Salsa (Cousins #3)

It's been a dreadful week... I mean, how on earth can you follow a week like the one that ended our 2014?!  That week was anything but dreadful.  It was THE. BEST. WEEK. EVER.

Samantha, Isaac, Evan, and Emma came to visit us and words cannot describe how wonderful everything was.  Samantha is one of my best friends [family who is familiar with our antagonistic childhood may insert jokes here] and just being able to spend a week with her would have been perfect.  However, she was nice enough to travel here with her family (the flight is only 2 hours and 10 minutes from Bellingham!) and that was the icing on the cake... or the onion (cilantro, if you like it) on the salsa*.

Hanging out at the Palazzo

Urban hiking through the Palazzo

Sleepy Leah!

Konikoff family pic!

Evan and Emma at the park

Seeing our kids meet and interact was so cool.  Leah doesn't exactly spend a lot of time with other kids at home, so she became slightly possessive over toys that she didn't even know existed until Emma wanted to play with them.  Yes, there were a handful of aggressive non-sharing incidents, but they loved each other and had the best time.  Evan and Emma gave her the best hugs and kisses and shared toys and taught her new things.  They shared pancakes and frozen peas and peanut butter sandwiches and lots and lots and lots of giggles

Playing with Playdoh

Cousin love

Bathtub paint

This is my favorite picture from the entire week

<3

Emma, Johnny, Isaac, and Leah in the playroom/Evan's room

Sweet girls

Love <3

We rooted for ASU together (yup, even Isaac) and ate ice cream and cake for lunch.  We went to Africa and saw dinosaurs and just enjoyed a carefree, busy week!

Who looks more fierce?  The boys or the bears?

Daddy and Leah in the yellow submarine

Evan in the African hut

Evan lifting water buckets in Egypt

Pharaoh on the top, oppressed Jew on the bottom

Shabbat dinner with homemade challah hiding under Evan's challah cover

Isaac eying his lunch aka red velvet cake

Mmmm... frozen mint hot chocolate!

Leah's first chocolate chip cookie, double fisting it with some toast

Brian totally hit it off with both Emma and Evan.  Emma only snuggles when she feels like it, and she snuggled with Brian.  Word on the street is that she still talks about going to Brian's house and going to see Brian.  She loves him!  Evan and Brian had an ongoing joke that is showing no signs of stopping.  It's one of those hard-to-explain things if you weren't there, but basically, Brian made it his mission to get Evan (Mr. Picky Eater) to try salsa before he left.  Evan didn't try it, but he did join in on the constant salsa references* and was totally good-natured about the whole thing.  In fact, on their last day at our house, a salsa book even showed up on our doorstep addressed to Evan!  And then, a week later, a salsa book showed up on our doorstep addressed to Brian!  Salsa, it's the gift that keeps on giving :~)

The best snuggles

Salsa!

I love you guys so much.  I will share a bedroom with Leah any day if it means Emma is back in Leah's room and you are back at our house.  I appreciate what helpful, easy, fun visitors you were and hope to see you again soon.  We'll eventually make it up the coast to the great Pacific Northwest, but probably NOT in December.  Shout out to Isaac- wishing you a very happy birthday and I promise you steak next time you're here.  Love, love, love to the Konikoffs!

Johnny making friends

Best cousins, best friends.  And we match!

Love you all so much!