cousins

get ready folks: this is a big one. a big blog post, full of big photos of big kids. we had 3 days full of fun, a house full of family, and 6 cousins meeting and re-meeting and playing. and it was great.

my sisters anna and julia came to madison, and brought their husbands jeffery and dana (respectively) and their sweet children. before julia got there, ramona and james lead a tour of the state capitol, complete with rotunda gazing, badger hunting, and observation deck ascending.

 

next came a day full of new tie dye tshirts and tree climbing fun.

 

how cute are these two?


park time turned into feed-your-cousin time, which turned into pile-on-the-ladybug time.



there were also shoulder ride hand holding sessions.


then we did some chicken whispering,



and julia did some butterfly whispering.


we had pancakes!


 it turns out that these sweet wild little boys get pretty quiet and focused when they have bacon and pancakes.


we got cozy on the sofa!


and lucky for all of us, their visit coincided with the annual willy street fair, where the most chocolatey of chocolate ice cream is served,


and the crazy crazy willy street parade happens. here is the whole crew, minus julia our photographer, taking in all the joyful weirdness of the parade.


a fish!
 

the bubble car!


stilt walking fascination!


pretty sure david will join these fellows in the parade next year.

 a sun filled afternoon in the backyard got a little goofy in the hammock,



and then really cuddly in the hammock.
 

 and just when we thought we couldn't handle anymore, we took a ride on the carousel at ella's deli. 

it is the luckiest thing to have sisters as friends, to have nieces and nephews full of joy, and brothers in law that fit right in to all the madness. i am already looking forward to the next full house of laughter and joy! thank you for coming. love you.