Cousins on the 4th!

Mom & cousin Annette

So my Aunt Eva is not doing well. This past Monday she needed to go from the Sub-Acute Rehab Center (what we used to call a Nursing Home back in the day) that we had specifically moved my mother to, to be near her, back into the hospital.

And so her daughters - my cousins - came wheeling in from parts North with most of their children in tow.

Greta and Mom

This turned into a bonanza of visitors for my mother, and an unexpected family-reunion style 4th of July for me. I LOVE my cousins. And there's a whole post about that percolating. But for today, just a few annotated pictures of the gang and carryings on.

The gang who stopped by to see Sylvia & I on Tuesday

After taking in the new Spider-Man movie as a whole family in the morning, the boys and I drove out to the Island on the afternoon of the 4th, leaving their Dad home to "get things done" around the house. (And he did!)

We stopped in for a brief visit with Mom, and then landed at Chez Heimer, where we quickly changed into suits for a late day beach run to the Sands Point Castle Preserve just up the road. It's a "best kept secret" beach; quiet, LI Sound, with no waves but great swimming.

After the swim we ate a hearty dinner together. Badminton was played. Jess took the girls and Ethan out to get ice cream and then bring a hot fudge sundae to my mom, who was once again delighted by the hubub of a group of visitors.

Although I hear Ethan got disgusted with all the effusive girly-girl-kissy-face going on and declared "She's MY Grandma and I love her and all, but I'm about to barf."

The kids played Apples to Apples, Uncle Walt got a birthday cake, and Jake fell asleep watching TV in the basement. I drank a cup of strong coffee and we headed home, tired, happy, and sad that an era is soon come to an end.

Because this?

Back yard at dusk

Is part of why I love coming out to the "ancestral home" in Port Washington so much (besides the biggest draw: the people I love dearly). The woods and fields just beyond my Aunt & Uncle's house at the end of a dead end street that were the scene of much unsupervised cousinly roaming in my childhood.

Sitting on their back porch, looking out, it feels like you're in the jungle, deeply communing with nature.

And you are. But you're also a three minute drive from a store that sells organic rotisserie chicken, crusty fresh bread, and Haagen Dasz.

It was a lovely fourth.