Cousin-Twins part 2

See how Gracie's face is clean?

See how things are going in her mouth?

See how her face isn't clean anymore? (Yes, she was eating rocks.)

Cousin-Twins

My cousin James & his wife Julie have a little girl named Anna. She's very blond, very cute, & very fun. She's also only twelve hours older than Gracie. So, when I flew to States, it was imperative that we get the twins together.








Gracie may someday be jealous of her cousin-twin being the dominant subject of these photos, but I'll just have to remind her that Anna photographs really well.

Cute-Meet

Neal was leaning through the slats of a bridge to look at the water & I suspended the camera to get this shot. It was taken upside down & that's the way it'll stay.


There were turtles to observe.

Not that the turtles impressed the little lady much.

Meeting up with friends I haven't seen in a long time makes traveling better. The last time I'd seen my friend Ben nine years ago. A few things have changed in that time. My kid count had gone from one to four; I'd moved from Florida to New Jersey to England; he'd progressed from an undergrad to completing a PhD; he'd gone from single guy to husband-and-father; he'd moved from Missouri to Minnesota to Iowa.

But with all those changes, he is still Ben. Just with a clever & cool wife. And a grown up job. And a cute son.

A cute son that Gracie really liked being with.

Jenn & the Next Generation

Jenn and I were roommates my sophmore year at Southeast Missouri State...in subsequent years we shared a suite with two other friends. Jenn first met my mom in the elevator as I was moving back into the dorms following my summer finals at BYU. I'd returned to the school where I made some of my greatest friends & met my greatest love. (I must have annoyed Jenn to hear me telling Gracie "this is the hallway where I first saw your daddy" and such; but she's a patient soul & didn't comment.)

Anyway, Jenn still lives in the area with her beautiful daughter Nadia. We spent a few hours on campus, catching up on life. While checking out at the bookstore ("where your daddy used to work, Gracie"), an older lady asked if our girls were sisters...after telling us that they were were the two prettiest little girls she'd seen in a long time.

Nadia loves water. She happily explored this fountain that didn't even exist the last time I was there. (It's in front of Kent Library.)

The view of the Mississippi River from the River Campus -- which also didn't exist 15 years ago. One of my favorite memories of this area was a year when the river froze solid & a bunch of us played on the faux-iceberg.

Jenn is still one of the easiest people in the world to talk to. That red door behind her is the entrance to our old dining hall. Now it's an entrance to a campus-run Starbucks.

Our old dorm. I once sat on that bench with my friend Andy (now he's grown up and I call him Andrew), after the adrenaline rush caused by setting my dorm room on fire. Actually, that week had been adrenaline-filled because the previous day a boy (not my boy) had cornered me on the stairs and asked if I was attracted to him. PANIC!! Accidentally catching the curtains in my room on fire was actually a relief because it meant I had something else to freak out about.

Anyway, we cornered some poor undergrad and asked her to take a photo of us with our girls. Never would I have imagined that as an 18 year old. We also got another undergrad to let us onto our old floor. I didn't take a photo of our old door -- that would have been creepy for the girls who live there now.

Gracie & Grandma

I'm mostly over the jet lag from a trip to Missouri. My mom was ready to meet Gracie in person. So, here's the little girl in my childhood home with Grandma.

Entitlement

Cami and Rosie are in the middle of an altercation. Cami came home from school this afternoon to find that one of her projects had been dismantled & she's really upset. There have been tears, yelling, & a few choice adjectives directed toward her little sister. I reminded her that she has the right to be upset & angry, but not the right to call her sister names.

Rosie came in with her "I'm sad" face on. When I asked her why, she said it is because Cami is upset with her. I told her that Cami has the right to feel the way she does, to which Rosie replied, "No, she has the wrongs."

Blockbuster

When I collected Graham from school today, his teacher reported that Graham had provided a "classic moment."

The students had recently had an educational unit about "Money," where they created a small shop & sold crafts. After deducting expenses, they had a fair profit & today they decided what to do with those funds. The majority of their profit will be donated to a charity, but they reserved a portion to buy a movie or game for their classroom for recess periods. Graham, however, proposed that he rent out his favorite movie "Spy Kids" for a pound.