Cousin Janet's 50th Birthday

Well we've been home for almost a week now. My Mom, the little boys & I went to Columbus, OH to help my cousin Janet celebrate her 50th Birthday. It was wonderful to spend some time with 3 out of 4 of my cousins. They are the children of my Dad's twin brother Raymond. They are the only cousins I have and I rarely get to see any of them. Danny & Teresa live in Texas, Janet in Ohio and Larry back home in Iowa. We all stayed at Janet's house. It was beautiful and huge, so plenty of room. The boys played outside with Janet's neighbor kids and on Janet's trampoline. Alberto had a small crush on Teresa and they became fast friends. She was a 2nd Mama to him. He even slept in her room the last night and she got up at 5am with him. Teresa you rock!!! She also took Anthony outside and jumped on the trampoline with him. What fun! Anthony struggled to remember everyone's names and frequently called them someone else. He repeatedly called Danny "Todd" to which Danny would reply "I'm not Todd, bud". It was pretty funny by the third day.



The actual party for Janet was on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day, lots of sun but a little windy. We estimate there were about 70 people there. Janet was a bit nervous...having a party all for her but the social butterfly that she is, she did great.


We flew Midwest Airlines, which I would highly recommend. They have fresh baked chocolate chip cookies on every flight. They're actually warm! The flight attendants and pilots were so nice too. That brings me to one story that comes to mind. As we were walking onto the plane (every time) Anthony would take a LEFT turn instead of a RIGHT and go talk to the pilots rather than sit down. The pilots seemed to enjoy it so I didn't tell him no. On the last leg of our trip, the flight attendant told us to sit down and she would bring him back once the plane was boarded. Anthony got to spend MORE time talking to and getting to know the pilots:) I was certain he'd soon be flying the plane! Well a few minutes passed and here comes Anthony crying and walking down the aisle looking for us. I asked what was wrong and he shoved his ring finger into my face. "I smashed my finger," he wailed. The pilot then came back too and said he pushed some button that he told him he could and his finger got stuck. The pilot then told him "if there's something I can do for you, just let me know". Anthony then replied (sob sob) "there is something you can do for me". The pilot asked "What?" and Anthony said "I need an ice pack" in the poutiest face you can imagine. The pilot said "okay buddy, I'll see what I can do". Alas! He put some ice cubes in a bag and also brought a granola bar back for him. He then said, "please come say goodbye before you leave".

All in all a good trip. I feel closer to my cousins since our Ohio visit.