A Visit with Cousin Eric & Family

What a special day this was!!! Today we met my cousin Eric in Charlotte at On the Border to have lunch and talk, . . . and let the second cousins meet each other! : ) Here you can see Eric, Hillary, Amanda, Joel, and Justine (along with an excited Annie & Leia Rose). The girls were SO respectful at lunch, and I was very proud of their behavior during the adults' long conversations catching up. : ) Leia just LOVED meeting her second cousins and commented later, "Gosh, I hope I get to see them again soon!" Leia especially fell in love with Justine. Annie was a quiet little love during lunch, giving big smiles (and her version of eye-batting) to Eric and when she finally said something, it was SO funny! Leia had to fill me in on the details later because, at the time, I wasn't sure exactly what Annie said, but . . . When there was a lull in the conversation, Annie looked right at Eric and said, "Eric, you look just like a chocolate bunny!" Ha! I guess that's true, Annie! The only issue? Out of all the photos I took, I forgot to get even ONE of Eric and I together! I was SO disgusted with myself for forgetting that important picture. *sigh*

While we were waiting for the family to arrive, the girls got to let off some steam after the long drive by dancing in front of On the Border (which always has a music outside as well as a place to run around).

After our great lunch together, the girls and I accompanied Eric & family to Latta Plantation! This was especially exciting for Leia Rose and I considering we had just finished reading about the American Girl named "Addy" who lived on a plantation (as well as the few clips of Roots that I showed Leia Rose during the inauguration this year). I took pictures of Leia and Annie in front of the big house, the well (during which Eric fixed the pulley above it), the slave quarters, the kitchen, and the farm. But the real highlight of this historical visit for both Leia Rose and Annie was the ANIMALS. They saw a real chicken coop with the rooster ruling over his hens, feed a real horse, and feed and pet some live sheep! Leia would tell me that her favorite part of the day was feeding the horse with Justine. Annie's favorite? The sheep. No matter what, we always went back to the sheep. Ha!