Last Cousin Party for the Year

My kids (and Greg and I) have been loving having their cousins in town for the last several weeks.  Aunt Andrea was even in town at the same time -- so they've had their whole family in one place, at one time, which is fairly rare for Greg's side of the family.  We only get to see most of them every year or so, and we've tried to make the most of their time in town.  Annie (7) and Connor (6) have really hit it off, and are quite inseparable.  Ellie and Nathan (both 5) are hilarious to watch.  Isaac (3) and Ian (2) usually play somewhere alongside the older kids or wherever they can find the closest free iPad with one of the grandparents.  And Owen (one and a half) is having a blast with a tinier person, Claire (under 1), whom he loves to point out her eyes (usually with a sharp poke), tug on her ears, take her toys, offer her toys, give her kisses, and all around smother her with more love and affection than she wants.  Last night was our last family get together before they head back home -- and Nathan's fifth birthday party.  (After Isaac's birthday last week, and before Nathan's this week, for a brief period in time, the kids were aged 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 -- cool, huh?)  We got some family pictures taken, and while I don't have those yet, I do have (a lot) of pictures taken with my own camera.  After pictures, we had a BBQ at the park, until the wind picked up and started to blow all our stuff away, so we whisked the kids back to Grandma Ruth and Grandpa KC's house for birthday cake (or quinoa cupcakes for my lucky kids), and games and playing.  We ended up agreeing to an impromptu sleepover, so the girls are still over there with their cousins (happily wearing boy pajamas, which Annie thought was funny, and Ellie was quite upset about until she realized it was between that and one of Grandpa's t-shirts, and after getting dressed was quite amused by her new pajamas).  Isaac screamed the entire way home, even refusing to drink a slurrpy we tried to bribe him with until 15 minutes into our drive.  Poor kid.  I just didn't think it seemed fair to leave yet another kid in diapers at Grandma's house.  :-)  The kids sure are going to miss having their cousins around -- but we made some great memories while they were here!

Millcreek Canyon

We've been having so much fun with the kids' cousins in town -- and one of the favorite activities was an outing up Millcreek Canyon for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.  And because of a freak summer storm, a whole lot of playing in the mud!  The kids had a blast climbing up and down the giant hill of mud behind our picnic site, and they got filthy.  Owen surprised me with his ever increasing 'I'm one of the big kids now' attitude and took off up the mountain again and again.  Greg and I ended up getting pretty dirty too because we held his hand (and slid down the hill in the mud) on multiple occasions.

And then just a random picture of Isaac while running a fever that week . . . 

Isaac's Third Birthday

My little boy turned three!  (Well, my not so little -- at his three year check up he was in the 95th percentile for weight, vs. the 5th percentile of little brother Owen at his 18 month check up the same day).  He had a great day -- including fun new presents, chocolate quinoa cupcakes, and best of all -- a giant slip and slide party!  His Aunt Lacy and Uncle Ben brought over the giant tarp, and we spend the rest of the afternoon playing on it with them and Aunt Talina, Uncle David, cousin Bailey, Aunt Star and Uncle Cody.  It was certainly the funnest and most memorable third birthday party I've been to!