Emma and Merik

Emma and Merik standing on the cistern after they met, all ready for action and play.

My cousins are all very tall and athletic, Glen went to college on a football scholarship. So it was no surprise that he had Emma hitting a ball with one of Merik's bats in no time.
My dad did have to step in to give a bit of help as (God bless her) Emma isn't as athletic as her cousin Merik.
But the two of them soon found common ground with drawing on GG's sidewalk.
Or in Merik's case on his arms.
It didn't take long for Emma to figure out how to get Merik to chase her. She collected all the chalk in a bowl and took off running. Merik chased her all over, and Emma loves to be chased. Note the chairs in the background lining the street. People start putting out their lawn chairs days before the parade to get a good spot even if that means setting up on someone else's lawn. My grandmother has to rope off her front lawn in order to save it for her guests days before the parade!
But soon she settled back down for my art time with her new buddy.

During their play time one of GG's good friends started telling a story that happened last year. It went something like this...The morning after the festivities, my mom, dad, grandmother, my mom's cousin and friend (see picture below) were all at breakfast. The friend was telling them about how he had giving my mom's cousin a ring and demonstrated by getting down on one knee and grabbing my Grandmother's hand. Immediately the whole restaurant where they were having breakfast got quiet as everyone thought he was proposing to my Grandmother! She turned bright red and got so embarrassed. My parents were in hysterics, and soon everyone in the restaurant was having a laugh, even my Grandmother. So of course the friend in question had to give a demonstration to all the arriving guest and neighbors this year. My Grandmother all blushing at the show he was putting on.
Emma and Merik decided to do a bit of socializing with the arriving guest before I decided that Emma was dirty enough and was due for a wardrobe change.

Merik is my cousin Glen's son, he was born 6 months before Emma. But since they live in Iowa, this was Emma and Merik's first meeting. Watching the two of them must have been a lot like watching Glen and me play when we were little. Merik is a mini Glen and since everyone was saying how much Emma looked like me, it brought back tons of memories for our parents. The only thing that was missing (that everyone one was thinking that no one dared to say) was a little Tim. The three of us would get up to all sorts, and the messes we would make, and how dirty we would get. But all of it was spent laughing, really that's what I really remember was the laughing. We thought we were so funny, and truly we were!