Kaylea Is A Happy Beachcomber!

While Kaylea was home with her "pox" she did get some news that put a huge smile on her face. We got an e-mail letting us know that her FAVORITE cousin "SJ" will be joining us on our trip to Hilton Head this summer. Kaylea was so excited; she had to tell everyone!

****Just to fill in the family tree - SJ's mom is my first cousin, Cizzy. Cizzy's mom, Aunt Shashan, is my mother's oldest sister****

Cizzy is two years older than me and we were very close as kids and teens. Cizzy lived in Kentucky and I lived in Florida, so we were loyal pen pals (yes, I am dating us - this was way before e-mail) through Jr. High and High School. I always listened to Cizzy's advise and felt like she was a sister.

Cizzy has two beautiful daughters, K8 and SJ. K8 is almost 15 and SJ is 10. Bub and I spent a lot of time around K8 when she was small. She was more like a niece than a cousin. Then when SJ came along, Bub and I were really taking notes. You see, SJ is only 10 months older than Kaylea, so I would turn to Cizzy with all of my pregnancy and parenting questions. Cizzy was the best mom I knew and I wanted to do everything just like her.

Needless to say, SJ and Kaylea have kinda grown up together. Well, as together as they could, being 5 hours apart and only seeing each other about 3 times a year. Kaylea always wants to see "her cousins". I think she looks up to K8 and SJ the same way I did with Cizzy when I was younger.

When we began planning the trip to Hilton Head, we (Auntie M, Mr. Bob, Bub and I) decided that it would probably be more fun for Kaylea (and us) if she brought a friend along. When we told Kaylea she could invite someone, she immediately said she wanted to see if her cousins could come. Kaylea hasn't seen K8 and SJ in over a year and we all agreed this would be the perfect opportunity for them to get to spend some quality time together. Well, I guess K8 decided to forgo the trip, but luckily SJ was on board.

The girls should have a blast. We are planning a day in Charleston and a day in Savannah, but other than that, they will just be riding bikes, playing on the beach and swimming for the entire week. Auntie M. has even talked about us going crabbing, which could be fun, also. Especially, when we get to eat what we catch.

Luckily, we don't have that much longer - only about 5 weeks and 7 hours until we will be leaving. I think I am going to try to figure out how to install one of those countdown clocks on the Blog, so Kaylea can always know how much longer. (It will also keep me from going insane). Now, all we have to do is just wait - oh, and start making my lists! We don't want to forget anything!