Some Highlights of Hosting our Cousins

We have had fun-filled days with our visiting cousins, and as you might have imagined, my camera has really gotten a workout. There were so many pictures to choose from, and there is so much to say about all the crazy experiences we had that I have uploaded an album of my favorite cousin pictures. Please click on the link to view a chart of thumbnails, and then click on the thumbnails to see the pictures in their intended form.

There were trips to museums, rock climbing adventures at the beach, an exciting stay at a local motel with an indoor waterpark for the purpose of swimming, and much living room chaos! Because my lovely nieces insisted they had never been hiking, I gathered them all up and we went for a tromp through the forest, which was an absolute blast. They managed to climb a few pine trees, scavenge up some great walking sticks, and collect buckets full of nature treasures to take home and play with. Some of them liked hiking so much that after we dropped off the tired crew (AKA my own kids), we immediately went hiking in a different spot. (I gave them each a yummy chocolate chip cookie to keep up their energy . . . because aunties can do that even if moms cannot!) They sculpted numerous snowmen around the backyard, played UNO, and did a lot of crazy dancing.

A few more stories about them will probably pop up in the next day or so of blogging. I was sad to see them climb into their van this morning for a trip to North Dakota to visit Auntie Dot, but I’m happy because I know Auntie Dot will probably even have MORE fun with them than I did.