Cousin Fest '11

So we got to spend some time with MB & Bo's cousins on our trip to NC in August, and it was so fun to watch. There's something special about cousins, don't you think? 

Bo's closest cousins, age-wise, are his cousins Griffin and Gretchen, who are six weeks older. 

I think Bo liked having babies his own age to crawl around with. Mary Bullock is a wonderful big sister, but sometimes it's more like Bo has two Mamas, one of whom is very bossy. And the other makes him sit still for diaper changes and wipes his nose against his will, so she's kind of a bummer.

My mom was in Grandma heaven with these three. She got to love on all the babies and didn't have to change any diapers!

We also got to go to the Marbles Museum in Raleigh, finally, after I assured Lee that we would not be looking at exhibits full of marbles all day. Actually, I'm pretty sure this was MB's version of paradise. She played

And played

And played

And played. The pizza parlor was one of my favorite parts. By that time she was sweaty [fwetty] and her hair went into a tangled pony tail that reminded me of my Mellow Mushroom days. I didn't brush my hair back then, so this is pretty much what I looked like. We explained to MB the finer points of the Funky Chicken pizza [the old school Funky Chicken, with pesto and jerk chicken, not the new one- blegh]. She agreed that this was probably the best pizza on the planet. 

One of my other favorite parts of this trip was that Daddy got to come with us. Everything is better with Daddy. I know with family far away and a husband who doesn't actually get "vacation" from work, I'm in for a lifetime of solo car trips. So the times when he can come with us are extra special to me. 

They had a "soft" play place for babies, which Bo loved for the 20 minutes of our museum trip that he was awake for.

And then my camera battery said KILL ME NOW and died. But not before I could make a note to self: Surround next nursery with mirrors. Instant entertainment, no babysitter required.