Cousin Time

The whole H crew came to town.

(speaking of being in town, J-Man and I went to Cozumel!  But more on that later)

It just sort of happened.  I think after the brief time together at Big Sis's wedding, we hadn't gotten enough of each other.  So the weekend of July 26th the whole group was there.

I have the nice pictures that a family friend took of us all, but Big Bro is still cautious about public photos of his kids, so I want to respect that.  Look for them sometime on facebook, when I get around to it.

The skies disagreed with both flights, so Big Bro's family (driven in both Papa H's and my vehicles since there are now 6 of them plus luggage!) didn't arrive home until 2am and Big Sis not til 3am.  Poor PDG was so confused as we stopped at McDonald's at 1am for french fries and bathroom breaks.

Friday, despite exhaustion, the kids were fantastic.  PDG just wanted to follow his cousin W everywhere, which W loved.  He kept telling me how PDG was his only cousin who "looked like him" - by which he meant light brown skin and dark curls.  I hadn't really considered that a 4 year old noticed race, but I guess when you're a mixed boy in Utah, there really aren't a lot of kids that look like you.

PDG also had Big Sis's stepdaughter N who wanted to keep him as her personal shadow.  She and W disagreed over whom PDG preferred, but both kept him very occupied and entertained.  The big boys raced on their bikes and searched for various animals while asking Papa H every 10 minutes when they could get in the hot tub and/or burn trash.  That night we did both, and even roasted marshmallows.  Different fires, don't worry.

Saturday J-Man joined us and all but the G's and Mama H went on a day trip to the caverns for the afternoon.  We took the formal pictures, caught a toad, played in chalk, and got everyone much needed baths before some relaxing cuddles.

Sunday Mama and Papa H proudly had all the family sitting peacefully in church.  It was Big Sis's husband's first Mormon service, I think, and little N, age 7, whispered to me "there's a lot of kids here."  I had to smile and agree with her.

Sunday dinner was a thanksgiving feast, turkey and all, and most likely more hot tub time.

Each day I kept thinking how much PDG has grown since last year's gathering. Then he was just going through cry-it-out and was pretty unaware of the world around him still.  And then I thought of next year, assuming we keep this tradition up, and how MDG will probably be near-crawling by then and PDG and his cousin O, who is 6 months younger, will both be running even more, maybe even getting in the hot tub or chasing lightning bugs or driving tricycles with the big kids.

Not that I want to rush time.  This year was pretty great as it was.  And although Big Sis had to leave with her family Sunday night, Big Bro's stayed for another 7 days of Virginia memories.

I really love my family.  We can be loud and crazy at times, but there's nothing like having us all together.