Just Cuz

Yep. More cousin adventures. Go to the bathroom and then grab a snack. You're going to be here for a while. Get something for me too. Didn't your mama teach you to share?

We went to Connecticut to pick up my cousin and little R.

In turn we got to hang out with their new little friend M. In the cow print leg warmers that you just squealed over.

I wanted to squeeze her the whole time we were there.

Their first night together.

I should have known.

Did I mention that the friend we visited in Connecticut lived in one of those AMAZING old homes that they feature in Ethan Allen sometimes? The ones with a super creepy basement that I asked to see?

(My cousin and her bestie.)

Breakfast at the town General Store.

A store.

With generally needed items like breakfast.

Then we picked looked at flowers and R caught butterflies.

Totally ninja.

And they walked home barefoot.

Forgive us Connecticut.

We were raised in the south.

When we got home, they took care of some important business.

Like Playdoh.

And trains.

And those plastic bubble blowers that we had in the 80's.

Then we made Gingerbread Men.

Because.

Teamwork.

How REAL men decorate cookies.

Then we hit up the local Children's Museum.

Austin was taking out a loan for a power wheels.

Practicing their emergency response skills.

Then came lunch at the Circus Cafe.

We ALL only ate our lunch so we could get this bad boy for dessert.

Carousel ride. Check.

Making wishes in Congress Park.

And feeding the ducks.

This is how girls drink from fountains.

And that was how a boy did it.

The cotton candy sugar high was wearing off.

So we got some ice cream.

Pajama story time at the book store.

They had a freakishly gigantic mouse and cookies.

Maybe not the best idea at 7:00 at night?

At least R's shoes were fabulous.

I kind of loved having a little girl in the house.

I got to make fancy sandwiches.

A short drive to Lake George and then up Prospect Mountain for an Adirondack view.

We had to hike to the very top.

Austin smoked us all.

At this point I believe big R and I were using oxygen masks and crawling on our hands and knees.

R & R

(tehehehehehe)

I totally wiped the eye holes on that thing with a disinfecting wipe.

No pink eye for us thankyouverymuch.

I love this boy.

Are you exhausted yet?

Time for some crawfish hunting.

And mud flinging.

Austin was a little freaked out by the Little Mermaid.

The two of them devised a plan to catch the bunny that lives in our back yard.

It involved a trail of carrots from the shed to the trampoline wherein they would trap the bunny and love it, and squeeze it, and call it George. Unfortunately a hungry black dog (who shall remain unnamed) had other plans for their trail of carrots.

Bedtime?

What's that?

I know what you are thinking. Is that ALL you did with your cousin Brandi?

Nope. We also went swimming in the lake, visited a wildlife center, had a pedicure night (Austin included- don't tell his Father), made tie dye t-shirts and apple picking (oh wait- you already knew that), made bead bracelets, jumped on the trampoline, big R taught me how to make an Indian food dish, took a nice long hike (and then a run to CVS for poison ivy soap), had brunch at a fabulous local restaurant, did some downtown Saratoga shopping, annnnnnnnnd the mommies MAY have had one late evening that involved a bottle of Argentinean wine and the movie Bridesmaids.

I wish they lived closer so we could do cool stuff with them ALL of the time!

Now I'm going to go take a nap.