We've Got Spirit, How 'Bout You?

There's nothing like a passel of cousins to take the kids' minds off of another weekend without dear old Dad (and to keep me from losing whatever shred of patience I had left). Rob's sister, Marguerite, and her husband, Jason, came down from New York this weekend with their children, and, as they say in Pride and Prejudice (which I just watched while on the treadmill this morning), it was a "charming diversion." Their three children are fairly close in age to my own, and they play very well together, so it is always with eager anticipation that Older Girl and The Boy await a visit from Sweet Pea, Little Man, and Doll Baby.
Since both Sweet Pea and Older Girl are currently obsessed with all things equine, the children watched Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and were then inspired to adapt the script into a play for the enjoyment of all. Older Girl and Sweet Pea made tickets and promotional flyers that could be found in all the rooms of the house, and they also came up with some creative costumes. They used their Wonder Twin powers (form of . . . Bossy Older Sisters) to convince Little Man to wear Older Girl's cowgirl Halloween costume, which, while possessing a pretty authentic sheriff's badge and hat, also had the disadvantage of a skirt that Little Man was not too sure about. But he was a good sport and he wore the skirt proudly, pretending it was a set of chaps, and the girls whinnied around him with tails made of scarves tucked into the back waistbands of their pants. I'm not really sure about the plot of "Spirit" the movie, but I thought the play was very avant garde with no talking but a lot of prancing, leaping, and then collapsing into forlorn scarfy heaps at the feet of the skirted sheriff.
They played like this for two days, with only a few easily managed disagreements.
It's something I love to see, and I hope that we can keep nurturing this bond among all the cousins. I hope to see many more plays before they all get too big and too "cool" to do things like that. I know that day is right around the corner, the day when the girls won't even try to convince Little Man to wear skirt-chaps because there will be no play in the offing, but until then I'll just enjoy the show.