Yesterday was my cousin's wedding. She had an outdoor wedding so we were so lucky that the rain decided to pass over us in time for everything to dry out. It was a little hot at first, but as the sun started to set and a breeze blew across the water...it was a nice evening.

The wedding was out our family property that everyone calls Camp Lloyd or The Lake. It's not really a lake. It's a pond and it's not much of a camp - there is one small structure for picnics if it rains and a swing set that is so old you can't tell what color the poles used to be. We have a row boat, two canoes and a paddle boat.

My cousin L did a wonderful job of making the property look like a party. Tents were set up all around the lake and wedding bows were on all the poles. The tables had white table cloths and little oil lamps to light the way. It looked much different than it used to when I was a child at the Memorial Day picnic.

My son had his first boat ride. He loved it and didn't want to get out. My father took him around and around the pond. They stopped briefly to let my cousin K's little boy hop in and then off they went again. They sat side by side on the rowboat - one with black hair and the other as blond as you can get.

I stood on the little wooden dock and commented to my cousin K (also as blond as you can get) how nice everything looked. We remembered swimming in this pond when we were little and that you could only walk out about six feet from the shore before you sank in about a foot of muck. It's amazing how fondly we remember that muck and the slippery rocks that felt like slime. Truthfully, the very thought of putting my feet in it now is unimaginable, but we still have fond memories.

So, now we watch our children ride around on the same little pond in the same little boats - all brought together as one generation has reached adulthood and a new generation of our family grows up amongst tradition. It's times like this that I remember how nice it was growing up with a big extended family. Being adopted didn't make a difference, I was just my parent's daughter, cousin, niece...