Cousins

There's something so very wonderful about seeing our kids playing with their cousins - Sophie, Lucy and John get positively giddy whenever they know we're going to be with cousins. This goes for them all - from Ashleigh, Amy and Katie who are in college down to Gracie and Nate who are three and one. The neat thing is there are so many cousins (24) and the kids have memories of each in their own way - some have stayed with us for a week at a time and there are the "going to bed" and "waking up" with one another memories while others we just plain see more often because of proximity.

Whenever we visit relatives with kids, it's absolutely guaranteed we won't see our children until toward the end of the stay. They give the proper hugs and kisses to aunts and uncles but then immediately grab the hand of one of the cousins and take off outdoors or to the playrooms. As a general rule, there's no fighting and usually, yes just usually, they don't get into trouble. There was that one episode with a disposable camera - when Dave picked up the pictures from developing he was mortified to discover the kids in suggestive poses, and thankful they didn't ask any questions. But, as I said, there usually isn't any trouble.

So, here we are in Brookings, Sourth Dakota - Laura Ingalls Wilder land - with Roxy, Evie, Jesse and Betsy. Roxy made prairie dresses, complete with aprons and bonnets for the girls and I made some knickers (by cutting off Goodwill pants and putting elastic in them) and got shirts, suspenders and straw hats for the boys. We're pretty excited for our four day adventure with Roxy and our cousins. In fact, Sophie summed it all up right before we left Grand Forks to meet up with Roxy and the kids. It'd been hectic getting to the car and there was some bickering. Once we were in the car Sophie said, "Don't worry Mom, we never fight when we're with Evie, Jesse and Betsy." The best thing is - she's right.