Two 12 Year Old 2nd Cousins & A Camera a Fun Day Makes

We finally went out to visit Matt's Grandmother today and she was, as usual, babysitting two of his cousins... 12 year old Kyle and Shasta. Those two kids are AWESOME! They grabbed Raegan and took her outside for fun and play, then came in and confiscated my camera for an impromptu photo shoot. They caught butterflies and put them in jars for her to see up close.. they climbed into an old juniper and hauled her up with them ( with a careful hand on her at all times) and took pictures.. they found and played with a myriad of bugs and creepie crawlies.. they picked flowers and put them in a bag for her to take home... they were GREAT! What started out as a chore ( Matt isn't close with his family at all) turned into one of the FUNNEST afternoons! All the pictures following were taken by these two kids. Raegan had a BLAST. It was neat to see how responsible kids can be. These two were only 12 but they each have younger siblings at home. They took charge and played WITH her, laughing and giggling right along. One of the funnest moments was watching Kyle run around the yard with a net trying to catch a butterfly while Raegan and Shasta, holding hands, giggled and ran around behind him. When he finally caught one they all plopped down on the grass and put their heads together to look at it. She wasn't a chore to them, but rather a fun little partner in crime. They were very careful with her.. I would NEVER let her climb in a tree. But they did, without me knowing as I just let her go with them. In every picture you can see Kyle behind her holding her carefully so she couldn't fall. When they picked flowers they carefully guided her away from the plants that had thorns as well as flowers. It was just so neat to see, especially after an interesting recent visit from my own 11 year old sister who does not have the benefit of younger siblings to care for.