Weekend with Cousins

Jon has had a lot of fun with the kids this week.  We got the pool out in the backyard and took a little swim there.  We played lots with our friends and neighbors and enjoyed lunch outside with the neighbors.  We've played so much this week with the kids that tonight, Noah expected that were were going someplace for some new adventure and was so disappointed when we said we were staying home.

On Thursday night, our 4 nieces were in a dance recital of "Pinocchio" at Kingsbury Hall.  They are all so talented and so cute in their costumes and did a fabulous job in the recital.  It's so fun to watch them all dress up like princesses and each year get better and better.  Not sure how Teri does it to get all those girls ready for any event.  After the recital, I got to bring the girls home to our house for a few days while Teri went to girls camp.  Noah and Tayton were so excited to have them come that when I left on Thursday to get them, Noah said, "Hurry home really fast with my cousins Momma!"

We got home really late with the girls on Thursday night and immediately put everyone to bed in separate areas of the house.  We didn't get to bed until about 11:30 p.m., but despite the late bedtime, it didn't stop excited little people from getting up extremely early to play.  I woke up to Charlie saying, "Noah, come on!!!  Let's play!" at 5:30 in the morning.  I immediately put them both back to bed, only to have all 6 kids up hollering and playing together at 6:15 a.m.  Wow.  Don't kids get that when you go to bed late the night before, you need to sleep in the next day.  It was just like Christmas at our house with so many little kids so excited for the day with their cousins.  So much fun!

Jon had gotten home around 4:30 a.m. from work, so he really needed to sleep, but it was like 6 little jackhammers yelling, playing and jumping around the house, so I decided to get them all out of the house for breakfast.  So off to Krispy Kremes we went.  The girls had never been there before, so it was a real treat.  The lady at the counter was so fun too, she came out and gave each of the kids a hat and asked all sorts of questions to them.  they loved every minute there and loved the donuts even more.  They liked it so much that they wanted to go back on Saturday morning again, but once was enough sugar for these little ones!

Caught the spilled strawberry milk in action!

After breakfast, we drove up on base to see if we could see any airplanes taking off and to see if we could give Jon a little more time to sleep.  We saw 4 C-130s out on the tarmack, 1 with the propellers rolling, ready for takeoff, but didn't get to see any in action that day.  We also drove by the Air Force Museum to see a few jets before taking off again for home.  Upon arrival, I made a picnic lunch and told all the kids to go get Jon up.  

Then off to Cold Water Springs we went to feed the fish and have a picnic lunch.  We started out with little bathroom cups full of fish food, but quickly upgrades to the coffee can sized can of fish food.  It kept us entertained for hours watching all the fish, reaching in to pet them, catching them with our bare hands, having them slash and get us all wet and laughing and giggling the entire time!

When we got home, we somehow found the time to squeeze in 3 art projects. . . a painted sun catcher, a canvas bag they all colored with marker and a glitter picture.  I know have glitter all over my kitchen, dining room and living room.  I can't seem to get it off the kitchen and dining room floor.  But it was lots of fun.  It's fun to see the levels of coordination and artistic ability these kids have at different ages and the masterpieces they create.  Then we had dinner, filled the 2 tubs in the house with water and bathed all 6 kids in phases (there was a little arguing over who got to bath with Noah and who got to bath with Tayton, but it all worked out in the end), then we got ready for the outdoor/backyard movie party.  We did have a few moments to spare before the party where we got to play duck duck goose outside and tag with the kids!  Noah got so impatient at one point and wanted it to get dark so we could start the movie that he said, "Momma, I can't wait!!!  Jesus takes a long time to turn the lights down!"  Lots of kids, treats and fun people and a fun movie "A Monster in Paris"  By the time the movie was over at 11:00, all 6 kids were dragging in asking to be put to bed as quickly as possible!

 

Saturday morning, I woke up to the words, "we need milk, I'll pour some."  That made me shoot right out of bed to find all 6 kids awake yet again.  They were helping themselves to the treats from the night before.  We were headed to a family reunion in Riverdale, so we were hustling everyone around after breakfast trying to get there on time. . . needless to say, trying to get 6 kids ready, 5 of which require some form of fancy hairdo, and 2 adults and get us all anywhere together on time is a serious challenge that I'm not up to yet.  Wow.  We arrived an hour and 20 minutes later than planned.  Heaven help me.  We had a ton of fun with the girls while they were here, but looked forward to the much needed afternoon nap Saturday afternoon.

Jon was such a trooper that after the Saturday afternoon nap, he got both cars out and took the kids outside to help wash both cars.  It turned into quite the fun experience for our kids and the kids in the neighborhood as well.  At one point I saw 4 other kids helping Jon out that weren't ours.  Why is it that you can't hardly get your own kids to help you, but the neighbor kids think it's the most fun every.  Every time I go out to weed, the neighbor boy, just a little older than Noah, comes to help me out.  He brings his gloves and wants his own bag for the weeds and away we go, weeding and talking about life.  You can learn a lot from the little people!!