Good Times, Good Times

Here are some of the Pearl first cousins who attended yesterday's giant family tailgater before the Notre Dame-Southern Cal game (five of the cousins who were also there are missing from this picture). As you can see, it was a lot of fun. The game? Not so much. In fact, I don't want to talk about the game.

Regardless of what goes on inside the stadium afterward, however (okay, it was a horrific night for the Irish, but that's all I'm going to say about it), the most important thing about these tailgaters isn't the final score, or whether Notre Dame wins or loses; it's about getting the clan together and sharing good times. It's about making family memories. And as you can see, as far as that goes yesterday's get-together was a huge success.

When I look at this picture of these adorable cousins, I am reminded of a line from the 2004 animated film "The Incredibles" (watch it if you haven't--it's incredibly funny). After a wild and crazy adventure with his family of superheroes, the young son, Dash, flops back in his seat and says, "That was the best vacation ever! [sigh] I love our family."