The Cousins Meet at Last!

Last Wednesday, after over 9 months of waiting, I FINALLY got to meet my sweet baby niece, Summer Grace! My parents, sister, and niece literally traveled by "plane, train, and automobile" to come visit. It was quite a day of travel for them and they arrived completely exhausted, but we were so glad to have them here.

How sweet it was to pick up Summer for the first time after all of our previous interaction had been through a computer screen. My kids just adored her! It was so precious to see her with Collin, too (they are only a month and a half apart in age). They would make each other smile, and grab at each other's faces. So cute!We quickly learned that our Summer is a ball of energy... always on the move. She kept us on our toes and kept us laughing! One of our favorite things about Summer is how she dances! My sister would start singing "Baa, baa black sheep", and Summer's head would start bobbing! Loved it!

Uncle Ethan bonded with his first-ever niece one night over a few stacking cups. He had her laughing so easily. It was adorable!

While my family was here, we did a few day trips. The first day, we took a walk through Ripon to play on a playground and see the Cathedral.We also took a day trip to the city of York. We found a good Mexican restaurant for lunch, and we did a tour of the York Castle Museum that afternoon. We also enjoyed a leisurely walk through the small streets to see the Shambles (a narrow street from medieval times), and York Minster.Also, during this visit my dad finally made good on his threat to go to school with my kids. I don't think I've blogged about this before, but last year when my dad visited and saw the kids' school, he said that he wanted to go. He told the story about how he couldn't go to school as a kid because he had to work in the coal mines.... etc., etc. To this, the kids responded that he couldn't go to school because he didn't have a school jumper (sweatshirt).

So, for Christmas last year, we got my dad his very own Bishop Thornton jumper! He was thrilled, and wore it proudly to school last Friday, with his Harley Davidson lunch box in tow. He went into the school with the kids, and after reaching his goal of a sufficient number of eye-rolls, headed back home with me. More about our trips to Bolton Abbey and London next time!