The Great Rain Escape - Part 1

I realize that I am often the first to complain about the weather. Last summer was going to kill me with it's heat. The winter before that was going to kill me with it's snow and never-ending cold. I humbly apologize for my constant critique about Mother Nature's offering, but . . . the rain of this Oregon winter is threatening to kill my spirit. The temperatures have actually been extremely mild, but the rain, every day with only a paltry number of sunny days, has become more than tiresome.

As such, when Matthew traveled for work this March for a week, the kids and I escaped the rain and visited my brother Paul and his family. They only recently moved to San Diego and have two children about Cheeks and Boy Howdy's ages. I was excited to get our children together for a few days, excited for Southern California's famous sun, excited to see Paul and Bre, and excited to do something other than go to the Gilbert House or OMSI to get out of the house.

The trip did not disappoint. We got cheap tickets and headed down Monday morning. Cheeks threw up 3 times on the flight. It was only a 2-hour flight but she managed to throw up THREE times. The third time happened as we were landing and Boy Howdy started throwing up shortly after she did. Thankfully we had two very kind people sitting around us (a policewoman right across the aisle and a fireman right behind her) that flew into action to help Boy Howdy as I was helping Cheeks. Love those first responders. Boy Howdy just kept crying that the plane wouldn't stop bumping. Poor babies. We were beyond ready to exit the plane and while I had done what I could to clean up our row, after the third time, I just did what I could and made sure the flight crew knew that 26 A,B and C needed a thorough cleaning before they seated new passengers.

After that things improved. The kids played so beautifully with each other. Cousin E and Boy Howdy were instant friends. They are only a few weeks different in age and they are both oldest children with silly, strong personalities. Cousin P and Cheeks were also fast friends. Cousin P is 9 months younger than Cheeks and doesn't talk much but that didn't stop them from digging in the dirt or pushing each other on a little tricycle. These four children played outside more often than not (Paul and Bre have an AWESOME backyard) and got Bre and I so excited for more cousin time this summer at family reunion.

A few pictures from the week.

The kids eating dinner outside. Bre barbecued some sausages, so the kids wanted to get in on the action and have their own barbecue. Boy Howdy grilled a rock and a pine cone for the girls and they all feasted heartily on their dirt puddings. They pulled over the pots and the seats to have their own al fresco dinner. I love everything about these pictures!

We put Cousin E and Boy Howdy in the back and Cheeks and Cousin P in the front. The two "big kids" were so funny in the back playing silly games with each other and giggling at their funny jokes. So so so cute!!