Family reunion fun with the Shack!

Hey there, Crackerjack fans, it's Chase again!

Summer means a lot of things to a lot of people, but for me there has always been one event I could look forward to the summer bringing about. Family reunions! There are a lot of great places in Springfield and the surrounding areas to hold a family reunion, and I wanted to take some time and share some fun ideas for those special summer get-togethers.

1) Taste of the Family - This one works great if you have a lot of family members that have spread their wings and live in different part of the country or even the world that all get together for that reunion. One of the biggest staples for my family reunions every year is the food. We've got some GOOD cooks in the Thompson/Nikodim clan! How this idea works is to have each family member prepare a dish that is famous, or a specialty, in the area that they live now. Someone from Boston could whip up some clam chowder or baked beans, and leave the barbequing to the Kansas City folks!

2) Family Survivor – This is a personal favorite for my family, and great for all those reality show fans in your family! Divide everyone into two teams (this could be done in all sorts of ways, males vs females, pairing siblings, random draw, however you’d like to do it) and have the ‘host’ lead the two groups in a series of challenges. Get creative to keep the challenges fun and interesting! Some physical challenges, some mental ones, maybe even a few silly ones. At the end of each challenge, the losing team must vote one member of their team out of the game. Combine the teams once you’ve reached a small number of players and keep going. Once you reach the final two, all the members that were previously voted out take a vote to decide who wins of the final two. Don’t forget to work with the Crackerjack Shack to design some great team shirts for each side and remember, snacks make for a great grand prize!

3) Amusement parks – They advertise fun for the whole family, so why not bring the whole family? From exciting rides, to shows, to fun fair foods, there are a lot of opportunities for every family member to feel like a kid again. For the local Crackerjack fans, Silver Dollar City in Branson isn’t far from Springfield and would make for a great destination. Plus, everybody in line would sure enjoy seeing those fun family reunion shirts from the Crackerjack Shack!

These are just a few ideas to keep those family reunions fun and fresh, what are some of your favorite get-togethers?