Some of my best memories growing up are the times spent with my cousins. There were summers spent at Six Flags amusement parks, hiking in Colorado and just simple sleepovers filled with giggles.
In the past when we’ve gotten our girls together with their cousins it’s been fun but it still involved naps and potty training. Lately though they’re all getting to the age where it’s just a non stop party, the kind that everyone wants to join.
This weekend we took a very quick trip up to visit my dad. It so happens that my sister lives across the street from him. My other sister heard we were coming and drove 2 hours to come see us.
So what started as a trip to go see Grandpa, turned into a cousin free for all and ended with sobbing tears from one Byrd girl as we backed out of their driveway to head home for Houston because she didn’t want to leave without her cousins. It’s so sweet it will cause cavities.
Let’s go back to the beginning of the weekend.
My dad lives in an area that I grew up in. Mr. Byrd and I had our first date there long before the gray hair showed up and were eventually married there. I know the area like the back of my hand. Mr. Byrd isn’t from there so he doesn’t really get it. But I get it and I love it.
I also love views. Anything with a view and I’m there.
He teases me relentlessly about how I’ll stop for a pretty view and has a great comedy routine about how I react to a gorgeous view.
I mean, I live in Houston which is flat! To get a view I have to go downtown and up 57 floors just to see more concrete. Give me lush rolling hills, trees and potentially a pond or lake and I’m set for life.
My reply to him is always that he could have married a girl that likes to max out the credit cards but instead he married someone that’s content to sit and look at a pretty view, for free. It’s a win-win situation for him.
So on the drive up to my dad’s house, when a child said just at the right moment, “I have to go to the bathroom!”, I knew just where we were stopping!
Breathe it in. Isn’t it lovely?
This is Love’s Lookout in Jacksonville, TX. You can see for 36 miles across a large valley. I knew I needed a good reason to stop or Mr. Byrd would have rolled his eyes at me but truthfully, there is actually an immaculate rest stop. Win – win for me this time. If you’re ever driving through Jacksonville and need a bathroom stop, choose Love’s Lookout.
And of course since there’s a gorgeous view, let’s take a picture.
Well that’s a framer – and by framer, I mean to show any boy that comes around that we want to scare off one day.
If we photoshop Mr. Byrd in this picture, it would be perfect. (Our middle girl sprained her hand last week, hence the splint but she’s fine and it’s off now.)
After only 5,000 more bathroom stops (none with a view like Love’s Lookout) we made it to Grandpa’s and the cousins were reunited.
And they picked right back up where they left off.
The giggles were loud. The shrieks of joy were louder.
And the laughter was amazing.
I told Mr. Byrd that for some reason, everything is funnier in East Texas. I think it’s mainly the company we’re around mixed with the laid back lifestyle.
My brother-in-law declared he lived in a house full of chicks. Which with a beautiful wife and two gorgeous girls he does but he also has these precious baby chickens.
And after the sun went down on all the fun from that day, my dad lit the candles on a birthday cake he had baked and frosted for his oldest granddaughter.
And she blew the candles out and then she did it again. And again. And again.
Because everything is funnier in East Texas, even the trick candles that Grandpa put on the cake.
It was a sweet weekend and time spent that we need to grasp before the preteens get too cool to hang out with family.
But we’re back home now (put away the burglary gear). Already the girls are plotting and planning their next trip to grandpa’s house to spend more time with their cousins.
Hopefully next time we go I’ll get to bring home a mixed media masterpiece such as this that my 5 year old niece made. No pressure sister to get that done, but here’s some pressure…..
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well.
Stick around because this week I have a great Burlap Sunflower Wreath Tutorial coming up and more Easter crafts.
