Cowleys!

So the past couple of weeks have been crazy busy and fun. I guess it is just that time of year. Luke went up to New York 2 weeks ago to see his brother Jed's films at the Columbia University Film Festival. Luke loved them and I can't wait to see them as well. Jed just finished grad school. Hooray! Luke's little brother Kevin is also finishing his degree and will be moving to Rigby, Idaho to teach elementary school. I grew up 20 minutes from there. Awesome. Except that Rigby was our rival, so I can't be that excited for his family. They are enemies now. But congrats anyway to our Cowley brothers.

Luke's parents flew over for the festival and Jed's graduation and were able to come down and spend a few days with us. Strawberry had her very first concert the night they came and she was so excited that they were there. The concert was for all of the music groups in the Walkersville area, including 3 elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school. It was really cool to see how much the little musicians progress. The high school band was amazing. Unfortunately, there were so many of them that we couldn't see or hear our little cellist. She had worked so hard. I've been amazed at her progress in just 8 months. I was a little bummed, but the next day, they had a little concert at her school that was just for them so we were able to really enjoy seeing and hearing her be a part of the orchestra. It happened to be crazy hair day as well. I was going for 80's glamor, but they ended up looking like sparkly cave girls. I guess I needed some Aqua Net.

The girls kept Grandma and Grandpa busy. I think I should issue warnings to people who come to visit. Our kids will force you to play with them until you collapse. :) Especially Apple. They were so happy to have their grandparents there. Walkersville isn't quite as exciting as New York City and the most thrilling thing we did was hike to Catoctin Falls after a Taco Bell picnic. Luke took his mom out for a Mother's Day breakfast. We went to a school fair. We played charades and went to the park. We had a movie party (We Bought A Zoo). Yeah, we are kind of boring. Sorry! Next time they visit, we should go to DC and see all the exciting parts of where we live. Although the reason we are so boring became clear on Sunday. Mango was soooo grouchy. She hadn't taken a nap after the hike and stayed up later than normal. When she doesn't get enough sleep, she turns into a little monster. Honestly, the sweetest thing that Luke did for me for Mother's Day was to take her out into the hall at church so I could listen to the talks. Just kidding. He got me this beautiful necklace too.

Anyway, it was a really fun visit. I was bad about taking pictures though. I need to be better because I know that photos with family are really meaningful to the girls. They don't get to spend as much time with their extended families as we would like. They have such awesome grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and time with them is precious.