Amy & my nieces in town

Me & Amy at dinner in Rome, Italy

My sister, Amy, and her 2 girls, C who is 3 and E who is 1 1/2, came into town this past week. Amy & her husband Brian were going to St Augustine for the weekend to celebrate their 6th Anniversary so my Mom & Dad were watching the kids. Amy decided to come down from Atlanta early to give C time to go to Moms preschool and to let the kids play together. 

(Side note: My parents waited impatiently for 29 years for grandkids and got 4 in under 3 years. C is the oldest, then H came 12 months later, then E 11 months after that and then A in 10 months. Kinda a fun trend but very overwhelming. Moral of the story: more often than not you get what you wish for just not in the way you want it.)

I love my sister. Like love her so much that even though, growing up, I made it my mission to annoy her, I try to emulate her in all aspects of life. That is a story for another day. I hope some day that H loves A as much as I love Amy. 

H loves his cousins. From the moment we tell him that they are coming down he will wake up saying "Soon?". He thinks that both C & E are the bees knees. 

Look that that face! He was so excited to have his cousins at his house.

C bosses him around but he can't get enough of it.  C's language comprehension and use is beyond that of a normal 3 year old. This can get her in trouble but we love it because H always comes away from spending time with C using new words and increases his language comprehension. I love that at the age of 2 and 3 respectively, H is already learning stuff from C. 

H & C playing together

He is very lucky to have cousins close to him in age. He has always loved playing with C but now that E is old enough to walk around the participate, H has fallen in love with her sweet, gently, mischievous spirit. 

H & E playing on Balou the Bear

I think that she is teaching him how to relax and enjoy the small things because E has the ability (at 1 1/2) to make a game out of anything. Her laugh and smile are infectious. 

Then there is my sweet A who just sits there in the midst of all the chaos and observes what the big kids do. 

I love that in the above picture, she is just sitting there watching C swing Darby around. 

I got to have some sister time with my sister at The Grotto one night. 

It has been a while since she and I have had a chance to just hang out alone. It was great to visit with her and talk in a quiet place over a glass of wine or 2 without husbands or kids running around. 

Here is a photo dump of our visit with them:

Amy and the girls were in town starting Monday and left Sunday morning. H got some good quality cousin time in and can't wait to see them again on July 4th weekend. 

KK