Cousins' Camp!

Last Sunday, Sir Walter Scott watched Field of Dreams with the kids.  It was the first time watching it for most of them (if not all).   

When it was over, the kids had a lot of questions, so Sir Walter Scott pulled out photos of when he was able to actually go there.

It was a sweet shared moment of family history . . . and perhaps a laying of groundwork for a Dad-kid outing someday.

Then it was Monday, and we got up and began getting ready for the day!

My youngest sister hosted, my middle sister and some of her family traveled from Utah, and we drove back and forth each day.  Each sister took a day to either provide food or entertainment, and Grandma/Grandpa helped with everything.

I was on the first day's entertainment, but it was the first day, so everyone was kind of getting used to one another and catching up.  My attitude about activities this day was to hang out, swim, and jump on the trampoline.  

Card games!

The trampoline was in almost constant use, but I'm only including one picture. :)

We did the things on my list.

But Grandma had lots of fun games to play.  I was supposed to join everyone to take pictures and facilitate the games, but Belle called, and, as she's only allowed to call home once a week, I took her call, missing most of the action.

There were water balloons and buckets of water and candy prizes involved, though!

When Grandma's games were done and my call was done, it was time to bring out the frozen t-shirts.

The only rule:  First one with a t-shirt all the way on wins.

I froze those shirts solid!  I did not wring them out at all before plunking them into bags to freeze.

This picture is evidence of my favorite part of this game--most of the kids followed Uncle M1--'s example and jumped into the pool to get the warm pool water to melt the frozen t-shirt water.

Some folks needed a lot of help to get their shirts open!

Uncle M1-- was the winner, and the other 17 participants followed one by one, but our Lola and cousin M-- were the last two to get their shirts on.  When almost everyone was done, Auntie K-- checked on the two little girls and overheard them say, "I don't think we're going to win."

When she reported this remark back to the rest of the adults, we laughed so hard!  These little girls were so focused on what they were doing that they were basically unaware that they were in absolute last place.

No one cared.

It was all fun, and Grandma thought of lots of reasons for giving out prizes--good attitude, creative thinking, helping others, etc.

We ate scads of good food and told stories and laughed until our faces and bellies hurt.

It was a late night, and then we had to get up to gather together again for a 4th of July presentation and church pancake breakfast at the park.  I could tell my kids were exhausted because some of them rested on the picnic blanket instead of playing. :)

Or sat alone under a tree for quiet time!

The cousin-bonding was happening!

After lunch, it was time for the town parade.

We saw more trucks and tractors than I knew existed in this small town.  The kids got a lot of candy, too!  We whooped and hollered and cheered and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

This was the day I napped through swimming while Auntie R-- watched all of the kids and prepared dinner.  

(She wore herself out!!!)

(I have some guilt over how this day played out.)

We had a variety show at the church after dinner.

Music, jokes, dancing, and magic tricks entertained us all for over an hour, and after that, Grandpa taught some line dancing and gave us some partner dancing tips.

Brother wrote a song some time ago.  He plays it almost every day, and he played it for us here.

This crew performed part of The Wellerman.

The Electric Slide

Grandpa taught us how a man should lead in dancing.

Then it was time for fireworks.

We walked only a block or so to the high school and set up chairs and blankets on the lawn.  We were able to watch 3 shows!  Two neighborhood shows and the main city one.

My nap made it possible for me to drive the kids safely home that night.  

We got home at midnight!

Then I was up at 6:00 am the next morning because it was my day to feed the family.

Little Princess got up and helped me with the sheet cakes, and Nature Angel helped with loading the coolers.  I prepped the main dishes and the salads.

It was Auntie K--'s turn for activities, and she is awesome at that!!!

With Uncle M2-- at her side, we played so many games!

This was a totally spontaneous cookie taste test during lunch--Oreo vs store-brand chocolate sandwich cookies.  Auntie K-- spearheaded it.
(Oreo was the nearly unanimous winner.)

More evidence of successful cousin-bonding

Grandparents watched happily.
The extra Grandma is Grandma R--.  She biologically belongs to Uncle M1--. 
By love, she belongs to us all.

This was such a cool game of balancing and catching pencils.

The Dads/Uncles really got into this one.

Oh!  Actually, this next one was by Auntie R-- and Cousin E--.  

Human Piñata Tag!

Three kids volunteered to wear the candy shirts, and after a brief headstart, the rest of the kids chased them down and ripped the candy off the shirts! (We rotated piñatas as kids tired out.)

The kids ate and ate and ate and ate candy all afternoon!

Baymax started to have a fever.

Auntie K-- had another hilarious game planned--Tortilla Slap!

The goal of the game is to get your partner to spit out his/her mouthful of water.  Along the way the opponents play Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who will slap whom with a tortilla.

Pictures cannot do this game justice.

Seriously.

I think my sides still hurt from laughing that day.

Some people (me) lost in only one slap.  

Others were amazing, and lasted for so. many. rounds.

We finally went inside for dinner and 2 more activities planned by Auntie R--.

First, she asked the cousins trivia questions about family members.  Then Uncle M1-- set up baby pictures on the TV, and we had to guess which picture was which cousin.

Then it was suddenly late and Cousins' Camp was over.

We got a neighbor to take a final group picture.

There are four generations in this picture!
Missing:  Rose Red, Super Star, Pixie, Belle, Cousin A1-- and his family

It was a fabulous family event.  

I'm tired, but I already want to have another one!

We all slept late on Thursday morning.  

We did very little other than recover.

Baymax continued to run a fever all the way into Sunday.  

Church activities and CAP happened that night.

Little Princess had her promotion ceremony--Senior Airman.  
We had Nature Angel put on her pin.

Sir Walter Scott had to go back to work on Friday, but the rest of us lazed through the day.  Baymax was still coping with a fever, and Little Princess had swollen glands and was starting a fever of her own.

However, Super Star and Nature Angel had tickets to see Taylor Swift!

It was a glorious concert for them both.  They got home in the wee hours and woke me to talk my ear off about all of the amazingness. :)

Today, Brother gave his first talk in sacrament meeting about how knowing he is a child of God helps him make good choices.   I helped him write the talk, and then he practiced it on his own.  

He was darling!

Our daycare babies come back tomorrow, and it will be good to get back to a proper routine of Morning Meetings and Evening Readings, but it will also be a busy week of camp preparations; Brother and Mister Man leave mid-week for their church camp, and Little Princess leaves on Saturday for Encampment.

I feel the summer racing past!