Avert your eyes

It's almost that time of year again - time for the second annual Cracker Family vacation. Last year, the entire extended family headed down to Disney World, where we could be seen wearing our neon green matching t-shirts:

The picture really doesn't do justice to how really bright the shirts were. Please trust me when I tell you they were eye catching and best when viewed through sunglasses.

In addition to the vivid color of the shirt, my Father-in-law had our first name printed on the front of the shirt along with some Disney characters. On the back of each shirt Cracker Family Vacation 2008 was written in bold letters. To say the least, I was more than a little apprehensive about wearing it. Not only was it bright and emblazoned with my name, but it was also an exact match to the shirts worn by 10 other members of my family. While I won't go so far to say I have a personal style, I will say that this attire was not in keeping with my usual look. But since Papa Crackers paid for the whole vacation, including the shirts, it seemed like a good idea to go with the flow and honor his wishes, so we all wore our shirts faithfully (and yes, we did wash them every night).

In hindsight, I really have to give some kudos to my Father-in-law. Their vibrancy made them a really easy way to spot other members of the family once the park got crowded. Man, the shirts practically glowed while screaming "Yes, I belong to the Cracker Family!" I swear I could make out a family member from a quarter of a mile away. Not only that, the shirts seemed to make us something akin to minor celebrities. Everywhere we went within the confines of the park we'd hear, "There goes the Cracker family again." or "Hello Cracker family." or my favorite, "Every where I turn I see more of those darn Crackers".

Another picture of those darn Crackers

Really, once I got over the initial trepidation about wearing the shirt, I embraced my inner dork (which is really, really close to the surface anyway) and had fun with it.

The trip last year was a complete blast & is one of my most favorite vacations ever. I can't wait until we get a chance to go back and visit the park again.

This year's family vacation is a Disney cruise. Needless to say we are all very excited about it. We've got our passports, and I've already started packing. I will say I am a little nervous about the plane ride to and from Florida. I am still having nightmares about last year's plane trip. Since I am still not quite ready to deal with that whole saga yet, I'll save those thoughts for another post.

Papa Crackers & all his grandkids in vivid Technicolor!

I know we will will have a great time (despite any travel horrors that befall us on the plane) and I am very thankful that Papa Crackers has been so generous these past couple of years. I'm sure that we'll remember these family vacations for a lot of years to come.

My only question is what we will be wearing this year? I am harboring a secret fear that he has bought us all matching swimsuits. Seriously people, I cannot be seen in the same swimsuit as my 2 beautiful nieces who are now 15 & 13. Not only will all my pale skin burn your retinas, but my body didn't look that good even when I was 15 years old. Perhaps he's bought us all matching floor length mu-mus. I think I'm more comfortable with that.