It's pretty rare that my three siblings and I all get together in one place at one time. Even the last few Christmases haven't been very successful reunions. Strangely enough, though, everyone was in town this weekend. Steve was down for a friend's wedding, Heide and Pete were in town just to visit, and Carmita lives here now. We all went to Kip and Carmita's for some food from the grill, some beer from the fridge, and some strife from the kids. The kids numbered six: Martha, Martha's cousins Jacob, Anika, and Matthias, and Steve's girlfriend Connie's kids Peter and Francesca. There was some pushing, yelling, and fighting amongst the kids (except for Martha and Matthias), but for the most part everything was just fine.
I apparently became Coolest Guy in the World (for a day) by having a Lego Jango Fett and giving it to Peter. He'd been bugging Steve about it for a week or more, and Steve was floored when Peter bugged me and I said, "Oh, yeah, I have one."
I brought the beer for the event. Gloria and I went over to Tanczos (the local beer distributor that I favor) and I saw that they had Victory's Prima Pils for cheap. I got a case for about $25 plus tax. I really like Prima Pils, and I think it may be my new everyday beer. (I only buy beer once every few months, so "everyday" is sort of a misnomer.) It's an interesting beer. Kip and Steve and I were discussing its merits for a while, and I think the conclusion was that it was a good ale drinker's pilsner. It's got a lot of the flavors of a pilsner, but it's lacking in two areas: its taste isn't the crisp, clean set of distinct flavors you'd expect from a German pilsner; and it's not as highly carbonated as most pilsners. Still, as an ale drinker, I like it. I think its muddied flavors end up making it match with more things. It's hoppy, but not as aggressive as some of Victory's other beers.
In short: if you've got it available, try it.
It was pretty cool to just sit around, drink a beer, eat some chicken, and watch the kids run around. They also "put on a show" for us, which basically meant that we all sat in a semicircle and watched them perform a series of fundamentaly unconnected actions. This was just fine, too. It's great that Carmita has moved back to Bethlehem. I'm hoping Steve and Heide will end up doing so, too, in the next few years.
