Cousin Reunion

This past week, we had the opportunity to have a little cousin-reunion.  Not so much for Addison and all of her cousins but for Me and my cousin.  For those that don't know, I grew up very close to my cousin Jared.  I'd say we easily consider each other best friends.  We've been through life together…the ups and the downs…and we've always been able to help each other through them…especially by laughing.  I'm grateful for him and all the memories we've created through the years.  Mostly, from our grand adventures across the world together.  Now that we are both married and have families of our own, he's still so good about keeping in touch.  Which is how his trip to Missouri with his two kiddos came to be.  We were grateful we could drop everything and meet up with him…even though poor John had to stay behind and work.  I enjoyed getting to show Addison and Jonas how much fun my cousin really was.  They had a blast as did I.

After it was all said and done, we actually got to spend almost a whole four days together.  It was a great week (although a busy one) of seeing a lot of my relatives and catching up with everyone.  Of course, Addison and Jonas and Brooklyn didn't mind being showered in a little Grandma Bell love since we stayed with her during our trip.  

We just arrived at Grandma's house and we needed to send Daddy a picture letting him know we missed him.

One of the first days we were there we met up with my Aunt Lorraine at the farm park and enjoyed some donuts.  We were able to visit with my Aunt Lorraine, my Uncle Kenny & Aunt Sharon, my cousin-in-law Sarah and her boys, my cousin Jared and his kids, and my cousin Sara and her kiddos.  It was a beautiful day and so much fun to catch up and visit.

Addison and Tiana were great friends fast.  It was so fun to see how well they got along together.

It didn't take Jonas long to work up a sweat or find a tractor.  He makes a cute little farmer.  My Grandpa Bell would be proud.

Another day we spent with Jared and his kids at Silver Dollar City.  It was a great day for the most part.  We purposely arrived early so Jared and I could hit up the big rides before the lines grew too long.  The day worked out perfectly.  There was hardly a crowd and we buzzed through so many rides so fast.  Which was good for Grandma Bell too since she was juggling the five kids total while we had some fun.  By the time we worked our way to the kiddie land the rain started making an appearance.  There was a good 10 minutes or so of hard downpour where we all had to crowd in with strangers under the little awnings and we did get a little wet.  However, I didn't mind at all since we practically had the park to ourselves after that.  We survived the day and had a blast doing it - kids included!

Jonas riding the little kid swings.  He was excited although you can't tell by his face.  ;)

Addison waiting patiently for the swings to start swinging.

I was the kind one and bit the bullet and took the kids on the spinning tea cups.  Jared will forever be in my debt for that one.  How could I say no to these cute (and dirty) faces? 

Brooklyn easily wins the award for "Best Baby to take to an amusement park!"  She was such a trooper…even through the downpour of rain!

Throughout our visit we spend a lot of down time just visiting and spending time catching up.  Those visits are the ones that bring back memories of the good ole days.  We had a lot of reminiscing on the good ole days during this trip.  

Jonas was being a little shree-haw for Carson and happily pushing him around the house.  They were both loving it.  The two-year old pushing the four-year old.  ;)

Addison hanging out during one of our visits to my Aunt Sharon's house.  We were very appreciative of her hospitality and entertainment.

Overall, it was SUCH a great visit and definitely worth the trip to reunite with Jared.  I hope we always stay close no matter how much distance separates us or how many kids we have.  He's a great friend and I consider myself lucky to have him.