Paid Registrations . . . .

As of July 3rd:

104

We are almost there - and no one could be happier than me. Its been a long road and I am confident that the event will be well worth the time and effort that has gone into planning it. Thanks to all of you who have diligently responded to my emails and various requests, especially my request for the ontime payment of your registration fees. If you have ever planned an event, you know that it is a tight spot between your vendors and suppliers who are expecting payment and the folks you have to collect it from in order to pay ontime. And everything must be paid in full before the reunion (for those of you who still are yet to send your money).

For those who signed up for the White House tour back in January, we still don't have an answer yet. They said it would be about a week to 10 days before our visit that we will find out. I've got my fingers crossed. Whether we visit the White House or not, you should be giving some thought to what else you will want to do with your time on Saturday - before the Family Dinner. There are countless things to do in and around Washington D.C. and you may find it useful to research some of them before you get there, in order to make the most of your visit. I've got some links in the sidebar of this blog page and I will continue to add to them as I run across good ones. One easy way to see a lot is to jump on a city tour bus - one with on/off privileges. It isn't free like the National Zoo and the Smithsonian Museums and the Monuments and such, but you will get a pretty good bang for your buck. Keep in mind also that there is lots to do around the hotel - shopping, dining, etc.

Plan to take, and share, plenty of pictures. No one photographer can be in all places so in order to tell the whole story of the reunion, we need cameras clicking everywhere.

Start thinking about any 'good news' going on in your branch of the family that you would like to share at the reunion - milestone birthdays and anniversaries, engagements and upcoming weddings, babies on the way, recent graduations/promotions, retirements, children starting or returning to college, military service or the Peace Corps, etc. I don't need you to send this info in advance - just bring it with you.

Those of you who will be driving to D.C. - since you won't have the travel expense that those who are flying in will have, please consider contributing some of items we need to enhance our Sunday picnic experience. Take a look at the list of items in the sidebar and see what you can bring. Uncle Ray has the paper goods and utensils covered.

Finally, I hope some of you are working on creating some 'family friendly' music playlists on your iPods. We did not budget for a professional deejay, so we are it. Keep in mind that we span 5 generations so we want to keep it clean and we want to include some 'ole skool' in the mix.