Wanna hear about our trip? (part three--birthday party at the park)

In our family, we have what are affectionately referred to as the "triplet cousins". Let me introduce them in order of birth:

June 7: Katherine Grace (Dean & Lisa's 2nd child)
June 21: Naomi Grace (our 6th child)
July 9: Sarah Katherine (Becky & Dan's oldest)

I love how their names all intertwine, and it wasn't planned that way. Dan & Becky and Dean & Lisa had independently of each other chosen "Katherine" as part of each girl's name. When we were thinking of names, "Naomi Grace" just seemed right. I called Lisa to ask if they'd mind if we used the same middle name, and they didn't. :)

Another interesting tidbit is that Sarah was due before Naomi, so she is older than Naomi, if you look at when their lives *really* began. :)

(they're in age order in the photos, left to right)

We have quite a few photos of the three girls together at various ages (this is the first, from August 2004). We had always toyed with the idea of celebrating their birthdays together, but it had never happened because we've always lived out of town. With our trip to Michigan right in the midst of their birthdays, we had a group birthday party.

My old hometown has free concerts at the park on Thursday evenings, so we had a jazz & blues band as the background music for our birthday celebration. Before the concert started, Matt asked the band if they could play "Happy Birthday" for the girls. About halfway into the concert, we were taking photos of the girls when the woman in the band began introducing the song. She said the three girls' names, that they were all cousins turning four, and that the band was going to sing "Happy Birthday" to them.

The girls were holding hands and their faces lit up when they heard their names. They ran out into the crowd, holding hands and dancing amongst the people, who all wished them a happy birthday. It was so surreal to watch, almost like it had been choreographed! Becky was quick on the draw and caught the whole performance on video.

It was a very pleasant time together at the park, listening to music, visiting with family and watching the kids build a fort. The only thing that would have been better is if the fourth of the grandchildren who were due at that time had been there. But Jason & Rachel's "Pumpkin" died in the first trimester, so instead of "quadruplet cousins" it is only "triplet cousins". They were on our minds & hearts that evening.