Cousins

We've had a house full of children for the past two days and its been lovely.  Busy, and messy, and frequently very loud-- but lovely.  Cousin Steve Henderson and his family made the trip from Annapolis to join us for Thanksgiving and its been a delight to spend more time with this "new" branch of our family, after our brief visit together in July.  Jack and Ivy have been in seventh heaven, having constant access to play mates.  Steve's son Gavin is 4 1/2 and he and Jack have become fast friends, playing together nonstop for two days with only a few small arguments, which is nearly miraculous.  Ada and Ivy sometimes played together, sometimes apart, and generally tagged along with the boys.  Most of the time, all four of them have entertained each other in a most delightful way, with independent happy play predominating, At times, there have been tears over stolen marbles and arguments over airplanes, but they're family, so they've gotten over it.

Can I tell you how adorable it was last night, when Jack and Gavin had a "sleep over" and sat together in Jack's bed for a good half hour, looking at books together, til Jack snuggled himself into his nest of pillows and blankets, and Gavin headed in to sleep with him mom.... Or tonight when Gavin came back in to Jack's room to tell him that he's invited to come to their house sometime, that they'll put a bed in the basement room for us and we can stay with them.  Jack is all excited to go to their house, "all the way to the ocean!"-- and I think we should do it. Six hours is not that far and this is a wonderful new relationship to nurture.

Plus, Annapolis is very close to D.C.

It's been a truly splendid Thanksgiving, from our perfectly cooked turkeys (yes, two turkeys, one roasted and one grilled...) to the happy children to the good conversation.  Not to mention the weather, which has been as good as it gets in November in Cleveland.

Today, a most marvelous morning was spent at the beach, in 60 degree sunshine with driftwood teepees and pirate ships and barking dogs and sandy little hands.... but that will deserve its own post when I get the pictures from my mom...

In the meantime, a few shots of our lives over the past two days: