Monday, April 14, 2008

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.

I have four sisters and one brother. I love them all. My dad had six kids in all: four kids with his first wife, then two kids with his second wife (my mom). So, in one sense I am fifth in the birth order, and in another, I am first in the birth order. The youngest in the family is my little sister. Let's call her...hmmm...The Bug. When she was little, she loved bugs (she still does). She was the little kid at the swimming pool checking out what bugs were trapped in the little bug-catching things. I was not with her on that one. Bugs freaked me out.

She was the one who pulled the prank with the rattlesnake. That reminds me, I need to tell you the story about her bachelorette party sometime...although I probably need her permission to share photos...get your mind out of the gutter, people!

I'm 2 1/2 years older than The Bug. I am fiercely protective of her. We share the same kooky family and the same childhood. She was scared of the dark (ok, I was too), so we slept together for years, despite having our own bedrooms. I made up stories at night to tell her, and she was a loyal audience (and probably totally warped by my bizarre stories).

We went to camp together in the summers. I was homesick and slow to warm up...the Bug made friends with the whole camp and refused to take showers. She was just too cute and adorable! I remember being jealous of her at times because everyone thought she was so cute.

When our family took a trip to England, my parents had us all do English-related projects. I don't really remember what the older four kids had to do, but I did a report on the Tower of London, a fascinating place! The Bug colored England's map. I was 10, she was 7 1/2, I think. Here's a picture from that trip.

I was going through a skirt phase. I loved long skirts. Look at those dirty white keds! We must have been doing a lot of walking.

One of our excursions while in England was to a real English tea, and they had a giant chess set on the lawn. The Bug and I were taught chess by our father at a young age and could play pretty well.


Another family trip was to Italy. Here we are in Pompeii (below). My embarrassing story here is that we were on a tour and had to pee, badly. So, we ended up hiding in the ruins somewhere and peeing. I felt bad, like I was defacing history, but hey, urine is sterile right?


I think this picture (below) was taken in Venice, Italy. We're so corny. I had thick, ugly bangs during this stage. Didn't like them at all now that I look back. I'm on the right.


Here on a hiking trip in Colorado (below). I love The Bug! (I'm on the left with the knee brace. I hurt my knee playing soccer, remember reading about my superstar soccer career?)



I have plenty of fun stories to share about her, but for now, this is your introduction. Everyone, meet The Bug. Bug, this is everyone!

18 comments:

GBK Gwyneth said...

I love the London photo! You sisters were adorable! My sister was 6.5 years younger than me, and I don't feel that closeness that I hear in your post.

I'm hoping that by homeschooling my girls (a little less than four years apart), they will be and stay close. Camille does let Chloe sleep with her and tells her strange stories, so maybe it will be....

crazy4danes said...

Very cute! I have 4 brothers and no sisters, and it's stories like these that make me feel like I was robbed! :) Glad you have such fond memories with your sister!

Rhea said...

Gwyneth - I'm sorry you weren't as close to your sister, but I bet your girls will be very close. (They already sound that way!) My boys are 5 years apart and I was worried that was way too much, but they're very close, thank goodness.

Crazy4Danes - four brothers, wow. I bet that was fun growing up...I bet you're tough!

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

I don't have a sister. I have a younger brother...he's 5 years younger...and we have nothing in common. I had hoped that when we got older, we'd get closer, but that has not happened. He comes over once a week to see my mom (well...truly to have her do his laundry)...but I don't always see him. In some ways I am like an only child :-)

Anonymous said...

I'm an only child! I've always liked being an only child. My husband has 2 sisters, but they're 10 and 12 years older than him. We only have one child and he's all we're planning on having.

You've done a lot of traveling, huh? I've traveled around the United States, Canada and I've visited the Bahamas, but that's it. Canada doesn't count since I grew up only about 2 hours from Canada.

Valarie Lea said...

Hi bug!! There are 6 of us also, and I am the 5th one. 1 Boy and then 5 Girls. :)

I am Laura said...

How cute are you both. I love all the places your parents took you. And gave you assignments. Boy I got a new idea for family trips to torture my children -- homework. Great idea.

Anonymous said...

I didn't have a sister. When I had my 3rd child I privately wished for another girl so I could experience sisters. But now I'm happy Anna's the princess of the fam. I'm taking her to London this summer, and we got tix for that late night key ceremony in the Tower. Didja do that? I hear it's pretty cool...

Rhea said...

Kat - I'm sorry you're not close with your brother. That's a shame. He still has your mom doing his laundry? Bad boy!!

Kim - I've never been to Canada. I'd like to travel more inside the US and lots more outside of it as well. I also want to take my boys and expose them to other cultures and ways of living. I think being an only child has some definite advantages...but I can't honestly imagine being one, growing up in the family I did. :o)

Valarie - How funny! We are both the 5th child, and of my dad's kids, the first was a boy and then the next five were girls. Too funny!

Laura - It was actually pretty cool learning lots about England before we went there...we had to have our projects ready before we traveled there and we had to present them to the family. It's a good way to know a lot about where you're going and really appreciate it. I don't remember doing this for any of our other trips though...I wonder why? I'll have to ask.

Uberburber - Oh, I'm so jealous you're going to London! I don't think we saw any late night key ceremonies...sounds awesome!

~**Dawn**~ said...

Wow you did some serious travelling as a kid huh??

Anonymous said...

Holy crap you got to take some AWESOME trips as a child!!!! That's great!

Rhea said...

Dawn - We did a lot of traveling as a family, and those trips hold such special memories for me...for the family time and for all the amazing things we saw. I really apprciated it.

April - They were awesome! We also went to the Caribbean a lot. I wish I could do the same for my kids but can't at this point in my life.

tearese said...

wow, thats awesome that you guys could travel so much! I'm oldest of five: One sister (three years younger) and three brothers after that.

Anonymous said...

I like your blog..it has a good "feel" to it. :)

I couldn't decide where to leave a note, and then I read this post.

We have something in common. I have a sister that is almost four years younger. I was the oldest..or so I thought. When I was 13 years old I learned that my Father had been married before, and he had a daughter by that marriage! She was a couple of years older. So not only was I no longer the oldest...I was a middle child!:O I use this now to explain my craziness! hee, hee.

I am crazy about my little sister too! She was my first little friend in this world!

I will be back when I have more time. I want to read your short story. :)

Good and creative energies to you!

~gypsy-heart

THE GRAMMARPHILE said...

Looks like you had some fun traveling adventures when you were little! :) I'm jealous...the farthest away I've ever been is either Canada or Florida!

Rhea said...

Gypsy Heart - It's so nice to meet you! That would be quite a surprise to find out at thirteen years old that you had a sister you didn't know about. Have you met her? Thanks for the nice compliments!

Grammarphile - We had some awesome adventures. I think you can have great trips close to home though...so don't feel bad!

Tearese - oldest of five? Wow! You must be super responsible! :o)

carrie said...

My kids would love that large chess set! Cool pics!

Rhea said...

Carrie - A Christmas or two ago I actually looked around to see if I could get my boys a giant chess set, but they were kind of expensive.