F20M 2010

F20M: the perfect combination of family, meat, and inappropriate prizes.

As if the Festival of 20 Meats wasn't enough, the Green Bay Speckhards came to town the Friday before the festival.

They arrived at noon, after their parents dropped them off for a convention at the seminary. We left school early, and were greeted in the van by Ella and Josie. I was still surprised when we pulled into our driveway, where Sam, Rachel, and Anna were riding the Green Machine (which should be a mandatory toy for every family in the country).

We messed around outside for a while, and then headed to Pio Market with a ten-dollar bill. After we wolfed down our candy and pop, we played hide-and-seek until dinnertime.

We spent the rest of the evening playing records on our phonograph, which turned into speeding up the record until the song sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks. Uncle Pete and Aunt Heidi soon arrived, and the kids were kicked out of the house.

We built a fairly large fire in the ti-pi, and despite the 50 degree weather, we were all comfortably snug beside the crackling flame. When the fire finally died, we trooped upstairs to watch You Tube videos on Aunt Heidi's laptop.

At around 10:00, we prepared for bed, a very long ordeal, seeing as their were a total of 11 kids in the house.

Since Uncle Pete and Aunt Heidi were staying in my room, I slept with Ella and Josie on the bottom bunk in David and Jacob's room. Rachel and Anna slept up top, while the boys all crashed together.

We woke up fairly early to a delicious casserole breakfast. Luke had a soccer game, so the majority of the kids came along. Sammy, Ella, and I stayed home.

Ella and I looked at photo albums, played cards, and played Mario Kart Wii until my family returned. Upon their arrival, we hopped in my van and headed to Valpo!

When we arrived at F20M, the festival was already in full swing. All three grills were going, uncles were playing cornhole, and Uncle Jody was firing bottle rockets at Mike.

Of course, Ella, Sarah, and I waited impatiently for the meat candy, which was just as heavenly as always. The throng surrounding the zebra bacon was too thick, so I settled for some frog legs - a personal favorite. Next, I sampled crab for the first time, but before I could savor the last, delectable nibble, Uncle Dan started shooting off the rockets.

It happens every time. The highly-anticipated rockets are one of the most fun aspects of F20M, yet we always seem to lose the rocket after two or three goes. Of course, we vainly chased down the mini parachutist, quickly losing it.

Our disappointment was quickly erased when Uncle Jody announced it was time for inappropriate prizes.

This year, I actually won something. After the $10 lottery tickets, huge bags of Snickers, and cigarette candy had been thrown to our greedy hands, Uncle Jody produced a huge turtle shell and randomly handed it to me. It was by far this year's best inappropriate prize, and I was the envy of all the cousins.

After the meat candy, rockets, and inappropriate prizes, the 2010 F20M was just about wrapped up. Most of us headed for Grandma's house, where we watched the timeless classic, Bugs Bunny Road Runner for the millionth time.

Sadly, I had two basketball games on Sunday, so we were forced to bid adieu.

F20M was great, as always, and I look forward to next year!