Cousins in Kansas

In mid-April we went to Fort Riley, Kansas for a long weekend to visit with some of the Ducote family and to celebrate two of our nephew's baptisms.  Justin (Rich's brother), his wife Anne Marie, and their new baby Sam, are stationed at Fort Riley and Brian (Rich's brother), Gina and their two boys, Michael and John, came down from Fort Drum, NY to join in with the festivities as well.

Here are the Ducote cousins-4 boys under 4! 

Sam (3 months), Michael (4), John (23 months), Joseph (16 months)

On Saturday we spent some time getting to know baby Sam and then went to the park up the street.

 Sunday was the baptism.  Both Sam and John were baptized and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures except for this one.  Rich took pictures with Gina's camera and I was busy keeping Joseph somewhat quiet and entertained.  I'll have to add pictures once I get some from Gina and Anne Marie.

 Gina and Brian were stationed at Fort Riley a few years ago and their good friends, Christy and Gary, are John's godparents and they had us all over for an amazing spread after the ceremony.  They have 9 grandchildren so there were a ton of toys for the kids to play with and the boys had a blast!

On Monday we drove into Manhattan for lunch at a delicious, little spot and then found a great park within walking distance from the restaurant.

 We actually ended up going to 4 different parks on Monday-just enjoyed the weather outside and finished the day bbq'ing at a lake on Fort Riley with a stop at Baskin Robbins on the way home.

 Three big cousins!

Our flight didn't leave on Tuesday until 5 p.m. and since the airport was 10 minutes from their home and was the smallest airport we had ever been to we didn't need to leave their home until around 3:45 so it was nice to have another almost full day.  The weather was gorgeous again so we spent most of the day outside just enjoying one another's company and watching the boys!  Michael must have ran around the cul-de-sac about 50 times as he wanted Uncle Rich to time him-I didn't get a picture but it was too cute...and he is fast!!!

 This is Anne Marie, Justin and Sam's home on base.  Every morning Rich and I walked/ran around post and it really was just gorgeous.  The stone on the homes and the big trees gave it such a nice feel and we were really impressed.  We actually stayed at Officer's lodging across the street from Justin and Anne Marie which was wonderful-a huge living room, bedroom, and kitchen and had that old but very charming feel to it!  

 So nice to take a short flight for the long weekend to share the baptism with everyone and to spend time with Anne Marie, Justin, Gina, Brian and the boys!  We are looking forward to our next visit!