We were lucky enough to have an overnight visit with the mini monkey-cousins this weekend.
They are very busy little people.
Who tired out whom?
We are lucky to live close to our families. Our children have grown up with great-grandparents (my grandparents shared a house with a granny suite with us for a few years), grandparents and all of their immediate aunts and uncles and cousins. I think it has made them happier, more confident and well socialized kids. At least they always have someone nearby to fall back on.
lightlycrunchy 
nothing better than this – lucky was the perfect title
I thought so. Not many people have the opportunity to live close to their families any more.
when I was younger I had that opportunity and I would not have given it up for anything – so glad I had that to take for granted
Heidi..isn’t it wonderful..my children also had my husband’s parents, my mother and so many extended family…I think it does indeed is a very good influence on their personalities….Beautiful pictures…Diane
I think family has been a great influence on our kids. Every day they see family and on weekends they see even more. And they will never be at a loss for somewhere to go in an emergency. We have family flanking us on two sides right now. Which actually means that someone moved away, because there used to be more. 🙂
Lucky kids indeed! To me, it just makes SO much more sense for family of all ages to be together. It’s so sad to see old folks warehoused in “Homes” – feeling sad and neglected – when they could be passing on knowledge from generations past while helping out with all those little time-consuming chores that take up a lot of time, but aren’t dependant on strength… still feeling like a useful part of the family, no matter what their age…
Up until our last two moves, we had family living with us – our first move was into a house with a granny flat that my husband’s grandmother owned and lived in. Later on we bought the house and my grandparents moved in too. When we moved again, it was next door to my mother and stepdad with my inlaws beside us as well. Now my brother lives in our old house, my inlaws have moved across the road from him and we live in the farm our inlaws used to live in. Confusing, but very nice.
Those monkeys look pretty tame. 🙂 I think it’s great that you have so many family members close to you. Btw, your home looks so comfortable and welcoming, what a nice place to have for guests to visit.
They were pretty tame by the time we took that picture. I think our kids tired them out. 🙂
And thanks – I think our place is cozy too – I like living here and it’s nice to have people come and visit us.
It is so wonderful living close to eachother! We live close with most of our family too, and I love it. My kids have cousins the same ages, we have loads of babysitters just a quick phone call away, and we all get together for big Sunday dinners each week! I couldn’t imagine living far away from family!
I’m not sure we’d do as well as we have if we were far away from family. They have helped us so much with our kids and when we’ve needed help after illnesses, etc. It works both ways too.
yes, lucky indeed!! so so wonderful to catch a glimpse of your sweet time together!
So sweet! I often lament that we don’t have enough family around. I think it’s hard on the kids.
I think being around family is very important. When my kids were younger, we moved so that we could be in driving distance of all of our relatives (every visit was a plane ride before.) We moved to a much higher cost of living with lower paying jobs, but the benefits have been immeasurable.
They are immeasurable – that’s what I was trying to say, but you said it better. 🙂
I love your photos and so envy your multi-generational families. I didn’t know my Grandparents very well though was lucky enough to have my maternal Granny living with us for a short time when she taught me to knit, crochet and play cards!
Our own children lived far away from their Grandparents as we live from our Grandchildren now so visits are treasured and Skype is wonderful – but you can’t hug over Skype! 🙂