This weekend, my cousins went to Mexico to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary. They have 3 kids, so their kids were with their aunt or me the 2 days they were gone. I went over there at 2 on Saturday and they came home at 1 on Sunday. It seemed like a lot, but I was so looking forward to it. I love these girls. I decided to take the opportunity to spend some more time with my niece as well. So often, I feel horrible because I know my 2nd cousins more than my own niece. So, I had the 4 of them. Oh my gosh, it was amazingly fun. We watched Beethoven 4 (I didn't even know that it existed...), played on their swing set, went swimming, ate dinner took showers & got into pjs, rode their bikes, played in the park, played games (I taught the 8 yr. old how to play Monopoly - the real way), and then went to bed at midnight. That was just on Saturday....

Let me just expand on a part of it if I may... Swimming. First, the water was freezing, but it was worth it. I had 4 kids, ages 2, 2, 6, and 8 that I was watching. I had told my sister that I thought we may go swimming, so I had everything for Lily. I had her amazing floaty installed swimsuit plus arm floaties on her, and I knew that she would be fine. For Macy, the other 2 year old, I found one floaty. Well, I was helping Kylie put the hose on the slide when I looked in the pool to check on Macy and Lily, and I see Macy face down on the water. I went over to her, picked her up and squeezed her so tight. She was crying, and she was so scared, and she coughed a little bit with hardly any water that came out. Amazingly, I didn't freak out, I stayed calm. I totally felt God's peace. She didn't want to go back into the water after that, but I remembered the teacher I used to work with and how she told me:

Never let a child end on a failure. Make them do something again and again
until they end on a positive note. Other wise, they won't ever want to do it
again.

I not only applied that to Macy, but to myself as well. I was scared, I almost let my cousin drown. There is nothing worse than that. The horror and fear to have to tell her parents, my cousins. So, for her to get over her fear of water and for me to get over my fear of someone drowning in my presence, I just held her tightly and went back into the water. I decided to take one of Lily's floaties off of her and put it on Macy to try to give them equal protection. Yet, because of what happened to Macy, I subcontiously started to pay more attention to her. I then looked at Lily (it had maybe been 5 sec. since I last looked at her), and her face was half way on the water... Too scary...So, I put the 2nd floaty back on Lily so I would could just hold Macy and know that they were both okay at all times.

Here's a pic of their cutenesses the next morning when we went to go swimming on the 2nd day... Lily is on the left and Macy is on the right.





Then, here's a pic of the the four of them when we were at the park. Got to love these girls.