Eleven people is a party

Four generations of my family were under one roof for a week in Barbados, and what a week it was!  In case you are wondering, hosting so many people all at once was at least half our idea.  Whether you think this is cool or crazy says a lot about how you grew up... that's all I'm sayin'.  Our home has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, so we had to get creative in how to best fit everyone.  With a bit of room-sharing and a bit of bed-borrowing, everyone had a comfortable place to sleep all week.  We cooked a lot, because that's what you do when a whole bunch of Indian people get together, especially when they're mostly vegetarian and on an island where the diet consists heavily of chicken and fish.  Would it shock you if I said we ran the dishwasher 2-3 times per day, and still had to wash a whole lot of dishes by hand?  That we took out the trash 1-2 times per day and not due to using paper plates (which we hardly did).  That's what feeding 11 people 2-4 times per day looks like.  Don't let me fool you into believing I did all that cooking and cleaning!  We all helped in all kinds of ways to keep the kitchen running while also allowing our visitors to feel like they were somewhat on vacation.  Now that I've covered the mechanics of eating and sleeping (rest assured the bathroom exchanges worked themselves out and I don't feel the need to discuss them here), let's talk about how much fun we had. 

We rented a van, and one day, had a blast driving all around the island in two vehicles, making stops as necessary, enjoying viewpoints, taking pictures, and having a roadside-beachfront picnic between rain showers.  We loved sitting on our back patio, drinking our respective morning (or happy hour) beverages,  enjoying the nice view, while S ran around playing with any and all family members he could engage at that particular time.  Going on a catamaran cruise is my favorite activity in B'dos, no doubt about it.  Going on a catamaran cruise with 10 family members is a memory for a lifetime!  We went to beaches, out to eat, to Mount Gay Rum's Visitor Center, a few of us went to Flower Forest, a couple of them went scuba diving, and we made sure they saw and experienced the best of what Barbados has to offer. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you what a wonderful time S had and how he was showered with love, attention, and camera-clicks the whole entire week.  He would start his day by making sure the whole household was up when he was so he had his choice of playmates!  He only managed to nap when exhausted and in a car seat; otherwise, he was wide awake to take it all in.  We celebrated his 2nd birthday during the family visit, and it felt like a week-long event, not just a day.  The heading of this blog post comes from my thoughts about whether to throw S a birthday party... when I learned that 11 of us would be together for his birthday, I said "eleven people IS a party" and put aside all thoughts of hosting an event any larger.  Can you tell it was perfect, just the way it was?!  The week was busy, chaotic, and hard work, and yet even a month later, I still smile when I think about it.