Cousin Kristian

I grew up in Germany (as an American so please don't ask me if I know German) while pretty much the entire extended family lived in Florida. There were a couple of years, however, my grandparents lived a couple of hours away and until I was ten-ish (very much of a guess) my cousin Kristian and his mom lived about an hour away from us. Kristian was less than a year younger than me and was also an only child. But unlike me, he did live as a German. He went to their schools, spoke their language, and befriended their sons. And the most important part of the story... he was. a. boy.
Now mind you I was an only child used to the finer things in life like playing Barbies for hours without disturbance. I was a girl used to sleepovers where people actually slept. I did not understand the sport of teasing. Kristian? He was in the major leagues!
That boy. I'm surprised I don't have an ulcer because of the hardships he caused me! The two of us would sit at a little kiddie table in the kitchen while our moms sat in the living room.  Quietly that boy would scoot his chair back about an inch or two and then slowly pull the little plastic table to him and away from me. I would warn him to cut it out and yank the table back. He would scoot back more this time and pull the table farther away. I would yell out for help from the older-and-wiser group in the living room who was always told me to stop tattle-tailing. Deflated and unarmed I would look back at Kristian who, by this time, was almost down the hallway with the dinner table!
We slept with him in his bed and me on the floor. Sigh... finally quiet after a long day. I would breathe in the peace of night, and just as I would close my eyes my pillow would disappear! I would yank my head up at full attention. In the dark of the bedroom Kristian would be giggling. I would huff in frustration and the pillow would be thrown back on my head. Fine! So I had my pillow back now. I would get comfortable again, settle down to relax, and this time my bear would be yanked out of my arms! I would jump up yelling that I was going to go for help! But right before I turned the door handle the bear would be thrown back into bed. I would go back to the floor and find my blanket gone. I don't remember why he would ever stop that nonsense. Maybe I was so tired by the end of the night that I've blocked it from my memory.
My goodness, that boy was a menace! (Love you, Kris!)
Kristian was the closest thing I had to a pesky brother or any type of blood relative at all. While I could not understand how that pest got away with all sorts of irritation I did enjoy having "normal" part of life that wasn't so peaceful. Kristian and I look back at that time of our lives with much laughter. A boy who couldn't keep his hands to himself, a girl who did not know how to handle life with a pesky "brother", and a mother who didn't tolerate tattle-tails. The injustice!
What good memories they are.

Now my cousin Kristian lives in New Jersey. He travels a lot for work. It's quit a treat when he writes us about an upcoming L.A. trip! We'll usually spend a day together and drop him off at his hotel. The kids used to think he was rich. In their minds he was traveling all the way to California just to visit us for the one day!
Cousin Kristian is not nearly so pesky. I'd have to ask his girlfriend if there's been true reformation or if he's just on his best behavior for penance for prior annoyances. He's not married (yet) and has no children. He'll tell us about his travels to London, Berlin, Barcelona, etc. He snowboards, rides a motorcycle, and drives into Times Square for New Years Eve. He'll ask me what we've done recently. I'll have to think back. Well, Kaeley learned what a proper noun was. We drove to Pasadena once. We read the Hobbit. Other than that it's all been very normal, loud, messy, and beautiful.
He can't think we're all that boring, because he keeps coming back.

On this particular trip we took our globe-trotter to El Dorado Nature Center. To the children it was Mirkwood Forest and they jumped between Bilbo Baggins with spiders to the wood elves back to Bilbo swinging Sting around.

A grasshopper.

Alynna, my cuddle bunny, loves Cousin Kristian. He would pick her up and put her on any stable branch within arms length. I guess he either liked her too or he was hoping I wouldn't notice if he left her in a tree.

Look at that face! Can you believe he used to pitch a fit when it was my turn to play Nintendo?

Kristian helped the kids find the perfect walking sticks. Nathan would not keep a good stick. He would carry it for a few yards, and then drop it in search for the perfect stick. That's how he ended up with the monster above. Kris wouldn't help him lug that thing around for the mile left to our hike, so Nathan finally had to dump it off the trail. He sobbed at the loss at the perfect stick!

Guess which child didn't have to climb up the tree?

This is Kaeley almost touching the dangerous creek of Mirkwood Forest which would put the offender to sleep. Whew! We made it out alive.
Thank you, pesky little "brother", for always coming to visit this foreign land of strollers, sticky hands, constant chatter, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I still think we're more beautiful than the sunsets of Barcelona and more dangerous than skiing down the icy slopes of Utah. I love you, Cousin Kristian!