Vist from our pal Pearson

     Every time we go to Mom and Dad's Cooper asks about his cousin Pearson. He really likes hanging out with him and Pearson is so nice to play with the boys, since they are younger than he is. So we decided it was time for Pearson to come and visit us way up here in Caddo. The summer almost slipped by, but an opportunity arose the week before we left for vacation and we couldn't pass it up.

Ready to ride.

    I'd gone to a homeschool conference for the weekend with Mom (more on that in a later post), and brought Pearson home with me that Sunday. I was a little nervous about the 4 hour ride…..you know making conversation, hoping he wasn't wishing he was back home. But thanks to Hank the Cowdog audio stories and song we made it without too much awkwardness.
     That evening we met with the boys, who did not seem to miss me as much as I thought they would/should, and all went to town for the church swim party. They boys had lots of fun jumping off the diving board and going down the slide, well worth the trip into town. And they all slept well afterwards too!
     We had a pretty fun week, and hope Pearson did too. I'm sure he was a bit bored at times, like when the boys napped, but we tried to keep things fun. They rode horses, we went to the lake, and the big boys even got to work with Dalton one morning while I did my glucose screening (I'd have rather been working with Dalt).
     Rather than blabbing on trying to remember details from the visit, I'm going to let pictures do the talking.

Waiting on their horses 

 

Ace wasn't too happy to be left at home with Mama 

Finally Ace's turn 

"See Dad, all I wanted was to be on a horse." 

Cooling off at the lake 

 The race is on, with head starts for Cooper and Pearson

I think Dalton forgot about the 'let the kids win' rule 

Leaping to victory! 

Pearson felt that his lifejacket gave him an unfair disadvantage so they re-raced. 

Notice his happy grin as he runs ahead of Dalton.  

Made it to the water

We let both boys tube together before Person got his solo turn. Dalton told them to give the thumbs up sign to go faster and thumbs down to go slower. Every time I looked back there Cooper's thumb was sticking up. It was hilarious! We sped up but never got to the point where he was content; I'm sure Pearson was wishing he could put his thumbs up too….Mama was a little cautious.  

Once we reeled Cooper in, Pearson got to have some speedier fun. If my tummy wouldn't have been growling and Ace wouldn't have been trying to crawl out of the boat, Pearson would have stayed there all night I think. 

Everyone got to catch their own horse this time. 

 Leading him out, ready to saddle up

 Cooper in trouble because he didn't obey….poor pitiful guy

 The  horses liked having Pearson around, extra hand fed hay snacks.

 The boys after a long morning of hauling cattle and working on a pumpjack. Dirty, sweaty, and smiling big; they were ready for the pizza I brought back. 

      As the week passed I started to realize that we were leaving for vacation in a few days, so instead of staying until Friday, we decided to meet Rachel Thursday for the drop off. That morning we went to our playgroup and the kids bounced and tumbled around until it was time to go. Then we made a quick stop for lunch and headed to Weatherford. We met them, handed Pearson off and headed home to pack. On the way home Cooper said "I miss Pearson, can he come back home with us?" It was pretty sweet, and I missed him too. Hopefully he can come back soon to play and maybe the weather will cooperate for a camp out. 

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7