Cousins And Horsies And No Shortage Of Smiles

It's no hidden secret that Ash has a horsie fetish, so when we started telling him early last week that not only was he going to visit one of his favorite cousins but he was also going to ride a horsie, well, he was bonkers all week. We're the only two families in our immediate extended families who have ventured anywhere east of Chicago, and the day we figured out that we're really only about an hour and a half drive from each other we pretty much vowed to hang out as much as possible.

I can't tell you how cool it was to walk into a house and recognize the people in the pictures on the walls - my grandparents, MY DAD, usually I'm stuck staring at complete strangers (beautiful as they may be) when we get together with friends but not in this case. In this case we're family and its familiar and comfortable and relaxing and, well, like it is when we travel to...wait for it...family! This isn't to discount the bonds that are formed by friendships, as we certainly understand the depth that relationships can reach regardless of any sort of legally binding connection. And I'd even argue that in many of those cases I'd consider those friends as family and would be speaking (writing) about them the same way - as family.

So I guess the whole point is that we dig family. And we had a pretty fantabulous Saturday with family, and just in case you're more of a visual learner, here's some proof. No doubt here that Ash loves his cousin and Ash loves his horsies. Oh, and just in case you're wondering, he still loves chocolate too. Still waiting for those asparagus cravings to kick in...