Country Cousins

One of our must-do's this summer was to steal Ammon and Tenley, our niece and nephew, for a visit.  They made the trip from rural VA to see their city cousins all by themselves (and with all their emergency money in tact).  Their arrival coincided perfectly with Eric's return from a conference in Chicago, so it was an extra joyful reunion.

We have had So. Much. Fun.  First of all, apparently, having a nine-year-old girl is not at all the same thing as having a nine-year-old boy (love you Briggie!).  They do crazy things, like willingly feed the baby her oatmeal, push the stroller and fill sippy cups with milk.  Amazing.

Since Ammon and Tenley's parents are former Durhamites, we took in a Durham Bulls game with some fellow Blue Devils and neighborhood friends.  Unfortunately the Bulls got crushed by the Gwinnett Braves, but we hardly noticed with all the fun we were having (and all the emergency money we were blowing on souveniers for friends back home).

We've been to the pool (these kids can really swim- I need to get mine some lessons!), the planetarium (yeah, I fell asleep), the velodrome, and have plans to squeeze in a few more adventures before they leave us on Thursday.  And there may have also been brief incidence of dumpster diving- for which I blame my sister-in-law, who has quite the history of dumpster-diving during her Duke days.

We'll miss them terribly (I even found myself canceling a long-awaited shopping trip with a friend because it falls on their last night here), but we're so happy to have discovered that cousin-swapping trips are not only possible, but a win all-around.  Since I love my own cousin like a sister, and grew up spending lots of time with her even though we never lived close, it's a big deal to me that my kids get the chance to do the same.

Also, I just really love being called "Aunt Katie"- it has a nice ring to it:).