They Wore Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny, Matching Yellow Raincoats

Just like the heat follows me to Wisconsin, the rain follows my sister to Texas. Last year, when drought-suffering Texas hadn't received precipitation of any kind in MONTHS, Sara and her family came to visit and it rained three out of the six days they were here. I felt badly because when she'd called to ask me about bringing rain coats and boots, I responded, "don't worry about rain gear - it literally never rains here". Oops.

Sara brought the rain to Texas once again last week; it rained three out of the six days she, my mom, my niece, and my nephew were here.

The rain gave us a little extra time to spend together - one of Will's baseball games and Hallie's soccer practice were cancelled - and provided a fantastic play area for the kids (the little kids AND the big kids) outside our house. And by "play area", I mean puddles in the street.

At first it was just wet outside...

...and then the rain really started coming down. Yes, the girls are just 
wearing their underwear. And yes, Will is doing karate in the street.

A very wet boy.

Listening to Uncle Tom explain how the noodle races would work.

Supervising the noodle races.

Sword fighting.

Their umbrellas did little to block the rain, but they looked cute. 

Jumping in puddles.

Drinking from puddles. No, really. In the next second she 
put that hand into her mouth and licked the water off of it.

Love this girl.

Kicking water at Daddy and Will.

Love this little girl too.

My new favorite picture of Lily.

At some point I ran inside to grab a difference lens for my camera and found a completely-forgotten-about - but still smiling - Carter, sitting all alone in the living room. After I snapped his picture I brought him outside so he could experience the rain as well.

Smiley boy.

Headed out into the rain with his mama.

Splashing in his very first puddle.

We'd previously made plans to go shopping at the (outdoor) outlet mall outside of Houston one of the days everyone was here, and we weren't about to let a little wind and rain - after all, the weather report predicted the severe weather would blow over by the time we'd arrive at the mall - stop us.

But as is usually the case, the weather report was wrong, and we spent the first two hours running from awning to awning and popping in and out of stores we had little-to-no interest in, just to keep the kids dry. The silver lining in this cloud of gloom and doom was that we found and my mom bought adorable little yellow ponchos for the girls, who were FREEZING in their matching damp tank tops and skirts.

These two sweet little cousins remind me of two sisters - their mamas - many, many years ago.