California Visitors
Last weekend, my dadʼs brother Jim, his wife Martine, his son John, Johnʼs wife Bianca, and their picture-perfect, oh, so cute, daughter Marea came to visit New Braunfels from San Diego. These are the California Allens (except for cousin James who had to hold down the fort in San Diego), the cool cousins that we only got to see every few years. We loved going to visit them in California because it usually meant that we would get Slurpees from 7-11 and take a trip to Disneyland. These are things that children raised in New Braunfels, Texas didnʼt get to do much.
They came to visit Texas for the first time in at least seven years, so it was kind of a big deal. And we were so happy to see them again! My parents sailed off to Alaska this weekend, so they missed the fun. (But I think they were having plenty of fun on their cruise and probably ate even better than we did.) Grandmother lives in a small apartment, and the cousins were staying in a hotel, so we decided to use my parentsʼ house for the big meals. It worked out really well because we had plenty of room to set out the food and spread out. And the kids loved being in the big back yard.
We didnʼt really do much else besides eat, talk, and laugh, but it was so much fun. I should probably let the pictures do most of the talking.
The kids loved being in the huge back yard. I donʼt know if Marea had ever seen that much land in her life.
And hereʼs Monica chasing Jacob, whoʼs tearing after something very interesting.
This picture makes me laugh because the boys totally know that they are not supposed to climb up there, and yet they make a beeline for that corner seat every time!
I donʼt know whatʼs up with my face here, but little John took this picture.
And here I am with my brother Mark and my cousin John.
We played Kings on the Corners with Grandma. And she won. Big surprise — look at her game face. She has it on.
Martine had a birthday cake!
Such a cute little family, John, Bianca, and Marea.
And hereʼs Grandmother with her favorite great-granddaughter.
We finally managed to get our hands on Marea. Look at that red hair!
And here we got almost everyone into the picture, except for Martine who was taking the pictures.
Thanks to all for such a fun and happy weekend!