Colorado Road Trip: The Wonders of Older Cousins!

Zadie and Skip building a fort with their cousins Lauren (left) and Callie (right).  Tori and I got to cozy up inside the house while the cousins took them on outdoor adventures!

The very best part of our trip to Colorado was seeing how well the kids played with their Colorado cousins. Yes, it warms the heart to see your children playing so joyfully with kinfolk.  Even better, it meant that we could just relax all day long while the kids were thoroughly entertained by their older cousins -- we even got to go out to brunch one time while they babysat!

My uncle John is hands-down my very favorite uncle.  That's easy to say since my mom is one of four girls and my dad only has one brother.  But even if I had a slew of uncles, it's hard to imagine liking an uncle more than I like my uncle John.  He's kind of like my dad, except totally different.

He and his wife Connie have four kids ages 8 through 12, which was good for me to think about when I used to feel sorry for myself (self-inflicted, I know!).  They definitely had it even worse than we did.  Then again, they have three perfect little girls and one decently-behaved boy, so I think we've got the edge in that department.  Little boys are about twice as much work as little girls and I think Charlie was the work of three normal little babies!

Anyway, John and Connie's kids are really sweet and down-to-earth.  Zadie adored Lauren and followed her around like a little puppy.  She also slept next to her every single night and pretty much didn't give anyone else the time of day.  Skip split his time pretty equally with the three girls and also wrestled and played roughly with little John.  As for Charlie, naturally it took the special gifts of Callie to entertain him for hours on end.  It was total heaven to see our kids so completely entertained and occupied with their cousins!

Zadie had such a great time that she ended up extending her time with them.  Because their family was also heading to San Diego for Thanksgiving, Zadie rode with Connie and two of the kids to go to San Diego and then stayed with them in San Diego for five whole days until we arrived to claim her.  That Zadie is very independent and never once got sad or lonely for her moms.  And certainly not her brothers.  She loved all her time with her older cousins and all the special attention she got from John and Connie!