so much more adult now!

my cousin alphie recently got married (on july 12th) to Jason Dick. She has a new, perhaps somewhat embarrassing last name and a whole life ahead of her as a wife. this past weekend the Dicks came to chicago to spend time in the windy city with my sister and i. right before they were to arrive i was talking with my Jason (whose last name is Lips, thank god the two jason's didn't get married and choose to hyphenate!) and it hit me that we are no longer kids. Alphie is married now! and she is visiting my sister and i as an adult, on her own, because she wants to. It was a special realization and one that made me feel really good. to know each other as adults is so much different. and it is so great to have memories from when we were younger to talk about. 

alphie and her brother noah (my other wonderful cousin) grew up in lecompton kansas. in a house that was really in the middle of nowhere. i loved to visit them. alphie and i were remembering when rhea, noah, her and i would all get into a cow trough together and "swim" around it. the thing seemed huge! and i remember doing somersaults in it using the mid bar as a support. cow troughs are small. we were small. and it was so fun. they also had a chicken coup and a creek behind their house. with mud. i remember playing for hours in the mud, smearing it all over anything. i remember the sound our tires made as we journeyed down their long gravel driveway.

alphie and jason left yesterday with the promise to make their visits to the windy city more frequent. it was a wonderful way to spend the weekend.