As the oldest of 6 siblings in my family, I sometimes find myself taking on the role of “family wrangler” for get-togethers… Especially when it comes to wrangling everyone together for family photos haha.
This past Sunday, Charles and I made our way over to my Dad’s place to cook Father’s Day brunch for him and my brothers, Louis and Gino, who are dads as well.
We had originally thought to eat out for brunch but decided on staying in to avoid the restaurant craziness that’s typically associated with this holiday. Thank goodness we did because I’m pretty sure my niece, nephews, and sister would’ve been running all over the place.
^^ My Dad and Kellye
^^ Playing around in Gigi’s room
^^ Family Feet… House Rule #1: Leave your shoes at the door when you enter.
Charles and I split every other holiday between his family and mine.
For example, last year, Thanksgiving was spent with my side of the family while Christmas was spent with his which means that this year we’ll switch it up. Same goes with Father’s Day and Mother’s Day if we’re not able to get both of our parents together in one place.
Knowing that my brothers also have other family commitments to consider, I made sure to “book” them for Father’s Day brunch a couple months in advance. It’s been a while since we’ve all hung out together so it was great to catch up over food and spend time with the little ones.
As I’m putting this post together, I realize that I rarely blog about my immediate family. It’s not on purpose tho, I swear.
It’s just that when I’m with them, I like to be 100% present in the moment since those moments are few and in between which means I leave my camera and phone in my bag.
But with our mini photo shoot this past weekend, I thought it might be nice to introduce to you to a few of the special people who make up my every growing family tribe.
^^ This is my brother, Gino. His girlfriend, Mijan (they might not be married but I pretty much consider her my sister). In their arms are my nephews, Gino Jr. (left) and Aarion (right).
Gino is the third oldest after me and my brother, Louis. He has a quiet disposition, shy almost, and has a a big sweet tooth just like me. Also, if there’s a grill in the vicinity – I can guarantee you that he will be right there grilling on it. Just call him Grillmaster G.
^^ And this is my brother, Louis, his girlfriend, Jen (who I also consider my sister) and my niece, Mia.
Louis is technically my step-brother but considering the fact that we grew together from the time I was 3 and he was 1, we leave the “step” part out. He’s the next oldest after me and has the best/worst sense of sarcastic IDGAF humor there is out there. Also, he prefers strawberry milk over chocolate milk… It’s something that has always weirded me out since we were kids. Strawberry over chocolate?! Who does that? You wanna know who? My brother, Louis.
^^ Aarion is giving major model face in this photo.
^^ Mia’s chunky chin makes me squeal with delight every time I look at this photo. Soooo cute.
^^ If you’ve been following this blog for a while then you may already be familiar with my wonderfully crazy little energizer bunny of sister, Gigi :)
^^ My dad in the middle and his kids all around :)
The only sibling we were missing was my youngest brother, Gabe, who unfortunately had to work that Sunday morning but he’s been on the blog a few times – you may have seen him in my photos from our trip to Maine last summer.
I also have another brother, Kris, (on my mom’s side from when she remarried) who lives in Chicago. He also showed up on the blog when Charles and I flew to the Chi for Mother’s Day last year.
^^ Attempting to get everyone in position for our self-timer pic.
^^ Our little rascals :)
^^ Take 1
^^ Take 2 :)
A couple weeks ago, I googled “American family” and was pleasantly surprised to see so many photos of families of different colors.
But then I googled “All American Family” and felt a little disappointed by the distinct lack of diversity in the images of families that were represented. Not surprised. Just disappointed.
Because there is a difference between being an American family and an All American Family. The first term defines and implies a family that is simply American, the latter implies a family that is ideally American.
And so… Today’s post is my contribution towards helping change that image of what an All American Family looks like because my wonderfully mixed family is ideal too. Seriously tho, the alt tag for most of the photos in this post is “all american family” in hopes that maybe the photos of our family will show up the next time someone googles the term.
With that said, this is my family. My ideal family. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What does your “All American Family” look like?
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