The Kansas Cousins Come to Town

{AND the Kansas Aunt! Sorry, Kristen! The title was just a little too catchy.}

Last week, my mom's sister and her three kiddos made the trek down to Bolivar for a couple of days! My uncle was out of town for the week, so Kristen brought Reese, Drue and Tate (and Gizmo, the pup!) to visit us and spend some quality family time.

On both sides of my family, I am the oldest grandchild. I love getting to watch my younger cousins grow and change as we get older! Especially these three; they are so funny and bring a lot of excitement and happiness along, wherever they go!

On Wednesday evening, Reese was telling me about the running club she is in. This may be shocking to some, but I have been "training" (sure, we'll go with that) for a 5K this fall!! So, I asked Reese if she wanted to go run with me on Thursday morning! And she agreed! (Not knowing how very slow and  pathetic I was at this early stage of "training," I had tricked her into going along with me.) I went to pick her up on Thursday and we went to the park in town. It was fun and I think she liked seeing the park while we ran! She did great and I would gladly go again with her anytime if she would agree to try it out again with her old, slow cousin. :)

After our run, we all went to Halfway, MO to the Mennonite store. There is a small community of Mennonites who live about 20 minutes from us and have two stores and other places in their community that they allow "outsiders." Our first stop was at one of their stores to get some breakfast! They have the best fruit turnovers this side of the Mississippi; they're delicious!!

Reese opted for some Mennonite cheese. Girl after my own heart...

Our next stop in Mennonite-ville was to their miniature "zoo." Actually, it is a homemade cage with some exotic animals: two tigers and a black bear. I wasn't sure how much I trusted the cages that had been erected for these animals, so I kept my distance.

With three iPods in hand, these three had fun documenting our trip:

Side Note: Since when do Mennonites in the middle of Missouri have two tigers and a black bear?! (Unfortunately, the bear wasn't as willing to come out to get its picture taken.)

After getting back into Bolivar, we swam and hung out until they had to head back to KS. Those three are little fish and were awesome swimmers! They made me tired just watching them. :)

Even though it was a quick trip, it was so good to spend time with the Holloways! I am hoping to see them again some before this summer gets away from us!