Just Cuz

Here's Kiernan with his cousins today. Brandon, Thorstencito, and Sebastian. Kelsey was elsewhere doing important teenager things, and Dorian is with his folks back in Oakland. I just cannot tell you how much fun Kiernan has had with his cousins over these last couple of days. He's just nuts about them. From running nonstop with the boys to reading with Kelsey. He's loved it.

This afternoon they all went outside to play with Kiernan's new tee ball apparatus. When I got out there, late in the game, I found Grance ensconced behind home plate and the cousins all taking turns at the bat.


Kiernan's cousins were definitely ahead of him when it came to hitting the baseball, but not a one of them cared. They were all having too much of a blast. It was so cool to see them all having such fun playing outside, being totally physical, and taking turns and sharing without much outside prompting from the adults. Oh, sure, we had to step in from time to time. But for the most part they worked it all out themselves.

I love this picture. I love the way he looks, his stance, the position of the bat, the look on his face. He looks like a major leaguer watching a ball leave the park.

A little while later we all had lunch and the kids started playing in the back yard around the pool. They played hide and seek for awhile, before taking a break and crashing out on the poolside chairs. I was amazed watching them play hide and seek in the back yard for so long. Not a lot of places to hide. At all. But they went on and on, playing the game.

Later in the evening, we all decided to let the kids watch a movie. A couple of the cousins wanted to watch Iron Man. A cool enough movie to be sure, but given that Kiernan almost had a meltdown one day at home at the very suggestion that we watch The Little Mermaid, since there's a slightly scary picture on the DVD cover, we figured Iron Man might be a tad too intense for him. Thankfully the cousins were cool with this, and everybody agreed to Ratatouille as the night's entertainment.

Kiernan still had a couple of freak out moments, but overall it turned out to be a good choice. It's really a great little film, and I really enjoyed getting to see it again.

Oh...and the kids liked it too.

[Picture Note: Keep in mind, Kiernan doesn't watch that many movies. So when he does, he is absolutely rapt. I imagine this is much how I look when watching a film that captures my attention.]