Friday, March 10, 2006

The Big Gathering

So I'm about to go grocery shopping and making my list, and I think, I have no idea what we're going to be eating/serving, where and when!

When is everyone planning to arrive in Montgomery?

What are our plans for eating together? We can definitely have one big dinner here at our house, maybe grilling out burgers and such. Unless somebody else wants to do burgers, in which case we can cook something else. And if we need a place to gather for another night, like ordering pizza or something, our house is your house.

Please also post any other plans that you've got. Josh and I aren't going to be able to do the Shakespeare festival, but I'm sure there will be other opportunities for fun together.

64 comments:

JS said...

WHOOPS! I forgot to get my shakespear tix! Perhaps there will still be time...

Yall dont have to buy all the food ya know? Im thinking a good ole grill out thursday or friday night at yalls house. We can buy the meat, or buns, or hot dogs, or veggies, etc. Just give me the word and itll be done.

Id say some to our house, but ours isnt really condusive for 10 - 12 people.

Oh, and an email would have been better for this I think... why? Our bloggers are dead... seen neither hide nor hair of Stubbs, Mulls, Chuck, or Brew in ages.

lilsip said...

Good idea. I'll copy and paste the post and send it out.

JS said...

I know that the Brews will be here wednesday, in loads of time for church. I figure us and them may just grab a bite at my house or on the way to church.

Thursday and friday I see us eating in, and on saturday, perhaps a big outting. Nothing fancy, those places are no fun, but a place like one of japaneese steak houses, the kids may get a kick out of those. Or Outbakc or some family-friendly, dont-mind-if-you-have-15-people resturants.

mullinz8 said...

I’ll generally take the blog for conversation over email any day.

I’ve popped in a few notes here and there but I’ve been too busy to add much lately, sorry.

The Mullins family will be arriving in Montgomery Thursday hopefully around late afternoon or something like that. If everyone is seeing a show Thursday evening, we’ll show up Friday early.

What night is the play and who is going? If you’re not seeing the show then we’ll invite you to swim with us at the hotel where we will attempt to exhaust our children into a good nights sleep.

We will be up for anything. Also we’re happy to bring our own grub for any cookout fun. I know my boys will prefer hot dogs over anything else that could ever find its way onto a grill, unless it’s chocolate chip cookies, it doesn’t matter to us really.

If the weather is nice I’d still love a day at Shakespeare Park, I would guess Saturday.

bigsip said...

I'm pretty sure Brewster said Friday night for the play.

We'd love to come swim! It'll be fun!

We'll plan on Thursday night for burgers and dogs. We'll get all the stuff and pass the hat for contributions later.

We DEFINITELY have to do a smoke night out by the fountain in our back yard, too!

mullinz8 said...

The hotel we’re going to be at has an indoor pool so if some folks are going to do the grown up thing and see a play we’ll take the more funner road and just play.

All are welcome!

JS said...

We will see the play if tix are available next week.

Thursday: cookout

Friday: play and/or swim

Saturday: out to eat maybe? At a family-friendly resturant? I ussually hate going to a resturant as a group, but this actually sounds fun to me.

Sat. night: chill by sips fountain.

tentative of course.

Please include me in any of your day-time acvtivities (faulkner tour, i still have a key to 2117) because I can leave work eaisly.

Brew, what do yall like for b-fast?

bigsip said...

I'm taking Friday off, too. I'll be at work Thurs, bu t might get off a little early.

tnmommieof2 said...

all of the aformentioned plans sound fine with me as well. i think isaac would love the japanese steak house thing...and i agree with you jamison..sat. would be a good nite to do this as well

does dalraida do childrens church?

JS said...

Shogun stinks. Miakos is GREAT, but pricey, and there is another jap steak house like one mile from Miako. both on the east side of town, around all that new stuff.

Dalraida, hmmm, I dont know if we do children worship training. I know we used to, but when I think about all the kids his age that I know, I remember them being in church ... not sure. Ill try and remember to find out. How old is he?

mullinz8 said...

Caleb is 20 months and if he gets too wound up then I’ll take him out of service.

We’ll have a cache of snacks and Church time munchies, which of course we’ll share with the older folks as well, to try and stymie fidgety britches. Isaac will be fine.

Are the Stubbs seeing the play too?

Big family style lunch Saturday afternoon sounds like fun.

Chuck how do you send your kid to bed at 7:30? Our goal is to have the boys on their way to bed around 8:30, usually they are almost settled by 9pm.

If Isaac and Caleb were in bed by 7:30 I'd have just under two hours to see them at all.

mullinz8 said...

When are the Stubbs getting in?

Who is hosting Thursday night?

Mat Brewster said...

We are definitely arriving Wednesday.

The play is Friday night. It's Twelfth Night at the ASF, Chuckles. You are welcome to come. I suspect tickets are still available. Shakespeare usually doesn't sell out.

We'll certainly pitch in for food costs.

I'm setting up a meet with Dr. Morris at Faulkner to say hello and talk about getting Amy a job. Don't know when that is yet, but we'll probably do the whole visiting FU ting then.

We may leave Saturday night just to split up the drive. But we're kind of winging it. If we're having too much fun we'll stay till sunday. If the obsessive compulsivness of the Braly clan cleans up our every track we'll probably leave Saturday.

I think I'll leave full glasses of water everywhere around casa Braly. Just for old times sake

Mat Brewster said...

Man, I have been absent from the blog. I saw the word verification thing and thought, what the craps this?

tnmommieof2 said...

isaac is 5..and will be alright during service if we have appropriate distractions...

and the indoor pool hotel might of fell thru...i was gonna make the reservation on expedia.com, got busy and didn't get around to it.
i'll have to see if we're still
gonna stay in the same place or find somewhere else...

either way..we'll be in montgomery
and spending time with you all so its all good...

JS said...

Oh, FYI, larissa wont be at the cookout thursday.

She plays a game called "Bunko" one thursday a month. There will be 15 hot chicks in my house that night and no men are allowed.

So expect to see us cleaning wednesday night when you get there and thursday night when all those chicks leave.

Other than that, we wont be behind you with a vacuum

lilsip said...

As Charles has not posted here yet, I thought I'd throw this out... He seemed to want to cook at their house Sat night, not sure how firm he is on that one.

Also Diana hasn't been on here and we don't really expect Charlie to be ;), so I'll tell ya they're arriving Wed around 4ish.

Diana said...

Sorry guys, busy day! I"m officially on Spring Break! WOOHOOOO!!!!
Yes, Charlie and I will be in about 4 on Wednesday. We're going to stay at my boyfriends house. He's short and loves Dumbo!
Charlie and I won't do the Shakespeare thing either. I think that night we may go see Jeanette and pay attention to her. Other than that, he and I are up for whatever fun and food y'all want to do. I CAN"T WAIT!!!!!

Diana said...

You guys should make a movie next week! Paranoid guy 4!!!

JS said...

Bring a few bucks for SIpper when you come. He says he is going to buy ALL the cookout grup and plates and cups and drinks, and will just have us pitch in in the form of money.

lilsip said...

Okay, so here's what I'm getting so far.

Wednesday night, anybody who's arrived eats with whoever they're staying with and goes to church if they're early enough.

Thursday night, Josh and I are thinking the cookout at our house. (may be a good day for Stubbs to visit Faulkner as Josh will be working all day)

Friday night, Shakespeare/swimming if the Mullins get the hotel they wanted. Maybe we all go out to eat this night? (Josh off today, maybe will go to the zoo)

Saturday night, Charles and Jodi want to cook at their house. Also some have said they want to eat out that night. Hence the Friday suggestion.

Sunday, our family always eats at the Faulkner Caf (great fried chicken but a little pricey at $9 a pop for non-staff-family-members). We can make other plans if necessary.

So any opinions, suggestions, or fun ideas? What looks like it'll work best?

JS said...

The friday night suggestions seems fine with me for eating out, but I DO want one big fat eat out night with everyone, I think it would be fun.

Churck, what sort of meal are you thinking of preparing? I hope nothing sit-down-ish, but more grill-out-ish.

JS said...

in my humble opinion, here is what I think would be best:

Thurs: Chucks house. With the baby there, I am doubting a long night, so me going into work friday morning wont be so bad.

Fri: Sips house. I predict a nice cookout and a long hang-out session by the pond afterwards, lending itsself to being suitable for sleeping late saturday morning.

Sat: Eat out.

JS said...

oh man, the play starts at 7:30pm... I think Larissa and I are going to skip it...

bigsip said...

I like your style, Jamison...

This sounds fine to me if everyone else is cool with it. Only issue is that Brew won't be able to hang with the boys Friday night since they'll be at the play.

Any ideas? Brew? Anyone?

JS said...

But we will be staying up late friday, so he will naturally be able to hang. I am sure he will be able to grab a few burgers before they leave for the play, and I cant see the play lasting past 9:30pm....

bigsip said...

True...didn't consider that.

Well, all sounds fine to me. Still need Chuck's input, though.

What say there, Charles?

mullinz8 said...

How about something along these lines?

Wednesday, I actually can’t speak for this day because we won’t be there but…

Thursday is either the Chuck or Sipper homestead with various choices of grub.
Our plan is to leave TN and get into Montgomery, AL by late afternoon.

My boys and I are breakfast people so both Fri and Sat could be something but I refuse to plan anything prior to 10am.

Friday daytime could be a kid friendly trip to the zoo with various over priced zoo food and or some sort of fast food stuff. Or maybe it could be a trip to the Shakespeare grounds for play and a sunny picnic or visiting and such

Friday evening, if we get a place with a pool could be swimming, Stubbs could be visiting his sister, Brew, and Jamison if they make it, at the play and the remaining folks could fine some light grub with very few expectations. If the Chucks want a proper meal on Saturday then maybe this is another low grade cook out until dawn, which I think would be fine or maybe a bring-your-own-grub deal.

Saturday rather than a big dinner out we could have a nice big lunch somewhere that might entertain younger guests thus breaking in those either expecting more or their first kid(s) or acting as birth control for those who are considering the option. This way kids could have naps before our next big gathering.

Saturday evening we could have another dinner at someone’s home, who ever wasn’t Thursday I guess. I like the idea of our last evening being somewhere that I’m not obsessing about my boys being too loud in public. We believe in having a good time so a home works for me. Then again the Chuck’s kid crashes at 7pm so I’m open to suggestions.
Like it was suggested maybe Chuck and Sipper trade nights.

Sunday for us should be able to include church but we’ve got a much shorter drive than the others. For us we’ll go to church and then grab some final friendly grub and get on the road.

bigsip said...

Really just need Chuck's input most of all.

I'm really game for whatever. But, I think our late nights need to be Friday/Sat nights.

Thurs night isn't really an option for cookout/staying up/jamming/smoking, so maybe we should eat out Thursday night?

Really could use some input all round here...

mullinz8 said...

Sorry for the diatribe I’m really thinking out loud more than anything else.

You guys are the locals where is there to eat out that could accommodate everyone?

bigsip said...

We were thinking of a Japanese Steakhouse called Miyako.

The kids would love watching them do tricks and the food is good!

It's in a pretty good location for everyone, too.

kermitgrn said...

We really need the Saturday thing. We have not planned a meal, and I will be out of town Wednesday for interview(s). I hope that is ok.

kermitgrn said...

Eat out Thursday is up in the air for us but is our preference. I will see what we can do about a sitter for that night.

JS said...

Well, I am done commenting on this. It sounds like it is up to Chuck so I guess we will do whatever he needs (tone is slightly frustrated, but not mad at all...)

If my opinion matters, all I know is I want a nice cookout at Josh's with hang-out time afterwards (I would personally deeply prefer this NOT be on a thursday night, whatever is done on thursday night, my wife will miss out completely.), and I want to eat at a jap steakhouse. Lunch or Dinner (though Miako doesnt do lunch, but the other jap steakhouse on the corner of vaughn and taylor does). Prefer dinner, but whatever. I know I do not want anything at my house because I am a clean freak. I don't care much what we do after that.

I dont know what "planning" needs to be done for a group of 10 to 15 people... grab some chicken breasts and grill them, pop them in the over when done with honey mustard, cheese and bacon... you just made Outbakc Steakhouse's Alice Spring Chicken... heck, I cna bring some chicken breasts to your office thursday afternoon...

bigsip said...

OK, I can handle eating out Thursday night, cookout Friday night, and Chuck's Sat night.

I think eating out Thurs night would be best all around since Chuck will just be getting back, everyone will have just gotten into town, and Larissa wouldn't be missing much in the way of seeing folks.

Cookout Fri night would be conducive to staying up late, cookout, and everything else.

Whatever Chuck and Jodi want to do Sat night is fine by me. We'll gather, eat, talk, and head out in plenty of time to let them turn in early.

So, my opinion is to just do Thurs night Miyako, Fri night cookout/smokes, and Sat night at Chuck's...

All in favor say, "Plaesiosaurus."

JS said...

that sounds good Sip.

(wiping brow from exhaustion) fine, go with it, mark it down, let us mark it in stone and not change it...

I felt like I was trying to figure out a rubix cube ...

bigsip said...

Woohoo!

Sorry, I spelled "Pleiseosaurus" wrong...probably spelled it wrong again, too.

Oh well...I want Jap food! Yum!

bigsip said...

Please convey my deep sympathy to Larissa on her unfortunate deprivation of Japanese food.

She's with child after all and Jonesin' for the stuff!

Maybe you can take her some left-overs...

lilsip said...

Nah, us pregnant girls will just have to go out for a girl's night and get some more Japanese food! Leftovers? Please!

Plans sound good. Can't wait to see everybody!

kermitgrn said...

Plaesiosaurus! (I spelled it wrong because I cut an pasted).

Looks good to me. Hey we can stay up until 10pm and smoke at my house too. Alexandra will probably burn the midnite oil because of the other kidos. We'll see.

Menu is something like:

• Salad

• Chicken Enchilada (not spicy and every kid who's tried it has loved it)

• Some unnamed but possibly chocolate desert

JS said...

No offence, id rather smoke at Josh's house.

His yard lends itself better to many people.

Diana said...

I feel bad that Larissa can't make it out to eat.

Am I being presumptuous to see if the Chucks would be willing to have us over for lunch Sat or Sun instead of dinner so Larissa doesn't miss out??? That's just not fair to the Braly's.

I don't care what we do when as long as no one has to miss out on anything. Other than that, I can't wait to see everyone. I bought a fun book for Luke!!!

lilsip said...

Hey Chuck... Chicken enchiladas sound great, and I hate to even have to post this, but could you guys please check to see if your ingredients (most likely soup or a Mexican mix) have MSG/monosodium glutamate/autolyzed yeast extract (all the same darn thing)? I know it's a big annoyance, but if I get any of that stuff in my system, a migraine is not far behind.

Again, I apologize, I hate having to ask this of anyone who ever cooks for me. If the stuff is in there, I can just bring something along that I can eat.

Diana said...

Rachel, Charlie and I have recently formed an addiction to Teryaki Beef Jerky. Charlie thinks they put crack in it. I think it's the MSG. I always think of you when I eat it.

tnmommieof2 said...

thursday nite..eat out...fine

friday nite..sips house...fine

saturday nite..chucks...fine

the only issue i think the entire mullins clan will have is we need to ensure caleb gets his afternoon
nap...he can skip it if needed...
but you all wouldn't want to be around him if he did!!!!

bigsip said...

Luke takes afternoon naps, too.

If we lunch together, have some fun, then put our kids down for naps they'll all wake up in time for supper and good times later.

We can usually eat an early lunch (11) got to the Zoo for an hour or two and get back by 2 or 3 to have a nap. So, it's pretty doable on pretty much every day.

We have 3 beds, 2 pack and plays, and a crib, too. So if he needs to nap here, that's no prob.

kermitgrn said...

Rachel, are you allergic to Doritos? That's my only concern. The other ingredients are very normal chicken, sour cream, cumin, chili powder, & sweet green chili peppers.

kermitgrn said...

Doing lunch is a problem because of Alexandra's naps (11:30 or 12:00 to about 1:30 or 2:00). Otherwise we would have done lunch. I apologize.

kermitgrn said...

Josh just e-mailed me:
yes, Doritos are STUFFED with MSG. can you use plain tortilla chips? they should be fine.

I responded:
Wow! Glad we got that sorted out. We can do a separate dish for Rachael with tortilla chips. It's easy enough; they only go on top of the dish anyway. I'll also double check with Jodi top make sure there are no other ingredients that I missed.

bigsip said...

Luke and I will probably go with plain tortilla chips, too. MSG makes us very tense and I sometimes get a headache from it, too. Plus, I'm not a big Doritos fan.

The rest of the dish sounds fine as long as there's no MSG/msg pseudonym in it.

Sorry to be so picky. We have to cook all of our food from scratch and never eat boxed meals/flavored chips, etc., so we're used to it.

We even had all of the chefs at Disney visit our table to tell us which dishes were MSG-free! I guess that's a perk, along with very healthy meals all the time.

JS said...

How did something so theoretically simple become something so confusing?

Yall just call me everyday and le tme know where to show up...

lilsip said...

Thank you thank you thank you, Chuck! And relay the thank you to your wife as well!

Jamison, we were thinking about ordering pizza or something Wed. night since the Stubbs will be here too. I know you guys don't do the pizza thing, but we might could all do something together before church.

bigsip said...

Yeah, depending on what time the Brews arrive, we could even go grab a quick bite before Wed nt services.

I have to be there early anyway, since I'm teaching this quarter.

mullinz8 said...

The Mullins say…

We are officially playing it by ear. I know that we should show up in Montgomery Thursday at hopefully a decent time around mid afternoon and will be leaving Sunday.

When we get in town we will start making calls to let folks know.

We will show up wherever we are told to go. We want to see folks and play. We are not cooking and there is a lot of fast food in AL so I doubt we’re going to starve.

Our boys can survive without naps if they need to because under the right circumstances they can both sleep almost anywhere for short times. They are also pliable with foods even at the point of exhaustion. Between a power nap and a good cookie we could take over the world.

Jamison and Chuck take off work Friday, at least half a day. Jamison you take off work at a moments notice to fish so who is going to miss you and fault you for seeing your pals aside from the pals you’re not going to see? Chuck you should be leaving AP soon enough what’s another half day.

Chuck, Caleb loves Doritos’s, he doesn’t get them much but when he does he’s a little compactor.

I think it will still be simple once we’re in the throws of the chaos.

mullinz8 said...

Jamison why don’t you eat pizza?

bigsip said...

BTW, we'll be eating at 6 PM at another Jap Steakhouse close to the one we mentioned previously.

Jamison has reserved a private room for 6 PM on Thursday, so it should be fun eating.

JS said...

It is gonna be awesome.
THis steakhouse is new, so the owner is always trying to kiss up to you. And the room is not huge, but very private

kermitgrn said...

So what's the name of the new steakhouse?

Can't tell if I'll be able to take off early yet. I've taken off a day a week for the past 3 weeks for interviews (including Wed of this). I'm a little behind and it's possible that I might have to take off Thursday for another interview.

I wish I could take off early on Friday. Right now I'm just glad that I'm still here to enjoy what time I can with you guys.

kermitgrn said...

I think we are on the verge of breaking a blog recod by the way.

kermitgrn said...

"record" that is (yeah! one more on the boards.

BTW: my Word Verification was "fkufuor" this time. I think it's cursing me.

bigsip said...

I thought the record was 70-something...oh well...

It is a record of sorts, though. This is the most I've ever seen Chuck post here!

lilsip said...

Cool, a private room! Is it still one of those where they cook on the table? My parents have a picture of me at about 4 years old, terrified, at one of these places. I guess I was scared of getting burned on the table- I mean, there was fire in the middle of it!

JS said...

Kabuki, in the publix shopping center on vaughn and taylor...

The chef cooks right in front of you, in your own ROOM!

bigsip said...

I think Luke's gonna love it! I'm excited. I haven't been this excited about eating out in a long time!