Calling All Cousins

My house has been exceptionally quiet this week, but that’s all about to change tomorrow. Not only is my son coming back from a week-long trip to Cincinnati with our church youth group, but Cousins Week commences as well. The cousins from my side of the family are coming to spend their annual summer week with us. This year is special as the youngest is able to join us. There will be swimming, hiking, picnicking, camping, tons of laughter, maybe even a few tears and possibly thunderstorms that make "certain" people scared. It will be fun for all!

We have been doing this for about 10 years now and it is one of my favorite weeks of the summer. I look forward to the kids coming. I love watching them all do things together – and age doesn’t matter. The 21 year old doesn’t have any problems hangin’ with the 6 year old. I love that they love each other and have built relationships amongst themselves. These will truly be their friends for life.

I was never close with my own cousins growing up. There were probably reasons, but I know, at least for my brother and me, we were in between as far as ages were concerned. The cousins on my mom’s side were older than we were and the cousins on my dad’s side were all younger. I did always feel like I missed out on something not being close to them. My husband has lots of stories of growing up and family gatherings with his cousins – and there were A LOT of them. They didn’t just have first cousins, but second and now third as well when they all get together. I am blessed to have reconnected with my cousins on Facebook and can be a part of their adult lives.

Here are a few pictures of the cousins over the years. I can’t wait to see what this year will bring! Stay tuned...

Let the chaos begin!

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