Labor Day at the Dixie Stampede

Last night my family and I ate dinner while watching Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. It was like being in bizarro world. I really didn't know what I was getting into before I went...Imagine live buffaloes running through orange fog, over thirty horses, a girl dangling from mid-air , pig races, ostrich races, toilet seat horseshoes, a magic show-comedy act, and a North vs. South rivalry (with the South winning, of course), not to mention a Dolly Parton patriotic ending where North and South unite in a sea of American flags. As a "Northerner" I was quite amazed by this southern style romp, and find it amusing that the South still stages their own win over the North. We were rooting for the north. Good times. Good times.

We are staying at Sands Beach Club condos, and aside from he occasional family dysfunction (I had a meltdown Saturday night after regressing), some l.b.s. and a spotty sunburn where part of my skin is pasty white while other areas are red, all is well here. It's quite nice to be on the white sandy beach away from work and other distractions. We don't have a computer here, but I borrowed my brother's laptop for a few minutes and am hanging out in the lobby for access. It'll probably be the only time I'll log on.

My nephew, Elliott, and I are sleeping in the same room, and he's quite taken to me. He thinks I'm mama. Even when the real mama, my sister, Rachel, appears, he'll still cling to me and tuckle his little head in the crevice of my arm and shoulder. He may be a trader, but I think it's adorable. Since I'll soon be back in Taipei and won't get to see the little guy for many months, it's about as sweet as it gets. More photos to follow in a few days.

So that's about it from here. It' a real family vacation, with my sister, brother, dad and two nephews. It's not perfect. Sometimes we argue. We get worn out. We crash. Sometimes we cry. But we also hug. We laugh. A lot. We go to bed early. We cook. We hang out at the beach. We make sandcastles. We make strong coffee for each other. We watch cheesy TV shows. We bond over Scooby Doo Pirates Ahoy. We swim together. We lounge. We burn. But we're together. We try. We do our best. We're family. We're imperfect. What can I say? It's in the genes.