(Finally) a Cousin Reunion!

This may be a rehash for those of you who have seen Lisa's beautiful album of cousin photos from the first post-COVID cousin reunion, 

but it was such a great time that I can't help (over)sharing.

Ben & Lisa, because they are superhumans, brought the New Mexico cousins out to visit and it was a joyous reunion. They also left the kids with us for a night while they attended a wedding, which means we got to ignore all the Walters safety rules and let the kids act terrible (and catch lots of tree branches) on the lake.

Because Walters Family traditions are etched in stone, 

we also hiked to all the monuments,

visited the site of The Nieman Proposal on our anniversary,

and indulged in the time-honored photo thumbs-downing death marches.

We also took on the death-defying Billy Goat Trail in the rain

- seriously, death-defying-

played allthecousingames,

had high tea at the Willard,

and threw a COVID Schoolyear Graduation Party for the ages.

It was a rip-roaring good time. Thanks to the NM Walters for making the trip. We are so happy that traveling to see our best people is a thing again!

Catching (Almost All The Way) Up.

Playing a little bit of catchup here, since it's been ages. It's hard to believe a year ago I rarely missed a week! (Although we are blessed indeed that one of our biggest COVID casualties has been regular blogging.) This one will just get us to Memorial Day/ our anniversary weekend, which was so crammed full of love and laughter and cousins (!!!) that I have yet to recover and catch up on photos. 

Lisa  sent this awesome preview from her photos, though.

The rest of May included a little bit of downtime

and a lot of "on the go" time, as is our norm.

The weather was, to abuse an oxymoron, consistently spotty; so our attire ranged from this 

to this,

and even included at least one episode of no attire at all (see Finley's penchant for skinny dipping.)

We explored a super sketchy beach in southern Maryland at which only Finley was brave enough to go near the water,

played outdoor checkers in our pajamas (well, one of us was dressed but it wasn't either of these hooligans),

and flew kites at a fishing tournament in Connecticut.

We also made all Finley's dreams come true and I finally took her to New York City (she doesn't remember going as a baby of course, and her favorite Disney show takes place there)

although our sightseeing was pretty much limited to seeing the Statue of Liberty as we came out of the Holland Tunnel, and the playgrounds of Stuytown,

where they commenced the above reign of terror with my friend Christine's awesome kids. They had a blast, so we'll definitely be back for the touristy stuff.

Photo of that trip, though, has to be this one. Finley met a real Rockette, who practiced leg kicks with her. Speaking of dreams coming true.

An Embarrassment of Reasons to Celebrate.

May is always a big month for Nieman celebrating. My birthday and Mother's Day are always within the same week, and our anniversary follows a couple weeks later. If I were a fan of presents, this would be a major inconvenience due to the endless double-up possibilities. Luckily, I'm not.

This year, there was a third (smaller, but no less meaningful) occasion to be celebrated: my 20 year anniversary with Uncle Sam. It's hard to believe that 1) I'm now retirement-eligible (?!) and 2) this was almost two decades ago. 

What a wild ride it's been. I definitely don't intend to retire anytime soon, but this does mean that if I find myself on orders to Fort Polk, it's an option.

Since I'm still recovering from the huge soiree- which included a camper and a giant surprise party that Seth threw for my 40th- (and also because it's just been an exhausting year), for the Sunday-Monday-Tuesday trifecta that was all three occasions, we went small and chill. Which was perfect.

Especially since we had also had to celebrate May the Fourth, thanks to Ford's new Star Wars obsession. 

And, let's be honest, Seth's Dave & Buster's habit.

Sunday had just gotten back from another whirlwind trip to NC for a promotion ceremony and party,

and of course a Ryan-Nieman classic sleepover,

(complete with chickens);

and an unplanned birthday party;

so for Mother's Day we decided to sleep in, hang out, play Uno, and pickup takeout from our favorite local BBQ joint to celebrate. 

I also got beautiful flowers and chocolate (served by handsome men in matching shirts), 

and we had a family paddle on the lake. It was a lovely day. Bonus: Seth did all the travel laundry.

I had to work for my birthday, which kind of killed the fun, but allowed me to pronounce it a birthday week- so stay tuned. I did sneak out early, and we went to one of my favorite spots in DC with smuggled-in beverages and red velvet cupcakes to watch the sunset. 

And then, because we were tired and one of us who shall not be named (Finley) was covered in mud, we skipped dinner out and picked up Peruvian chicken. We also fell asleep on the couch. Seemed very "42."

Worn out from all the celebrating, we marked my new retirement-eligibility yesterday with taco Tuesday in PJs. Although we did have a pinata.

All in all, not a bad three-day blowout. And now, I think I'm going to nap until our anniversary.

Photo of the Week, a tradition I've gotten away from, has to be this photo of Finley and Ford in swimsuits at the sketchy hotel they talked me into staying at so they could swim indoors in bad weather, rocking the ridiculous goggles they talked me into buying at DeWayne's.