S'mores!

Meet my neice, Madison. She is 3 years old and one of nine reasons why being an uncle ROCKS!! Before moving to Alaska in May, I drove home to Buffalo, NY in April to say goodbye to my family since I wouldn't see them again until November. My sister told me that afterwards, on their drive back to Pittsburgh, Madison gave a sob from the back seat and tearfully said, "Mom, I miss Uncle Rob already and I don't think I can make it 'till November." Geez! I'm not one to get teary-eyed but that one got me!!

Every summer the entire Baird clan (that's 22 and counting) comes together for our annual family camping trip in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. The fam is pretty bummed that I'm all the way up here in Alaska and can't make it back for what I like the call "the best week of my entire year." What they don't know is that months ago I bought a plane ticket to Philadelphia where I will meet up with my sister Kristen and we'll drive up to the 'Dacks together. I CAN NOT WAIT to see the faces on my parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews when I step out of the car. It will be a week of hiking, eating, canoeing, eating, swimming, eating, card games, bonding, enjoying God's beautiful creation, laughter, and yes, eating! While everything we do this week will be a blast; from the euchre and dart tournaments to the canoe trips and the hikes, my favorite moments will be at night around the campfire. The sun will have gone down, the busy-ness of the day will have settled, and the call of the loons will echo across the lake. And while laughing and reminiscing and telling stories that we've all told and heard a million times before, I'll have a neice or nephew or two snuggled in my lap, wrap my arms around them, and ask God for the millionth time why I was blessed with such an amazing, loving family.