Photo Essay: Spring Break

This is a tree in front of our house. It was blooming and gorgeous when I got home on Tuesday. By Sunday when I left, a ton of the flowers were needlessly swept away by the hurricane-style winds. Listen, if we can't have crystal clear water and palm trees, we shouldn't get the wind either. Life is unfair enough.


Our house sits on a hill in the countryside, and this is the view you see to the left, facing the house. My dog likes to swim in the pond. So does Lexie. Just kidding. We told her sharks live in there.


My family is obsessed with cats, as evidenced by their large quantities at our house. I may have been exaggerating when I said we had 26, but it's hard to get exact numbers when you get three strays one day and then one dies in a horrible car accident the next. We are like the foster cat capitol of the world. And somehow they're all beautiful. I think we discriminate a little. From left to right, McKinley (not after the President, but I'm not sure how he got his name), Graycen (donning the stylish purple flea collar) and Piper (new edition and my new fave).


This is Addison. While I was away eating crumpets in London, my sister Lexie announced to the family that Addison was pregnant. My parents looked at the cat and then looked at each other. There was no visible outward sign. But sure enough, several months later, the cat had exploded. HOW DID SHE KNOW? My mom thinks Lexie will grow up to be a vet. I think she will grow up to be a witch doctor.


This is my 10-year-old brother Kevin, also known as the most amazing kid to walk the planet. He is the sweetest thing I know, PLUS he gave himself this equally sweet European hairstyle! He is so stylish. And adorable. As a funny side note, Lexie, Lyndsey and Kevin used to be 10 lbs. apart. Lexie weighed 45, Lyndsey, 55, and Kevin, 65. Now, about a year later, Lexie weighs 55, Lyndsey, 65, and Kevin, 102. He is so chunky and SO CUTE that I just want to squeeze him all day long. Scott was the same way when he was Kevin's age. He suddenly got really pudgy and then shot up - to 6 foot 3. I don't want to lose my baby brother, but I'm pretty sure Kevin will end up even taller than Scott. By the way, the side view looks like he has a mullet. It's a muted object in the background. Good sisters don't let their brothers have mullets.


And this is Cindy Lou-Who. I mean, Lyndsey. I didn't take this picture, which I hope you can tell by the quality. She stole my camera and decided to take pictures of herself. There were pictures of her pretend-sleeping, roughly 15 shots of the television screen and several pictures of her looking like she had just seen the ghost of ten cats past doing a baton twirl on the ceiling. I thought this picture best captured her delicate blond nose hairs. And the Christmas hairbow? I'm sad to say she must have stolen it from my closet. I'm sure my mom had me wearing it up until I was 13.


And this is Lexie in all of her glory. I hope her face freezes like that.


As I mentioned, Addison the cat is pregnant. Lexie decides when a cat will give birth by the pattern of the moon. She was almost positive she would be getting kitties that night, so she was working on her name list. I told you she was my mini-me! Her top name choice? Bubbles. So she needs a little work. Incidentally, Lexie was a couple of days off, but she now has her kittens. My mom and Amy arrived home yesterday to find Lexie peering over the new kittens in their cardboard box. "This one's a boy," Lexie said proudly, pointing to the white kitten. "How do you know?" Amy asked. ".... I just know," Lexie replied, cryptically. Mom and Amy were silent. Lexie continued: "It just lifted up its legs, okay?" I didn't realize newborn kittens were able to do the splits - upside down.


And this is my other mini-me. This was the night that we went to the video store - as evidenced by her cute outfit. You'll see mine in a second. I thought she was wearing an old pair of my capris at first - it turns out that they're her pajama pants. "You had capris that looked like this?" she asked, incredulously. "SICK."


I found her like this in the sunroom, right before Amy and I went downstairs to watch When Harry Met Sally. The lights were off, the TV was off. It's like she just up and collapsed on the floor. Also making a cameo are Kevin's dirty socks.


Me sweeping the mini-me off her feet. Props to Amy for the artsy sideways shot.


My favorite picture ever. Lexie was sitting at the kitchen table, munching on her chocolate-covered long john with sprinkles, her chocolate milk sitting undisturbed on the table. I called her name and pressed the button on my camera. And as she turned to look at me, the picture snapped.