Cousins rule!

My sister, S and her husband, J and their kids came to visit us for a couple of days this past week. It was so much fun! They got here on Christmas night. M was so excited for them to come that she took a book and went and sat on the driveway and waited for them to get here. We only got two days with them. We tried to show them things that you can only do here. We had a total blast!

Of course we had to take them swimming. I know that there are other places in the country that are warm too this time of year, but they aren't from one of those places. So M and K thought that they would really like swimming outside in December. We never get tired of these people! From left to right there's: K, X, T, J, M and K.

We took them alligator hunting. We had to ride in two separate cars because our shoe box of a car doesn't hold very much more than dirt on the floor really. Anyway, as we drove down to this magic road that always has alligators on it, we missed a bunch. S says that on the main road as we were driving, they saw a ton of them just laying on the side. J had come in our car and she and I were talking about all kinds of things and not watching for alligators. So, I guess we could have turned around before we got to this magic road that's an hour away from our house, but then we would have missed Skunk Ape. And, who wants that? Anyway, I know that I'll for sure get parent of the year award for this picture, but it was so awesome that I couldn't pass it up. Both M and K were more than a little worried about standing with their backs to an alligator, but I had them do it any way. M kept looking over her shoulder. I told her not to panic. If the alligator started coming towards them, I wouldn't make them take the picture. Their uncle J told them not to worry, if it came to attack he would jump on it's back and wrestle it. I think he was kind of hoping that he would get the chance, but thankfully the alligator didn't even move.

Here we are at Skunk Ape. This is a place that I am truly going to miss when it's time for us to move on. It's a petting zoo of sorts. I can't say that this wonderful gem is legal or not, and the food for the animals might be provided by drug money, but it makes for a great place to go visit! Where else can you hold a baby alligator, baby turtles, snakes, an assortment of birds and ride on the back of a tortoise? I would venture to say not many places offer that kind of experience! It truly is awesome and we love it! T said that Skunk Ape was his favorite thing to do while they were here, and he doesn't even like snakes! Especially the one that is 19 feet long and weighs 250 pounds. You can't hold that one, but you can touch it!

Since we only had two days we went and went and went. We stayed up late to play games and let the kiddos watch movies. Of course there was no sleeping in to compensate for the late nights. But if you ask me, it was totally worth it. The only thing that wasn't great was when we went to the beach, I locked the keys in the trunk. Yes that is the fifth or sixth time that I've done that since we moved here. You would think that we would hide a key some where. But after each time I think I won't do that again. Darn is all I have to say about that. We loved having them here and I cried when they left. I tried so hard to be brave, but as they pulled out of the driveway, I couldn't help it. I cried and my heart broke a little. We hope that they had as much fun as we did! We love you guys and hope we can live closer to you soon!