscape to everywhere west, south and north of Kansas because as we all know, THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

Before flying off everyone pitched in to help clean the cabin from top to bottom which was very appreciated. Many hands make light work!

A roster of family members who were at the reunion for either a short time or from beginning to end: Brett, Gayle, Emma, DJ, Anissa, Ethan, Addison, Austin, Marc, Julia and Josh Wheeler and Kensie Brown; Paul and Kathy Wheeler, Mark, Lisa, Spencer, DJ and James Astling; Loni, Devin, Tessa, Chase and Chloe Watson; Jan and McKade Gray, Teighlor Hart, Dell, Stephnie, Sabryna, Mychigan, Daisy, Ryver and Sawyer Mead; Riley, Kaye, Jason and Brandy Nelson and grandma Sherry Wheeler.

The next Wheeler Family Reunion will most likely be July 26-28, 2013. Who will be in charge? We’ll have to look into the witch’s crystal ball to see … better be ready … it might be YOU!

See my facebook page for many more reunion pictures!!