This weekend my cousin Kelly and her family visited Chicago and stayed overnight at our place. Dallas was in Vancouver for work, but my parents and my nieces also stayed over, so it was a full house. My brother and Amanda also visited for the day Saturday. Kind of crazy. Kelly’s kids are 4 years old, 2 years old and 11 months old. My nieces are 8 years old and 14 years old. Like I said, crazy!

Tessa is the 4-year-old. She is getting to be such a big girl who can help you out with things and play on her own. I can’t even believe she’s so grown up already. Seems like not so long ago, Kelly and Jeff lived in Virginia and I flew out when Tessa was born. But, I guess when I think about it, a lot has happened since then.

Tessa has a great personality. Very outgoing and fun. She and my niece Jessica are good buddies, even though Jess is 3 years older. They ran around and played so much this weekend. Both at Haas Park and around the house. Here in a rare moment, sitting still. Let’s put these girls to work!

Like I said, Tessa is a good helper. And so is Jessica. Tessa likes you to tell her she’s a good helper and is proud. I think Jess is a little over it and can’t be fooled so easily, but she is a good girl so she chips in too. They are both well-behaved and were excited to go outside and help me water plants on the patio and roof deck.

The watering pitcher was a bit heavy, but once I emptied a lot of it on some taller plants, Tessa was happy to help with the lower plants. We played a lot of games this weekend and it was fun to see Tessa. It is also nice to see how much fun she and Jess have when they get together, even if it’s not as often as everyone would like. They bounce right back into it like no time was lost!

Tess and Jess (rhymes!) were running around so much, that I didn’t get good portraits of them like I did of Tessa’s sisters. For a while on Sunday morning they were just chilling out on the couch.

Charlotte is 2 years old. She loves her Dora! Actually, she loves Boots. I am still getting to know Charlotte. She is very much attached to Kelly and Jeff, so I haven’t gotten to interact with her as much as Tessa and Margo. I did learn that Charlotte loves water.

At the park Charlotte was the first to run into the sprinklers and get wet and probably the one who stayed in the water the most. Char was also outside while we were watering and was not shy about getting her feet rinsed off and taking drinks from the hose. And then there was the bath! Charlotte, Jessica and Tessa took a bath in my big jacuzzi tub and had a blast. Jets and bubbles and plastic bowls. Lots of splashing. Charlotte was sticking her head under the faucet and taking drinks from it. So funny. I think when she was in the water was when she was happiest this weekend! She is going to be a great swimmer.

Unfortunately, Charlotte was not feeling well on Saturday. And she is 2 (enough said), so she looked at me like this a lot. Angry eyebrows! I know she will grow out of it, though. I look forward to seeing her next time! I hope she feels better!

Finally, Margo. The baby. She is not even 1 year old yet.

Margo is a good baby. She does not cry too much and, right now at least, she is not too shy about other people holding her and giving her bottles and stuff like that.

She is standing up and learning to take steps right now. She is not hesitant about trying to go for what she wants. Margo will be running around in no time!

I missed out on photographing Superman, but here’s a photo of Wonder Woman: Kelly!

Actually, I didn’t take this photo but found it on my camera. I don’t know who took it, but I’m going to guess it was my mom. I don’t know if Kelly will like this photo of her relaxing with Charlotte on Saturday night, but I think it’s a great, honest photo of a good, strong mom. Plus, what a cute summer haircut! I don’t know how she keeps it together on a day-to-day basis with 3 kids aged 4 and under! Jeff too. I think at this point they must just be playing defense because there are more kids than adults. I don’t think I could do it, so I am in awe that they are still at least somewhat sane. And, I can totally get how Kevin accidentally got left home alone now!

Everyone (9 people) left my house at about the same time on Sunday and I didn’t even know what to do with myself. The previous 24 hours had been non-stop action and the silence was deafening! It whirlwind visit, but so great to see everyone. We don’t get to see each other nearly enough, so I always look forward to our visits. Looking forward to our next already!

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