We loved you before we met you!

Unfortunately, we don't get to see our out-of-state family nearly as often as any of us would like to! :0( I have had the privilege of visiting with my in-laws several times, but mostly prior to our children being born. Since the kids have been born, they have met 2 of their 3 "Indiana cousins" only once, and they had yet to be introduced to their 3rd, and oldest cousin..."Cousin Alisha!"

This uniting of cousins was far-too-long-over-due!!! 7-1/2 years of waiting were finally put to bed when our visitor stepped off of the airplane!!!

Even though the kids loved her before they met her, it didn't hurt that Cousin Alisha came bearing gifts!...hand sewn!...her own design!...personalized stuffed animals for each of them!...

On Day 2, we took her to my favorite breakfast place in San Diego...Hash House!!!...

And then we went and saw "The Amazing Spiderman"...which was, well, AMAZING!!!...

This was Alisha's 3rd time seeing the movie! :-0 And we all agreed...the movie is worth seeing over, and over again!

Aside from hours and hours of chatting and catching up between Uncle and niece, that was about it for Day 2.

On Day 3 we packed our bags and headed out for a LONG day at Sea World...

We took our picture at every-single-show they had...

In between the shows, we rode most of the rides, including the Skytower...

The kids played in the kid zone...

We ventured to all of the animal exhibits...

And we even got to watch as Alisha's souvenir gift was retrieved from a oyster!

We had high hopes of staying for the final Shamu Show of the night, and watching the sky light up with fireworks, but exhaustion took over all of us, and after 9 hours at Sea World, and seeing literally EVERYTHING on the map, we didn't have it in us to stay for another 5 hours...so we called it a day, and headed home!

On Day 4, we packed up our bags again, and headed to the heart of sea life...the ocean...also known as...the BEACH!

Now while I spent a good portion of our time boogie boarding, Alisha and Wyatt were captivated by searching for shells (deep) in the water...the clarity was the best I have ever experienced in my life...we could see the ocean floor, even while being out in the waves! :0)

When we weren't out in the water, we were busy digging a hole! The picture doesn't do it hardly any justice, but I dug the deepest and widest hole for the kids!!!...

...that is, until I stopped to have lunch, and then Alisha took over the digging...that girl was AMAZING! Look what she did to my hole!!!!...

On Day 5, while most of us were at church, Wyatt got to venture to Comic Con with some of his local family...

Where he got to see various versions of the Star ship Enterprise...

...and be interviewed on camera by Disney XD...

Wyatt had an incredible time, and I was so disappointed that I didn't get to witness him in his total element of all things Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel, and Lego...sigh.

We reunited with him at Family Dinner Night though!

Where boys were doin' their boy thing...

...and the ladies were doin' their lady thing...

On Day 6, our last REAL day with Cousin Alisha, we ventured back to the beach...but we chose a different beach than before...aaaand we didn't plan to stay all day this time...this was just another quick opportunity to collect more shells for her trip home...

Wyatt found more-than-shells on this adventure...

And once I got a snap-shot of Bea on the lifeguard station...

...I couldn't help but to ask the girls to pose for a few more pictures...

After that, we hit the island streets and did some SHOPPING! :0)...

And when were good and tired from walking around, we headed home for our final meal together...and then GAME NIGHT!!!! A tradition we have always upheld on the last night of our visits with family!...

"The family that plays together, stays together"....

And on Day 7, at 'O-dark-hundred, we had to say goodbye to our Cousin Alisha at the airport :0(...

While these pictures were a good summary of our time together, it's funny that they didn't capture our most tender memories together...the too-many-to-count tea parties between Bea and Alisha...the hours of drawing between Wyatt and Alisha...the never ending conversations of what's been going on "back home" the last 10 years between Rick and Alisha...and as for me, I loved sitting with our guest late at night watching chick-flicks like "The Help," and "Steel Magnolias."

We had an AMAZING time with you Alisha...as I predicted, these days together went by way too fast...we will miss you in our home...here's to hoping that we won't go another 10 years before we get to see your beautiful face again!!! We LOVE you!...some of us felt that way, even before they met you! :0)