It finally came to pass, our first official Gemignani annual family week! In its inaugural year, the reunion was held in Lackawaxen, PA in the Poconos, right on the border with New York. We rented a huge house that many of us had dubbed "The Fantasy House" while in the early stages of planning. Well, it definitely lived up to the name. The week's festivities included: splashing/relaxing in the hot tub, sauna and jacuzzi tubs; hours of Wii, pool and a poker night; several Princess parades, complete with multiple costume changes; movie nights on the giant movie screen; horse rides at the community stables; several trips to the playground; arts-n-crafts; an Easter hunt; a birthday celebration for Zachary's 7th birthday; and hours and hours of great family time together.
In addition, Mary and John stopped here in Providence a day early (on the way to Lackawaxen), to visit with a former student from their Peace Corps village of Kle, Liberia. Boima, "Bo", was a 10 year old boy in Mary's class while she and John were in the Peace Corps. After another villager tracked them down last year, Boima was able to find Mary and John through other Kle natives living in the United States. Well, it was quite a reunion! Bo was sooooo grateful for his experiences with Mary and John, and continued to give them all the credit for his desire for learning. He moved to Georgia in 1995, where is sister was working for a wealthy Liberian family. He started his education down there and then transferred up to Rhode Island College to finish his Masters in Social Work. His excitement and genuine gratitude to Mary and John was truly endearing. Mary had found photos, drawings and even a story he had written in her Peace Corps belongings. He was amazed!! In addition, he enjoyed looking at all our African art and enjoyed hearing about Tony's experiences in Guinea. Even he recognized how difficult living in Guinea would have been. Liberia is much more developed in relation to it's northern neighbor. It was a great reunion to kick off a week of reunion.
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| John and Mary pose with an elated Boima. |
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| Olivia meets her first West African : ) |
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The girl cousins LOVED playing with the new additions.
(From left: Maya, Noa, Zoe, & Megan and Lila & Olivia in the saucers.) |
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The "Big" Gemignani children.
(Rebecca, Chris, Zach and Tony) |
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Dinner each night was cooked by a different group/couple.
Here, Zach poses with the grilled pizzas Tony, Rebecca, Scott and I made. |
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Jennie and Chris take Zachary, Zoe and Megan to the
playground in the "limo" golf cart. |
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| Rebecca and Miles go for a slide! |
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| The Gemignani clan. |
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Sisters.
(Andrea, Rebecca and I) |
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| The matriarch and patriarch of this crazy family: Mary and John! |
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Megan, Noa and Maya were virtually inseparable all weekend.
Here they are post jacuzzi : ) |
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| Olivia loved cuddling with her Uncle Scott. |
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| Zach shows off his super Daddy/Uncle strength. |
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| Our little family. |
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Owen and Zachary were also inseparable and often glued to some
sort of screen - whether it be an iPAD, a computer or the Wii,
they always seemed to be having fun! |
