wordless wednesday: second cousins

susanna, laurel, reilly, liam

my cousin kristine called us up last week, thrilled that her beloved wahoos of UVA were playing in the second and third rounds of the NCAA tournament in raleigh.  (her husband jamie also went to med school at duke, who were playing in the PNC arena here as well, but we tarheel fans don't speak of such awful things.)  and a few days later, they, along with their kids reilly and laurel, drove down from charlottesville to join us for the weekend.

we haven't had weekend guests since we renovated the house a few years ago and lost our guest room, so susanna had to give her up her bedroom for a few nights, but she was ecstatic to do so since it meant getting to spend some time with her second-cousins.  reilly is just a few weeks older than she is, and laurel is such a fun four-year old -- and the only other girl of their generation in our extended family.  (we're holding out hope for another girl in a few weeks with both my sister-in-law and sister are due to give birth.)

we had a grand time, not only watching duke lose in the first round (yay!) but watching UVA win both of their games (even better yay!) and showing them all around our hometown.

nothing says we've arrived in raleigh like a giant acorn

 enjoying s'mores over the backyard firepit after dinner one night

two clean machines ... and this is why we got six inches chopped off a few days later

we acted like heathens and skipped church on sunday morning to visit big ed's for a proper southern breakfast

next up was a trip to the marbles children's museum, where reilly and susanna gave the big stationary bus a whirl. it made me so nostalgic -- we used to go there so often that we had a family membership ... but we hadn't darkened the doorway in years

no trip to downtown raleigh is complete without stopping by the original krispy kreme -- complete with a lit-up "hot doughnuts now" sign, natch.  watching those circular mounds of heaven being glazed on the conveyer belt sort of lured all of them into a sugar trance

hair today, gone tomorrow

the very first time liam set foot in his new school last spring, his eyes were drawn to the pictures hanging on the walls of the front lobby at the time.  row after row showcased the dozens of boys who had participated in last year's fundraiser for the st. baldrick's foundation.  each student who participated had both a before and after photo -- the first with long, shaggy hair, and the second with almost no hair at all.  magellan is proud to have raised over a quarter million dollars over the years, which is quite impressive given its small size.

as soon as he learned what it was all about, liam was immediately on board.  he had the date of march 1st imprinted in his brain, and set out to raise money in the weeks leading up to the big day.  and on that cool saturday morning, we convened in downtown raleigh with the rest of the school at a private shaving event before the huge, public event started an hour later.

i couldn't bring myself to watch as his soft blond hair hit the stage, but his four grandparents and chris and susanna were all front and center as spectators.  he apparently beamed the entire time.

it's going to take some getting used to -- even now, a week later, i still find myself scanning the soccer field for him before i suddenly realize he's right in front of me.  and while i have to admit that i'm not a huge fan of this super short buzz cut, i do love to run my hands over his head.

i'm just hoping that that's the last he sees of a razor until next march.

before -- a lot shaggier than normal, for maximum effect

during (when he wasn't being interviewed by the emcee with a microphone)

after!

he's joined the famous wall -- second row from the bottom, second from the left