Growing up I had a very different experience compared to Paul regarding extended family. Many of his extended relatives lived close by. In fact one of his grandmothers lived with his parents for many years, and his other grandparents for most of his childhood lived in the house next door. In contrast I lived in Alabama, Texas, and Maryland whereas my cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles lived in New York, Michigan, Virginia, and California. This meant we didn't see them very often, maybe once or twice a year. We often had Thanksgiving dinner with my Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill. Janet is my dad's sister, and she has three children. Vanessa is two years older than me, Kurt is a few weeks younger than me, and Brent is two years younger than me. It has been ten years since I've seen any of those cousins, but I'm hoping to see all three of them this summer between our trip to Long Island in July (Kurt lives there) and my dad's wedding in August (Vanessa and Brent plan to attend). It has been 10 years since I have been to Long Island. I have seen Janet a few times since then in other places such as here in Pennsylvania while Nadia was in the NICU, on vacation in Florida together in May 2010, and at my dad's house for my mom's funeral in July 2016.
This year it seems as if we will see each other four times over the span of about two months! Aunt Janet has been so sweet over the past year with the passing of my mom. She has been a wonderful listening ear for me. I am so thankful. On Friday afternoon she arrived at our house. It was her first solo road trip in many years. For example, she flew to Maryland for my mom's funeral last summer. We had some time here at our house on Friday and then we went to Nadia's softball team party. They had a full set of playground equipment in their backyard! The dad is an engineer for a playground manufacturer. They also had goats, chickens, rabbits, and an in ground swimming pool (water temperature of 75 degrees). Oliver stayed in the pool the least amount of time, Ian stayed in longer than Oliver, and Nadia was definitely in the longest of my three (and one of the longest of all the people at the party). She swam for about an hour. We roasted hot dogs over a fire, roasted marshmallows to make S'mores, and ate other yummy treats that people had brought. We were one of the first to leave, but as it was Oliver was up past his bed time.
Saturday morning we left at 8:30 to head to Ian's soccer game. It was raining at the start of the game, but then it stopped and began to warm up (yay!). Ian played three of the four quarters. He had some moments where he was doing a better job. He didn't score any goals this season (he has one game left), and Nadia didn't score any runs this season (she also has one game left), but Oliver managed to get his VERY first goal on Saturday. I can't believe I missed it! Paul said that Oliver was near the goal when one of his teammates kicked the ball to him and then he kicked it in the goal. Way to go, Oliver! I didn't see his goal because Aunt Janet and I were with Nadia and Ian at the Children's Museum. They showed her around various exhibits and then we participated in a dissection of a cow's eye. Janet and Ian thought it was cool. Nadia thought it was gross. She said she liked the rat dissection better than the eyeball dissection. They said in the fall they'll be doing one about bones. I so appreciate the programming this museum makes possible. It doesn't cost us a penny beyond the annual membership!
We came home had lunch and hung out for a few hours doing things like playing Uno, enjoying the guinea pigs, and playing Frisbee. Over the course of the two days two different neighbors were over playing at our house so Aunt Janet met Camden (he played Uno with us) and Karyss. Aunt Janet treated us to dinner at Bonanza. She was amazed that what she usually pays for herself to go out to dinner in NY was what it cost her for the six of us to go out to dinner last night. When we got home we watched Moana as I had gotten the DVD from the library on Thursday. Oliver, Nadia, and I had seen it in the theater in December, but it was the first time that Ian, Paul, or Aunt Janet had seen the movie. Everyone enjoyed it!
This morning Oliver woke up at 4:45 and was throwing up phlegm. He was sleeping on an air mattress in our bedroom as Aunt Janet was using his bedroom. He threw up some more phlegm at 5:30, and he had a really hard time going back to sleep. Since it was light out he thought it was time to get up even though he usually doesn't get up until 7:00.
He finally went back to sleep. When it was time to leave for church, Nadia, Ian, Aunt Janet, and I were ready and Paul and Oliver were still sleeping. I had decided not to wake either of them up as I figured they both needed the sleep. Paul said Oliver slept until 9:30. We attended the first worship service and then went to Sunday School. I was asked to substitute for my teacher, which was perfect timing because my Aunt Janet got to see me teach. I do enjoy teaching. In July we'll get to visit her church. We came home, had lunch, and then said goodbye to Aunt Janet as she was heading out to see her cousin Charlie in Pittsburgh (whom the kids and I visited with my Dad in December). She's planning to spend one night at our house on the way back home next Sunday. We are planning to spend one week at her house in July, and we should see each other in Virginia in August at my dad's wedding. We love Aunt Janet very much!
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