We headed home to Georgia for Thanksgiving and were looking forward to a week full of relaxation and fun with our extended family. Our first visitors were my cousin Leigh Ann and her daughter Erin. We’d met Erin last summer at a family reunion and it was fun to see how much she’d grown since then.

For those keeping score, Erin is Emma and Henry’s third cousin since she’s the daughter of my grandfather’s sister’s daughter’s daughter. Or their great grandfather’s great grand niece, or my second cousin once removed, whichever descriptor you prefer.

Got it? No, me either. Big families can be confusing like that.

While Henry was still snoozing away one morning Emma and Granpa hung a makeshift swing from an old dogwood tree in the front yard. My father piecing together a swing from things lying around in the garage is just so quintessentially him and one of the reasons I think he’s so great.

Watching them play together was one of my favorite moments of the trip. The air was cool and crisp, the light was just so and the two of them were having an absolutely wonderful time, oblivous to everything except one another.