July 07, 2008

Cousins

Cousins

One of the things my kids have always loved about spending the week of July 4th at my parents' camp is that that they have cousins close in age. I remember a character in the Elizabeth Enright book Gone-Away Lake saying that cousins were closer than friends, but nicer to each other than siblings. That seems to be true.

Here, my youngest son and my nephew, cousins born less than a month apart, are attempting what we call "the Sniffer Brown Challenge." A game invented by my brother decades ago, the challenge is to walk around an island while keeping your feet in the water at all times and your hands dry. I have no explanation for the name of the game: my brother routinely comes up with crazy games with strange names.

The rocks can be slippery so the challenge is harder than you might think. Dandelion Niece, just a few years younger than the two boys, was doing the challenge too, but she isn't in the picture because she was in the lead and had already gone ahead.

5 comments:

BrightStar (B*) said...

Seems like it would also be difficult if the island is quite large!

It's nice that the cousins in your family are given the opportunity to know each other. I hardly know mine.

Unknown said...

The Princess has been spending quality time with a same-age cousin recently, and we all rejoice in it!

BerryBird said...

That sounds like a great game!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an amazing photo! I love the way the kids are in silhouette--the longer hair on the one boy looks great.

jo(e) said...

Liz: That's my son With-a-Why with the long hair. He's got the kind of silky straight hair that looks great in silhouette photos.