Cousins

Growing up, though I had many, many cousins, I didn't really know them very well. This was in part because they all lived in the Boston area (except the two in Cincinnati and the two in New Hampshire), and it was in part because our age range was relatively vast. I fell somewhere in the middle. But I didn't have any cousins with whom I easily "fell in" because of our age.

One thing I think is cool for our kids is that the age spread of my nephews and niece makes get-togethers all the more fun. The oldest, Sal, is 17 months older than Casey. Vince is 6 months younger. Then Joey is a year younger than Vince. Leo is 6 months younger than Joey. Marcie is a year younger than Leo, and Ethan is 18 months younger than Marcie, followed by Calliope who is 22 months younger than Ethan. In fact, two of the cousins are in first grade this year and two are in kindergarten. What it means in practical terms is that the oldest is 8 1/2 years old and the youngest is 7 months old and most of the kids are close in age.

Anyway, I hope they grow up to be great friends and a large support system for one another. I know all their parents and love them. Here are some photos of "the cousins" in various forms from our week in North Carolina:

At breakfast together the morning the San Diego cousins arrived.

Leo, Marcie, Sal, Ethan, Vince, Casey, Joey (Calliope wasn't at the table).

Joey, Casey, Vince, Ethan, Leo, Sal-- enjoying some television (which was not on very often).

At the LEGO store, where they had a LEGO party.

In the back: Marcie, Grandma H., Vince, Casey

In the front: Ethan, Leo, Joey, Sal.
(Yes, Calliope is absent from this photo- she was being "worn" on her mom at the time.)

At Ray's Splash Planet (an indoor water park).

Leo, Marcie, Casey, Sal and Vince.

Ethan and Joey were also there in the water with us.

Calliope hung out with Tram (her mom), enjoy the sauna-like air.

And it was my mom's desire to get a good photograph of all eight of her grandchildren. I don't know that either of these qualify as "good," but when you're talking about kids from 7 months to 8 years, I think this is about as good as it gets. Here are what I thought were the two best:

I hope the kids one day look back at these photos and see how happy they were-- how much fun they had, and appreciate these relationships. We're lucky to have such a close-knit family.