cousin fest

i have many pics from the weekend but only the energy to post these terribly cute photos of cousin Addison and Nolan with their Papa. we had a great time celebrating John, aunt Kara and Papa's birthdays. Nolan was an excellent traveler, really setting a lifetime high standard with 2 minutes of fussing total when he was falling asleep in the car. i think the fuss was over having to sleep instead of watching Sesame Street on the DVD player we got for the trip. it was the Old School edition so i new every lovable image and lyric.

tonight was not like any Monday night i've had before in MKE. the summer has brought out the rambunctiousness of all the neighborhood kids (and parents). everyone was back from holiday weekend jaunts and as the kids reunited outside, so did we. all the parents sitting on the sidewalk sipping beer and the kids playing in the hose (except for Nolan who has an aversion to getting wet at present unless it's a bath or pool). catching fireflies and going down the slide, a totally idyllic early evening with all the kids up way past their bedtimes. Nolan actually protested dinner for the second time tonight, preferring to cry while we ate declaring "outside!" the whole time. never mind the terrible teething he going through again, it really was a fabulous night outdoors. he ate dinner after 8:30 and bed finally at 9:30. John declared that he would have suspected i'd drunk coffee all day if i were still nursing him, but no, it was just an energizing summer night.