Cousins!

As many of you know, the boys and I drove to Clearwater, Florida on Wednesday. Call us {or rather me} crazy! I left Birmingham just after 8:00 a.m. CST and arrived in Clearwater around 8:30 p.m. EST. It was actually an easy drive ~ just long. My brother and I made what I consider a tactical error in getting there so we went through LOTS of small towns with LOTS of lights particularly as we approached Clearwater.

The boys did great and were very patient with being in the car for the entirety of the day. Not including our stop on Highway 280 {mind you that is before we even reach the interstate from our house} we only stopped twice ~ once for a picnic lunch and once for gas.


Being somewhat of a prude and a definite follower of the rules, I hated to take Mary Frances out of school for more than necessary. Frank had some Southwest vouchers so the two of them flew to Tampa on Thursday evening. What a gift that they were able to have that experience together!


Why the jaunt to Florida? My cousin, Dan, was getting married on Friday evening. It was a lovely event. It's always nice to see family though I don't ever feel like I get to visit the way I want to because I am watching after my little ones {as I should be}. My favorite part of these family gatherings is watching the cousins play together.

I didn't really take many pictures. I left that up to my mother... Too bad I can't get her pictures off of Snapfish because there are some great ones.

I enjoyed watching Mary Frances love on Sarah and then run around with Maggie's clan. Maggie is my double first cousin who is six months older than me. We were in the same grade and had a lot, yet nothing in common. We were pretty close as children thanks to her parents making an effort to spend as much time as possible in Alabama. They lived in Rye, New York but spent six weeks in the summer and two weeks at Christmas with their family in Alabama. Many of the memories I have from Point Clear include Maggie and her sister, Leah, and brother, Dillon. It was a blessing to know and love my cousins as a child, and I hope that my children share that sentiment as they get older.

I'm a bit sad that this is our last family wedding for a good while. My mom's brother has two but they are still in high school and college so it should be a while for them. We are going to have to find ways to keep bringing the extended family together so my children can know my cousins' children.