Howes do NC v.2

A family trip is not complete without a little illness and puke and we covered both. Brady woke up on the day his cousins were set to arrive declaring it, "the worst day ever" because he had a fever (and his cousins were coming). He rallied (and maybe because he rallied), it reemerged a few days later. Again followed by recovery and 6 days after the original fever, one last very high fever and a midnight throw up session. The day before, his cousin Hudson had puked a few times at the lake house, but all things considered, it could have been worse.

Thursday morning we said our goodbyes to Eric and Amy (no, not ourselves), and their three boys as well as Grandma and Grandpa. We spent one more night at the lake with the other set of cousins, as the Portland crew wasn't leaving until Saturday. So Thursday, we left to go to the local Science Center, and as Eric entered the house, he turned and let me know I needed to keep the kids outside. Then he and my brother checked the house for signs of the burglar who had jimmied the door open and broke in. I was super relieved that s/he/they were not in the house and also, that mine and Ada's laptop were miraculously left on the table in plain sight.

They did dig through our suitcases (sorely disappointed) and took off with a few speakers. And my brother's sandals, or so he claims. Weird criminals.

 

 

 

We headed back on Friday and the kids had so much fun having their cousins at their house. And I had built in babysitters, as Emma and especially Reese gave Avery lots of the attention she craves.

 

 

 

And maybe my favorite picture of the trip that my dad captured. Actual words, "Let's sit together because we're best cousins."