Cousins. They smell right.

Hannah is fitting in pretty well here, apart from her willingness to do chores, that is. She cheerfully does things without being asked, which is a completely foreign concept to my children. I feel bad that our day's offerings are to, a.) go to the beach and get ice cream, b.) get ice cream and go to the beach, or c.) hang out at home. She seems to be settling into our boring routine, though, although she did absolutely jump at the chance to go buck some bales of hay with Mitch and Jack, who are building an archery range somewhere on the property.

Today's big project was to go through the kids' drawers and see what doesn't fit anymore for fall. The boys are so easy. A few new pairs of jeans and sweatshirts, and that's it. "Do we have to go with you, or can you just order them on the internet?" they whined. The girls tried on all their long sleeved dresses and leggings and jeans, and NOTHING freaking fit anymore. Sigh, I said. "It looks like you're going to need all new clothes for fall."

"WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" they screamed, jumping up and down and high-fiving each other.

The minute Mitch walked in the door tonight, Grace said, "Daddy! We're going to need your credit card! We need all new clothes!"

They were still talking about what they were going to buy while they were taking a bath.

Olivia: "I want a dress with a horsie on it, and pants with a horsie, and a shirt with a horsie. Or Hello Kitty."

Grace: "I want a light pink dress with a jeweled neckline, with a butterfly dripping magic down the front onto a garden growing rainbow flowers." Of course she does. Who wouldn't want that?