The Children Meet Some Cousins!!

We headed out really early this morning for my cousin's house. They lived near Grass Valley and it was to be about a six hour drive. We got to their house and found the most beautiful setting.

A Waterfall Swimming Pool

If you look to the left you will see that the water runs out of the top of the pool, creating a waterfall effect. This is intentional and makes for a very pretty sight.

The View From the Patio

Another View From the Patio

Their land is 33 acres in size and they have a large pond with two swans and an Egyptian goose. They also have some birds from Canada.

Their Swans

The drive to the house is a windy pleasant drive. I would love to have this 'yard'! The kids would love roaming it, but John says they have poison oak, so have to be careful where the kids play.

Right after we arrived we took the kids down to see the swans and the geese.

Enjoying a Walk With Margaret

They enjoyed the walk and John was very informative with all the information about the trees, the iron in the ground, the irrigation system, the lava rocks that were all over the place. They were called Marshmallow Lava, because when they came up from under the water originallly (when there was water in this area) they cooled very quickly, creating a rounded look to them.

Lava Rock!

We had a wonderful guest house to stay in. Margaret had equipped the kitchen with anything we might need for snacks and breakfast! It was so nice to kick back and relax after running for the last two weeks!

Enjoying Hot Chocolate and Cookies in "Our" House

John and Margaret had lots of knowledge and mentoring to share with the boys, since John works for NASA (he was part of the design team for the Apollo 13 spacesuits) and Margaret is a well known cardio pathologist, who is working on new advances in heart transplants. The boys had the opportunity to hold items that had been to Space and learn about new space technology and heart transplant advances that are taking place right now. Insider information! *smile*

The boys had a wonderful time getting to know my mother's cousin, John and his wife Margaret, and we are very thankful for the chance to see them. John and Margaret and my family immigrated from England in the 1960's.

John and Margaret and I

The Boys and Their Newly Met Cousins