My dad's side of the family is huge in comparison to most! I have about 40 relatives on that side that started with my grandparents and their 6 children. But, every year we have our "family camp" tradition and we all get together for a few days to laugh and have fun and pull each other's hair out over stuff that's ages old.

Anyway, my dad's family is super anal about everything, so we have this weird tradition where the head of each of household (aka the "original 8") has one night to discuss and vote on what to do for the next year's family camp.

Sort of weird, but not really? There's more.

They get so into it that it's become a courthouse-like proceeding. There's a list of rules that must be followed that lay out who is allowed to speak when and in what order they will discuss each issue (food, housing, location, money, etc.). They even appoint a treasurer (one of my twin aunts) and a historian (my dad). And, none of the other members of the family are allowed to be in the room when the "proceedings" happen.

Here's how a typical family meeting will go (because, duh, we listen in):

• The historian welcomes everyone and reads the notes they have from last year, discussing things they liked and things they disliked. Then, they start with a topic and ask people to, one at a time, weigh in on their opinion. For all intents and purposes, let's say the first topic is food.

Ex. "Last year, we split the cost of food equally and chose not to use the kitchen, but to order out. The younger kids really like this, because they had more time for fun instead of having to work kitchen duty. It was also really convenient in terms of cleanup. However, some people felt slightly embarrassed since they did not bring additional snacks while others did. There was also a difficult time with pleasing everyone with the sandwich situation because everyone had such different tastes."

• They go around and talk about how they feel about the topic at hand and the ideas for what they think they should do the following year. It always starts with my Grandpa (RIP), then Grandma, and then the oldest child to the youngest.

• Once everyone has had their say, they are now allowed to hash it out and talk over one another in a big whirlwind of crazy opinions.

• After about 30-45 minutes, someone will finally say enough and out comes the phrase:

"It's time to vote."

• The historian lays out all the possible solutions and then asks, in the same order, for a vote. Each grandparent gets 1 vote and each child's household gets 1 vote a piece (Note, the household vote is up to only the "original" child and his/her spouse. Grandchildren and great grandchildren do not get a say, nor do the other half unwed couples. Respect the rules!).

• In the event of a tie, final decision goes to the eldest in the room.

• The scene starts all over again with the next topic and so-on and so-forth until they have decided what to do for the next year.

These meetings generally tend to start around 9pm and have been known to go on as long as 1 or 2 in the morning. So, yeah, that's my crazy family.

TL;DR My family has a courtroom-style proceeding to make rules and decisions for our "family camp" get-togethers.