Some place warm

Speaking of warm places (see last post)... I'm pining for Florida. I won't get to go back until October (after Stacey's wedding in NC-combining trips for an extended vacation) but we'll be able to spend more time there than if we'd gone this month like we were thinking of doing before. We'll be less rushed and the water will still be warm at the 1st of Oct, unlike it is right now around the beaches of Central Florida. My aunt just took Grandma Rob (I call her Grandma Rob because her last name is Robinson. She used to be my Grandma Koz, short for Kozlowski before re-marrying so I kept up the short-name "tradition" after--not that it's absolutely necessary for you to know this, but just so we're on the same page)...anyway, back to the story.... my aunt just took her to Daytona for a little vacation. She did the same thing with me when Chris & I first moved down there in 2004. Chris was working so he didn't get to go but I didn't have a job that June still so she took me along & we had a great time sipping pina coladas, lounging by the pool (my aunt hates salt water) & I swam & surfed (sort of) with my cousin & his friend and took hot bubble baths (alone, mind you) in our ocean view room. My aunt thought of everything & even brought along a couple candles for the bath and a blender for the drinks. I took a handful of pictures on a disposable waterproof camera, which, shame on me, I still have yet to finish the roll or develop them. Gee, I hope they aren't ruined by now.

So, this year it was my Grandma's turn and I'm really jealous. ;o) But, come October we'll be heading down there from NC and will get to take Afton to the beach again. I don't know if he'll remember this trip or not but I'm sure he doesn't remember his very first time at the beach when he was only 4 months old. We made sure to take him at least once before we moved back to KC. But it was a pretty miserable trip. The wind at Clearwater that day was so strong we could hardly see for the stinging sand hitting us in our faces so hard. My hair tie broke in my desperate attempt to tie my hair out of my face so it also became an uncontrollable mess. We had sand everywhere and poor little Afton was not a happy camper. Below are some pictures from the day, but are not explanatory at all of how miserable it really was in the sand storm. You can see bits of sand on Afton's hat & my stylishly disheveled hair after we got back into the safety of the car.

I was reading through my pregnancy journal a couple weeks ago where I'd written that we couldn't wait to take him to the beach all the time and how we knew how much he'd just love it because we love the beach so much. We had a lot of great beach days, that's for sure (well, except for that one red tide beach day-that was smelly). But, my, how things change in only a little over a year. We'll just have to go back to visit as much as possible and make lots more good memories! :o)

Julie & Joe's Engagement

My sister-in-law, Julie, & her fiancee, Joe, were in town over the weekend from St. Louis and stayed with us. I had a great time taking their engagement pics while they were here. It was fun for them too because it was a completely new experience for them. Julie said later that she'd never had professional photos taken like that before, not even senior pics! I worked on the files Sunday and Monday and they are on Pictage now for viewing (you can see the rest by clicking here.)

Here are some of my favorites from the shoot. It was freezing, btw, and windy so I'm glad they stuck it out with me for an hour. Hopefully you won't notice any blue lips! ;o)

My brother's cousin's son, thrice removed.

So, a little debate of sorts broke out Christmas Eve while at my Grandma's house with the fam. If you want to call it a debate. It was really the room full of people questioning what it meant to be twice removed, relatively speaking. It began because my cousin asked if my son was his second cousin. And I said, yes, he would be his second cousin as we are first cousins, any offspring of either of us results in second cousins to each other. Then a few others piped in for whatever reason about the "removed" portion of when people say "my [insert relative here] twice removed" and when it was appropriate to say that & what exactly it meant. A few people had ideas or assumptions of what it means and so, the debate went from there and all they ended up doing was deciding what it didn't mean, and never figured out what it does mean. My step-sister-in-law was sure it was supposed to be used in reference to second cousins and my mom said, no, it's just plain second cousin, not second cousin twice removed. They argued about that for a good 5 min before my SIL finally gave up. Funny thing, I've also always wondered what it means to be "removed" from someone but never thought to ask & always just assumed everyone else knew & the occasion never came up to ask such a thing. So, what does it mean? Is it literal (as in divorced or deceaced) or generational (as in the second & third cousins) or something else completely? Can anyone explain? With references and bibliography, please.