At the beginning of the month we celebrated Kayla and her baby Jaina (who has since been welcomed into the world). Phoebe did an amazing job putting together this baby shower at her home - from the sunflower decor to the game "Beer Belly or Baby Belly?" which was harder than you'd think. Ha!! It was nice seeing a lot of my lady relatives. It was a very rainy day and just getting to their property was a chore. I had to straddle the puddles on the dirt road. Then I had to park on a particular part of their yard so I didn't get stuck. Leaving was just as hard. Thankfully Bill guided me out without issue and promised he and Wyatt would come get me if I ended up getting stuck. Thankfully I made it out just fine. Me and my car are city folk. Clearly.
This past weekend was my cousin Bill aka "Little Bill's" birthday. Phoebe put together a surprise party for him at a country club. I was worried I'd miss the actual surprise part of the evening since I was celebrating Alyssa's birth the same night. But I was able to share some pretzels and conquistador aka Adam Driver laughs with Alyssa and then race over to scream "SURPRISE!" to my cousin since their dinner ran later than expected.
He was so cute and seemed so genuinely shocked and happy that we had all gathered to celebrate him. There was food and a Photo Booth area and dancing. I got down to the Macarena because DUH. It was such a good time and I'm glad I got to go. Happy 50th cuz!
Yesterday a very motley crew gathered to celebrate Kam's fish themed first birthday. He walked all over the place as if he knew he had to say hi to all of his guests. He had no interest in his smash cake. He'd jerk his head back and forth every time Kaelin tried to give him icing. After awhile he was just over it so they let him go free to run around some more. He seemed to find more joy in playing with a cooler and ice cubes than his own birthday cake. Maybe he is more of a pie guy? He got a lot of cute gifts like a bubble mower AND blower. I finally got to give him his new checkerboard slip on vans that are exactly like mine but toddler sized. Kaelin sent me some pictures later on in the day with him walking around in them. I squealed so loud I must have blown out Dustin's ear drums.
A few months back my cousin told me she and her family (her husband and her children aka my other cousins) would be coming down to Orlando for the weekend to surprise her step-son for his birthday. It was also a perfect opportunity to get in some good quality time with family since they weren't going to be in town for very long. I was super pumped especially since I hadn't seen them since maybe 2011 or 2012. It had been a hot minute. They all moved to Alabama and since it's an 8+ hour drive they haven't been able to make it back very often.
Out of everyone on my dad's side, and there are quite a few, Nikki was the one I was closest to. Sure, we're 4 years apart but that never really seemed to be an issue. I told Jodi to "move over" when Nikki was born and she was still in the hospital. We had slumber parties with my Aunt (Nikki's nana) throughout my entire childhood. We rode on four wheelers together and pretended trees were McDonald's drive thru's and the four wheeler was our car. We thought we were super cool because both of our birthdays were on the 14th - just different months. We played Super Nintendo at Tracy's old apartment. We went to Black Friday together where I broke my pinky toe running in Walmart. We both have a love for the Sims. We liked a lot of the same music and went to some shows together. We played Halo for I don't even know how many hours total. She was always a million times better than me but let me tag along with my needler and grenades. Technically she was my second cousin but we were more than that. I mean she performed our wedding ceremony and Jodi notarized us and made it legal. Full on family affair!
Once she moved we fell out of touch. I'd hear through the Salyers grapevine how she was doing but we didn't really talk directly for a long time. I don't know why. It's just one of those things that happens but no one can really explain. The minute I saw her Saturday it was like no time had passed. We picked right up and started making new inside jokes about poison and researching if watermelons float. You know, totally normal shit. She even taught me what a STLB was. It was good to catch up and get a peak into her life now. I'm so proud of her and all she has accomplished.
I had of course seen photos of Alex but I never really believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. Last time I saw him he was barely a teenager and now he's a full on really really tall man. Like super tall. What even is time!
I have to say that Snapchat is amazing because it has kept me in daily contact with Jodi. Say what you will about social media but it really does help me feel closer and a part of the lives of the people I care about that are far away. She always sends me snaps of her furchildren and I of course send snaps of my cats, amongst other random shit. It's been nice having those interactions that without that silly app I wouldn't of had otherwise. She always felt like my older sister. She was the one that always did my hair and makeup for Halloween or school dances. She was older but still young so I felt like I could be myself around her more than other relatives. She treated me like a daughter even though I wasn't. She took me to movies with Nik or would pick me up so I could stay the weekend and swim in her old pool. I have fond memories of her driving us around in her silver 1996 Honda Civic where she'd blast Motley Crue or another hair band. I love the way she says "Ash/Smash". Her and Nik are probably the only two people who consistently call me that and I wouldn't have it any other way. I feel like out of everyone she always remembers me. I know that's kind of a weird thing to say but it's nice to not be or feel forgotten.
I got to see some other cousins too; the ones that live in the same county as me but I don't see often. Growing up, everyone always hung out together but then people moved away or grew part, others died, and some just aren't worth having a relationship with. But I'm happy that there are still some of us that don't just keep in contact but have a special bond that withstands all life throws at us.
It was a good day of reconnecting, eating, swimming in the springs, and playing corn hole. When I say "played corn hole" I mean I almost hit someone on the sidelines. One throw had the bag going directly up towards the sky. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess I won't be making the corn hole Olympic team or even the Salyers team for that matter. I still had fun giving it a shot.
