Fun with Family

Today we went over to my sister's house to celebrate my young nephew's baptism. It was a nice get together and there were lots of people there. The kids did okay, and they had a good dessert. However, afterward, my sister-in-law brought my niece and other nephew over to the house while my brother was on his way back from drill. He brought a couple pizzas and we dined around our rather large table (after putting a leaf in). We had 7 kids here with the addition of my 1-yeard old niece and 4-year old nephew.

All I can say is that all of the kids had such a fun time!

Sometimes it's funny to think that the most fun your children can have doesn't involve going to an entertainment or recreational facility, doesn't involve spending money, and doesn't involve fretting over who gets the next turn. Quite the contrary; they all had so much fun playing at our house together. I don't know if it's because of the excitement of having someone else over to play with or something I just don't get.

Harper and Willow, five and two, were so cute running around playing with our one-year old niece. Then later, Harper and Willow were coloring with our four-year old nephew. For a while, Nolan was playing LEGOs with our nephew and then I think all of them were running around laughing and playing. It was the type of site that brings a smile to your face.

The cutest was when our niece was playing peekaboo with Isla.

Keep in mind, we see my brother and his family a handful of times a year. However, we rarely get-together in this fashion. We also haven't done it since our niece has reached an age where she can run around and play with the older ones.

It's amazing how much fun it can be to have cousins around the same age. Not only do we get to converse with my brother and sister-in-law, but the kids get to play with their cousins. It makes me wish there was one more cousin around Nolan and Riannah's age for them to play with, but they still had a really good time.

I only hope our kids have children around the same age so that they too can get-together and play with their cousins. And hopefully, we'll have the house where everyone can gather and the little ones can run and play. Of course, that's a long ways off, but it's always fun to think of.

There's something to be said about the power of having fun with your cousins!