Have I Ever Mentioned...

That I LOVE the South?

Here it is the 3rd of February, and the high today was about 69 degrees. So, of course, we took advantage of the weather. We needed to go and visit with the hubby's parents for a bit anyway, so we bundled the kids up (since the wind is still a bit cool), hopped on the bikes, and took off. It's almost an hour to get up there, so we had a nice ride. Visited with them, and rode home. We got up there a little later than we intended, and stayed a little longer than planned, so it was about dusk when we left to come home. By the time we got to the house, it was completely dark. The kids were excited since it was their first time riding at night. They both said they were plenty warm enough, and totally enjoyed the ride.

Yesterday my dad's sister and her husband came down to visit. They stayed at my sister's house, so the kids and I went over a bit before 11 to spend the day with her and her family. Even though we live so close now, we don't get to spend nearly enough time with her. My aunt and uncle got there between 1 and 1:30. I hadn't seen them in over four years, since my dad's funeral, so it was wonderful to be able to see them. They enjoyed visiting with their great nieces and nephew, and I enjoyed catching up with them.

We spent the whole day over there. My sister had called me a couple days before to let me know for sure when they were coming. I had told her earlier to let me know if she needed me to help with cooking dinner for their visit. She told me Wednesday that she had decided that she was going to cook a roast, and asked if I could cook one too, to make sure we had enough for everybody. So I had a pot roast in my crock pot that I took to her house yesterday. My mom made apple pie for dessert and brought it. So we had a delicious homemade dinner. Pot roast is one of my favorite things to make. It's easy, and almost always comes out delicious.

Yesterday also made me realize even more how badly I need to make a trip to West Virginia to visit my dad's family, as well as my extended family on my mom's side. The hubby also has family in WV, so we can visit them as well. Maybe I'll be able to manage a trip up there when the kids have their next school break beginning in March.

When I was a kid, my dad's family always said how much I looked like my aunt. As I get older, I think I look more like my mom, but there are definitely things about my dad's sister that I think I share. And I learned something yesterday when my sister pulled out her wedding album to look at. My daughter was not quite two when my sister got married, and there are a couple of pictures in her wedding album that look to me just like my niece. Before yesterday, I never had really been able to see a resemblance between my daughter and my sister's daughter, although I had been able to see a strong resemblance between my son and my niece from the day she was born. Genetics are a funny thing.

Here is a picture of me and my dad's sister.