Friends no longer come to the blog so i'm just being real about who's actually visiting lately. The 4 Webbs are on our normal summer vacation to California and being "normal" never felt so good. We brought Max with us because he's Kendra's emotional therapy dog and became a serious part of our family over the past few months. The kids travelled well with their noses stuck in their Nintendo 3DS playing games against each other. They also watched movies and occasionally looked out the window at the amazing world outside our battle wagon. Max rode perfectly without a single peep or bark or poop mess. We forgot he was even there sometimes. The trip was uneventful, just like we desired.
Layla's been wanting to get on the ice ever since her performance ended a few weeks ago. the break was nice, but she was thrilled to be back out there practicing her next routine. As she was skating around I sat on the cold bench in my jeans and jacket drinking a hot chocolate. She looked at me every few minutes and I gave the "thumbs up" a few hundred times. She skated by and stopped for a moment to breath on the glass and draw a heart with her fingers. That made the trip there and time together worthwhile.
Kendra and Ouma spend most days by the pool. Joan's pool, Susie's pool, city pool... so many options and so many days to enjoy the great weather. Aunt Patty is a welcomed addition to any get together. Max is learning to swim, but is a long way from happily jumping into the pool voluntarily.
We joined the annual family reunion at Aunt Susie's house. Layla had quality time with her cousins with hula hoops and scooters.
Kendra was not able to join us last year. She was stuck in bed going through chemotherapy. This year is a much better situation... that is the understatement of the year.
Easton had an introduction to basketball since he hasn't played in a team environment on the court before. It was unorganized and terribly poor form, but they had the time of their life. Easton took some shots and he felt like "one of the boys" in a way he rarely gets to experience.
Easton and Layla love birthdays especially when they are celebrating their cousin's birthday. Owen is one of their favorites. they were happy to eat his cake and sing along to cheer him on.
It was rare for all of the cousins to all be in the same general area of the pool so I corralled them for a group picture. It'll be tough to see who is who behind the goggles, but some day the twins will guess their way through this picture with names.
One of the most memorable moments of the first weekend was seeing Kendra sit and talk with GG. These are the insignificant flashes of time that I took for granted before last year. Now i recognize them and watch intently as if I'm trying to burn it into my mind and truly comprehend how special they are.
Just... birthday cake. nothing more needs to be said about these smiles.
I was that guy who begged all the kids to stand next to each other in order of descending height. There are some cousins not present, but this is most of who Easton and Layla hang out with in the summer when it comes to family get togethers. Alyssa, Alana, Coleson, Braeden, abby, owen, Rowan, Easton, Layla, Lily.
For 16 years I've been a part of this family and not one picture exists of Kendra's cousins together. Although it would have been nice if someone else would have organized a group picture and invted us to join in, that has never happened and probably would never happen if it weren't for me and my shutter bug tendencies. Logan and Bree aren't here, but this is the rest of the gang of family from Ouma's side of the family. For the guys we have Brian, Casey, me, Mark, and Alan. The ladies are: Kelly, Heather, Barbie (soon to be officially a part of the family in August), Kendra, Coleen, and Janine.
We rearranged our schedule, missed some work, ditched our friends, and rushed our departure just to be in Sacramento for this evening of family togetherness. It was worth it on many levels.
See you soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment