Kissing Cousins

When the kids and I went home in November for my grandpa's funeral, Kate got the opportunity to play with her cousin Clara, the almost-4 year old daughter of my cousin Linsday.
Clara is 3 months older than Kate, and they hit it off immediately and loved having somersault and dancing contests.

This picture makes me smile, because it reminds me of Lindsay and myself when we were young. This was taken at my grandparent's house, where we spent many long summer days playing. Lindsay has always had the prettiest light, light blond hair, like Clara does, and I have always been dark-headed, as Kate is. We are also very close in age, about 8 months, and I always looked forward to spending time with her. Even when she told me scary ghost stories in bed (collaborating with my big brother John to scare the pants off me) and grandma and grandpa had to get out of bed to come tell me there were certainly not any ghosts in the closet, under the bed, or out in hallway. And no, there were no dead people out in the garage either.





Doesn't Michael look like he loves being sandwiched between the two of them?