We’ve had a house full of guests for the beginning of Spring Break. Lots of family. And it was wonderful. My brother and his family will be heading back overseas again next week, probably for another couple of years minimum–so we’re trying to get as much family time with them as possible. My dad and stepmom headed into town from Georgia as well, and they brought along my other brother, picking him up from Buffalo on the way. We didn’t have a big agenda. Just hang out. And hang out we did.  And thankfully, the weather was amazing when they were here, so we spent a lot of time outside.

James set up the trampoline last week, and that was a huge hit. Carter literally would’ve spent the entire day on the trampoline if we let him. But that’s because he had friends there, and someone to play with him and play trampoline games. The kids all kept each other busy, and they really did have a great time together. When they all left yesterday, I don’t think my boys knew what to do with themselves. Carter especially. He sort of wandered around aimlessly and said, “I just don’t know what to do” in a sad sort of way. The boys love my parents as well (by the way, I refer to my “parents” in two different ways–sometimes that gets confusing, I know. My mom and stepdad in Buffalo and my dad and stepmom in Georgia . . . but saying parents can refer to either!).  They try to be pretty involved when they come, so there was lots of playing going on with everyone.

We were sad to see everyone go, as I know that’s the last time that part of my family will be together like that for a really long time.

Playing hard doesn’t leave much time for sleep. But even though the kids were exhausted, they still were little chatterboxes at night. So we learned that it was best to have Brayden and Carter fall asleep in our bed and then carry them to their own beds later on, where their cousins were sleeping on the floor. They haven’t slept in the same bed very many times in their life, so it was precious to me to see the two of them sleeping so close together.