Cousin Fun

During the summers, Melissa and I like to get together once or twice a week to visit and let the kids play. It's been a hard summer with all the Covid restrictions. Landon's neighborhood pool is open for residents only, but no guests are allowed. The town pool is open, but I'm not sure how I feel about going there. At both pools you have to make a reservation for a time slot in advance and the town pool requires masks when you are paying and any time you aren't in the water. People are supposed to practice social distancing and stay 6 feet away from people who aren't in your household. Parks and playgrounds are open, but neither Melissa or I are very comfortable going there either, so we just play at home. The past two weeks we have gone to Melissa's house. They have the best basement and lots of toys. Dagny loves the dress up clothes and always puts something on right away. Today she was riding the stick horse and waving as she galloped around.

Millie was also a princess.

Maddie didn't want to be left out and she found a princess dress too.

All of the kids love the cat, but Beau gets overwhelmed when they all want to pet him and play with him. Claire is  gentler than the other kids (and it probably helps that she doesn't chase him) and he lets her hold him. He is a big cat and is a full arm load.

Beau was tapping Claire's face with his paw and it was so cute.  A few minutes later he ran and hid and we didn't see him again while we were there.

Some items, like pools and trampolines, have been hard to find this summer. I think everyone is buying them since we have to stay home so much. Melissa was lucky and found this pool at the Wal-Mart in Elizabeth. Delwyn loves to shop there because it has a low customer volume and they never seem to run out of things like our Wal-Mart does. They have the pool set up to the side of their back yard, complete with umbrella and a fence for hanging towels on. Last week it rained the day we came to play and the kids were all so disappointed they couldn't swim. They were so happy today!

The pool is big enough to have floaties. We had a couple of pools like this when the older kids were little, and they are pretty roomy.

All the girls had goggles.

A perfect summer picture of happiness!

When the kids got cold, they ran to the tramp to warm up. They laid down for a few minutes and they they were up jumping and when they got hot again, it was back to the pool.

Pure summer relaxing! Feet crossed, elbows out, Barbie in her lap, just floating around the pool.

Oh, to be a kid again! No worries, just swim and float the day away.

Lincoln loves to play and dig in the dirt. This is his idea of heaven, soft dirt and lots to toys to dig and dump with.

Thanks to Melissa and girls for a very fun day!! So glad we all live close together and are able to spend time together making memories. My dream of having family close by has came true! My kids only got to see their cousins a couple of times a year, and I love that my grandkids are growing up together!

Austin's Kids Sleepover

Back in April when Austin's trip to France got cancelled, I told him I would keep the kids overnight so he and Melissa could have a date night. The weekends in June got busy, and so we are finally doing it now.  They dropped the kids off around noon on Friday. After lunch they wanted to put the sprinkler under the trampoline.

Happy jumpers.

Claire took the hose inside the trampoline and waved it around making designs in the air.

I bought a bunch of these squirters so each of the kids could have one. They squirt really far!

Then they put the hose on the slide to make it a water slide.

Kids and water are a perfect combination, and they played all afternoon.

We ordered pizza for dinner and ate outside.

I have bikes and scooters for all the kids and Claire especially loves to ride them in the circle. Watching them is one of my favorite things. It brings back so many memories of when my own kids spent hours and hours biking and playing in the circle. And biking is one of my favorite things to do, so I love that the grandkids enjoy it too.

Miss Maddie has the cutest smile!

It took Dagny forever to learn to pedal, and she finally can, but scootering is still her favorite.

Cute cousins! Dagny was so cute with Maddie following her around the sidewalk, and would stop and wait for her to catch up.

The Bodemans have these steps and little platform by the mailboxes and all the kids love to play on them.

They like to pretend it is a stage and they sing and dance and do little plays.

Such cool kids! Maddie copies everything they do.

Dagny says Claire is her best friend. The sweetest thing ever!

 Delwyn bought a projector to show movies outside and he played around it with this afternoon thinking we would let the girls watch a movie, but they watched quite a bit in the house while he was figuring it out plus we played outside until it was too late, so they watched for a few minutes in their sleeping bags until Claire was falling asleep and we moved them downstairs.

Claire has a lot of energy and plays hard all day, so when it's time for bed, she is tired and falls alseep fast.

The girls brought their sleeping bags from home and Millie and Maddie were on air mattresses. Claire slept on the couch. She was good sport because they all wanted to be on an air mattress.

Doesn't that smile just warm your heart?? She has got to be the cutest thing ever!  Maddie has her own room at home, so she thought it was extra fun to be sleeping in the same room as Claire and Millie.

These girls are early birds!! They were up at 6:15 am and eating cereal by 6:30. They like breakfast food for dinner, but always want cereal for breakfast. Claire likes Life, Millie and Maddie both love Cocoa Puffs. They watched TV for about an hour, then turned it off (they know they only get a little TV time each day and were so good to monitor themselves when their parents weren't around, I was SO impressed!!) and played with the toys. Millie always wants the Pet Shop things.

Claire is a builder and had fun with the Legos.

Aunt Britta and Aunt Denya are definitely the best aunts ever! They love to play games with the kids and Headbandz is one of their favorites.

Landon came over to borrow a tool and wasn't planning on staying, but when the kids saw each other, they begged and begged to play. We were just getting ready to have a tea party with lemonade and Ritz crackers. Adorable kids!

I need to get brave enough to have all of them over for a sleepover at the same time. I should have thought of it sooner. This would have been the perfect time with Denya and Britta to help. Being a Grandma is so much fun!

Millie's Birthday and Fourth of July

Millie's birthday was Thursday. Austin and Melissa weren't planning on having a birthday party since they have been in Texas for a week for Melissa's grandma's funeral. Megan had the idea to have a surprise birthday party, so I called Austin and he was up for it. Megan ordered pizza and Britta made some cupcakes. We rang the doorbell, Melissa and Millie opened the door, and we yelled, "Surprise! Happy Birthday!" Millie was so happy. We ate pizza and the kids played in the basement.

Millie got this stuffy on Thursday. It looks just like their cat Beau! She named him Lil Bub and she was carrying him around the whole time we were there.

Aunt Britta reads to Millie and Maddie. They were so adorable curled up by her.

Time for presents!

How cute is this?! All the girls love unicorns and the bright colors are appealing. This will be so cute on Millie. Megan always finds the cutest clothes. Remember the Christmas dresses?

This cute little boom box plays "Trolls Just Want To Have Fun," a spin on "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." By the time we left all the girls could sing it. It is such a catchy song. Claire was singing into the microphone like a pro.  You can also hook the boom box up to a phone and play whatever music you want.

We gave Millie this jewelry box. I gave Claire a jewelry box when she turned 6 and maybe I'll make this a tradition. She was pretty excited when she saw it.

Millie wanted to show us her Kindergarten scrapbook. She had such a great teacher who took so many cute pictures of her first year at school.

Birthday cupcakes are the best!

The girls wanted to swim in their inflatable backyard pool, but it rained for a bit and was quite cloudy. They jumped on the trampoline instead and when they came in Millie gave the girls a pair of stick on earrings that I gave her with the jewelry box. They all danced around and wanted to show off their pretty ears.

Happy Birthday sweet Millie!

Today is also the Fourth of July. No celebrations because of Covid, no fireworks because of a statewide fire ban due to several fires in the state. The fireworks were just cancelled a few days ago and I was so sad. With all the Covid restrictions, we would at least be able to buy some fireworks and watch the town display. They have shot them off from a butte near the Red Hawk golf course the last couple of years and they can be seen from almost anywhere in town, which means there are no large gatherings because most people can see them from home. And now we don't get to have them. Grump! Ryan and the girls wanted to barbeque, so it will at least seem like a holiday and we get to experience one traditional thing for this day. Ryan was the chef and it was tasty!

Washington Park and Fondue Night

Since the 4th of July is on a Saturday, Denya and Landon both had today off and Denya wanted to do something fun. We wanted to think of something Britta could do since she still has stitches and is wearing her surgery shoes. We decided on Washington Park. We did the paddle boats first. 

Dagny and Lincoln were so excited to get life jackets on, and they were so cute hugging each other.

Ryan was not excited to wear a life jacket.

We're off to paddle around the lake!

Lincoln really wanted to pedal, but he's not quite big enough. Landon and Megan are going to get a good work out since only 2 people will be pedaling their boat.

My cute girls!

We switched up passengers in the middle of the lake and Britta and Dagny traded places.

When we left home we were planning on riding the surrey bikes and hadn't talked about the boats, but Megan and the kids really wanted to go for a boat ride. Good thing Megan had grocery bags for Britta to wrap her feet with. We all gave her strict orders that she didn't need to pedal, but she did a little bit anyway.

It was fun to have Dagny on our boat. We looked around at all the people and the pretty scenery. The rental was for one hour. We had to pedal quite hard and the boats were slow moving, but it was fun!

We had a blast on the surrey bike! It was a little crowded, but it was more fun to all be together, and we were definitely noticed by people walking and jogging in the park. We got several smiles and laughs.

The kids fit perfectly in these little seats in the front.

Landon was in charge of the steering and the brakes. There were a few slight curves and corners and a slight down hill. It was a little freaky to have a steering wheel that didn't move the bike when I turned it. We all screamed a couple of times going around the corners and down the hill. There was a lot of laughing as well.

The girls were taking selfies.

The back seat gang. 

Our happy group! The people in the middle don't pedal, just the four corner seats. Megan and I switched, so we both had a turn. I didn't feel like I was pedaling much and I think Landon and Ryan did most of the work.

The boats were fun, but the surrey bikes were definitely the winner!

The weather was perfect! A little overcast and cloudy, so pleasant. I thought for sure it would be pretty hot. A great afternoon!

I have wanted to try fondue at home ever since we went to the Melting Pot for my birthday and decided tonight was the perfect time. Delwyn grilled some chicken and steak since I'm not sure I want to try cooking the meat in a fondue pot like they do in restaurants. We tried a cheese recipe that was on Pinterest and used French bread cubes, carrots, broccoli, and green apples to dip. I also dipped my meat and that was tasty too.

It was really stretchy!! Not sure if we used to much cheese or not enough chicken broth. We added some more liquid and it was better, but still pretty stretchy.

Yum!

I don't think Delwyn was a big fan of our meal, but he was good sport about it all.

The chocolate fondue was heavenly! We dipped some brownie bites, cheesecake bites, marshmallows, and graham crackers, as well as fruit. The bananas really hit the spot for me tonight. On my birthday I liked the pineapple the best. We packed a lot of fun into this day!