nguyen family weekend

nguyen family weekend
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

after the scavenger hunt, we rushed to orange county for a dinner with my family. my grandfather's birthday brought my mom & aunt from texas, and my cousin liz, her girlfriend ingrid, and their baby clyde out for the occasion. sadly though, my grandfather didn't want to leave the hospice, so we briefly visited him there. my family brought him food, and mike & i were suppose to meet them there, but were late, so missed everyone else, and instead sat, kept him company while watching him eat his food. rarely leaving his room or bed, he doesn't seem to have any desire for anything, but it was good to see he has a strong appetite.

then we went on to my aunt's where my family was making the usual big dinner with roast beef, mixed greens, sauteed green beans with garlic, lobster thermidor, toast and cheese. it was a good night, even listening to my uncle fred, a fiscally conservative democrat, try not so subtly to influence our upcoming votes on various california propositions.

the older generation of our family consists of republicans, while the younger generation are mostly liberal democrats or independent, so we try to avoid having political discussions. when you already know what someone's views are and that they aren't likely to change, there's no point in getting into arguments over it. my aunts and uncles are close, and there's often plenty of typical family tension between them. since my cousins and i did not grow up in close proximity, we aren't as close or prone to the quibbles and disagreements that can happen when you know someone so well.