Cousins and children

This last week we have had the opportunity of having James older kids David and Melody and Josh's girls Lissie and Anna stay at our house.  We have had a lot of fun.  Of course most of the time it was the children having fun and me watching and enjoying.  Here are some of the things I loved:

Playing trains with David an Melody.  Watching them so nicely take turns and hearing Melody exclaim over and over again "I So excited!" when the train would move on the tracks.

Watching Anna get Melody dressed, brush her hair and take her around helping her and including her.

Seeing Lissie get so excited about make believe games with Evie and Anna, Noah and Melody.

Learning new dances at our family dance Friday night from each child.  Evie preferred headbanging, Anna did disco moves, Lissie did animal moves, Alayna showed us how to spin and spin like ballerinas, and Noah was his crazy self.  Melody couldn't be contained to one room and skipped happily around the house to the music and David wanted to be right in the middle as an animal, but not a dancing one.

Watching Joseph learn to be more gentle and spending a couple hours playing whatever David and Melody wanted to play in the downstairs toy room so that they would feel comfortable going down there.

Seeing Alayna take melody out into the deeper water at the river and teach her to splash Joseph who overreacted perfectly just to get a huge giggle.

Watching Noah, Anna, Lissie, and Evie make a huge Mud pie on the bank and plaster Noah's back with mud.

Most of all I loved seeing them be friends, take care of each other, and serve one another.  I remembered experiencing summer.  The freedom and the fun.  The ability to spend hours upon hours imagining, pretending and enjoying.  With no Adult who is setting the rules, no constant ringing of a bell to say play time is over, a child led world.

Of course there were the not as great times to.  Lissie trying to run inside quickly to do something for me and tripping and breaking open her scab.  Anna crying because her forearms hurt from some kind of contact dermatitis.  David screaming because he had taken the ball from Melody and then not let go easily when Joseph took it from him to give it back and "it hurt him".  Evie and Anna hiding in the car where no one could find them and Lissie crying feeling rejected.  Melody's blow out (nuf said).

Those times were there but interspersed so that they were hardly noticeable.  I hope that as they look back on this uninterrupted time with their cousins they will remember the good things, the fun things and the crazy things.  I hope that they (as I do) will cherish the free summer days spent with cousins, making popsicles, wands, fairy dust and magic.

David and Melody have gone home.  I can honestly say that I will miss them.  It also is less work without them here.  (:  But still they leave a hole that will be waiting for their next visit for them to fill.  We still have two more fun-filled days with Lissie and Anna.  I hope they can put up with us for that long.  They are already talking about missing their parents, but they are quick to reassure us that they like it here to.  :)

A huge thanks to my brothers for raising such wonderful kids (Jake too, we enjoyed our time with Tean and Mo just as much) and for being so willing to share them with us.  There is nothing quite like a cousin.