Before the Storm

This photo was taken on vacation last week. We rented a beautiful house on the Chesapeake Bay along with my brother and his family. Gabe and his cousin are closest in age and great playmates; usually. Gabriel is the youngest of four and M. at age six is an only child. One would think that Gabe would take the opportunity to finally have someone younger to boss around, but it was often M. who was in charge. This cute little blond guy with the gravely voice which only got deeper as the week went on, never missin an opportunity to chime in and be heard among the of ten of us. He was constantly chattering and asserting himself as he found his way in the group of six kids last week. When relating to Gabe he took the opportunity to finally be in charge. Gabe tried his best to take direction, but would sometimes give me a "help me" look. It was all fine in the end as Gabe can be very bossy to his next older brother Donovan as he tries to align his eight year old self with the teenagers in our family. Our vacation is over and needless to say we miss the talkative little guy that fit in perfectly in the lineup last week. Gabe has often asked for a younger sibling so for a full non-stop week he got his wish. He is already asking when he can come over and visit at our house.
I told them to sit on the large piece of driftwood so I could take this picture before the thunderstorm. They had just had "words " and chose to sit a good five feet apart. I had envisioned an arms over the shoulder buddy shot. I had them move closer together and snapped a few more, but this one told the story.