a houseful of relatives

Two Saturdays ago, my sister's family came in for a visit. Since she was coming, I decided to invite over all of our first cousins' families on my dad's side (I see my cousins on my mom's side all the time!). We hadn't seen these cousins in a long while, so I was excited for their visit.

Since we were expecting company, I had the boys help out with the house preparation. They were in charge of cleaning their rooms (straightening them up and vacuuming them) and cleaning the playroom. I was concerned that my one cousin's two year old would get a very small Lego in his mouth. (I am not prepared to practice my first aid skills already.)

SJ was not too keen on helping. There was a lot of complaining and moaning. After he was done, he did inquire if he would get any extra money in his account. I told him that he would not. That it was already a part of his allowance. That was not the answer he was expecting.

My sister's family and my dad came early in the afternoon. (They came over right after Bob's indoor soccer game.) Then, my mom arrived an hour later. My other sister, who lives locally, came around 4 o'clock. The cousins started arriving around 6. We ate dinner and got a chance to catch up with them.

I brought down some Lincoln Logs for the young kids to play with. SJ and my niece jumped into to join the little kids. Before I knew it, Bob and my nephews Gabriel and Cedar will building too.  It was kind of nice to see my boys rediscovering their old toys even if it was only for a short time.

Everyone left by 9 o'clock. The only ones who remained were Gabriel and Cedar. They were having a sleepover to celebrate Bob's birthday. All the boys played nicely until we told them to go to bed around 11.

I could hear them moving around at 7:30 a.m. I went to get them their favorite donuts (SJ and Gabriel opted for white iced rings, Bob went with powdered cake and Cedar requested glazed.) They played until I had to drive them back to my parents. They were heading back home around lunch time. SJ didn't want to join us, so I left him at home with my husband.

I think SJ enjoyed visiting with the kids and my cousins. Even though he enjoys the company, he also enjoys his alone time.