Cousins.

 

We celebrated a few birthdays while we were down at the lake. Two cousins and a husband's. And in spite of thunderstorms, lightning, a little rain and some lack of sleep, we all managed to have a fantastic time. The oldest cousin's birthday was supposed to be a water-playing extravaganza and even though it took awhile for the day to warm up, eventually everyone was in the lake. It's too tempting, even on the colder days. Since the kids have had swimming lessons this summer for the two weeks leading up to this, they believe the can completely swim on their own. This was particularly evident when Curtis came running up the lawn telling me "Parker needs help! He's hanging on the end of the dock and I can't pull him up!" Apparently, he had jumped in, swam back to the dock and couldn't get out. We had a big talk about when he CAN and CANNOT jump off the dock, be on the dock, swim off the dock, and be around the water in general.

 

 

 This sweet, big boy cousin of Parker and Everly's is so good to them. He invited them to his birthday party full of 11 year old boys. He had a slumber party with Parks for two nights at the cabin. He read to Everly while she sat on his lap. He made sure they were having fun. He played "who can eat their dinner the fastest" without any prompting. He has a ready smile, a big hug, and kind words ready every moment of the day. The kids soak him up. They played with the youngest cousin and ran around getting sweaty. They climbed up and down the banks of the lake for hours playing imaginative game of intricate pretending. They wrestle and play and snuggle together wrapped up in wet towels from swimming. They make sure everyone has a popsicle if someone is having one. Parker and Everly will occasionally stop when they're in the middle of something and wistfully stare off into the distance and murmur "I love my cousins...." And these types of weekends together make it so evident why.

 When Curtis opened up a card with some money in it, an excited 

Everly grabbed him and yelled "Look what you got! We have those too!!"