August 11, 2006

Cousins

onthefence

With-a-Why and Suburban Nephew were born only a few weeks apart. It's the kind of thing that happens in my family: whenever I get pregnant, one of my sisters will conveniently get pregnant so that my kid will have a playmate close in age. When Red-haired Sister is in town, With-a-Why and Suburban Nephew play together for hours every day. Two small boys can find all kinds of things to do on a lazy summer day.

We spent this afternoon at the Very Big Lake, visiting a little nature center and then hiking down to a beach full of smooth rounded rocks. My parents brought a picnic lunch for all of us. (Yes, that's right. I am 45 and my Mom still makes my lunch. Well, only on outings.) Dandelion Niece and Neighbor Girl stripped off their clothes to play in the surf, since the crashing waves were just the right size for their small bodies.

But With-a-Why and Suburban Nephew had purchased bamboo flutes at the nature center. With-a-Why, who plays the piano and jams with his brothers, figured out quickly how to play notes and then a tune, and Suburban Nephew caught on quickly. Delighted with themselves, they played the high-pitched instruments as loudly as they could, all the way down the trail through the woods and down to the rocky beach, where thankfully the crash of waves helped muffled their song.

flutemusic

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are the things that memories are made of. What summer vacations are supposed to be.

aj

Mona Buonanotte said...

Last night Sergei and the kids made a symphony of recorders, daddy showing kidlets where to put their fingers and how to blow, not too hard, to make the sound come out. Your photo reminded me I need to sometimes just watch them and not be so concerned with the laundry....

Robin said...

I loved reading about this and seeing those photos. Opens up a world to me.

molly said...

This is so lovely, both words and pictures. You've made a wonderful memory, for yourself and the boys. Thanks for sharing.

Liz Miller said...

Does anyone else have the theme from The Patty Duke Show in their heads?

jo(e) said...

I will admit that I've never seen the Patty Duke show. So someone might need to explain that reference to me ....

Anonymous said...

"But they're cousins/
identical co-usins. . ."

Patty Duke plays two characters, a young woman and her, yes, identical cousin. Haley Mills gone bizarrely wrong, or right, depending on how you look at it.

jo(e) said...

Isn't Haley Mills the one who played both parts of identical twin sisters in the original Parent Trap movie?

I didn't know she was on a television show too.

Anonymous said...

liz and connie -- i was thinking the same thing!

jo(e) -- yes, haley mills played the twins in the first parent trap movie -- in which the twins were separated from birth, but discovered their inner connections at camp, then discovered they were sisters.

the patty duke show was a different twist -- cousins who just had a whole lot in common. i seem to remember the plot was not what it could have been, running to "fooling boys about who's who" etc. but the idea was cool. [and the idea is pretty true, too, for close family members who share a lot.]

Erin said...

You take the most fabulous photos to illustrate.

Breena Ronan said...

That is so cute! Seriously, it makes me want kids. Your clan always seems so eccentrically perfect.

BeachMama said...

My nephew and my son are a week apart to the day. My hope is that they will hang out together like that when they are older, more by choice than by force.

Chip said...

I love that rounded rocky beach! And what a great photo. My son is with his same-age-cousin as I type, it really is nice when it works out that way.

L said...

oh, that's a lovely photo of the two flutists there! I want to get into that water with the girls too!

I hope my son and my nephew can be good friends too, since they're only 4 months apart.

halloweenlover said...

I love it! It looks like a scene out of a book or movie.