Cousin Camp, day 1

Today was day 1 of Nana's 2nd annual Cousin Camp! Last year my mom started this tradition and it was a great success. Nana's 6 grand kids think she is the greatest thing ever. They all completely adore her; they like Pops a lot, too! So mom decided to have a special time set apart every summer just for fun with the grand kids. Originally it was going to be for kids 4 years and up just to make it easier to do all of the crafts and swimming without any extra hands to help. After day 2 she called and wanted the little ones. She is nuts. This year she is having Soren, Wyatt, and Ashton (8, 7, and 5) for Wednesday and Thursday and then on Friday and Saturday Avery, Reese and Parker (3, 3, and 2) will join them. She has many crafts planned as well as things like weenie roasts, movie night, and for the big kids, a special trip to the Japanese steak house. I can't wait for the pictures. Pops is a major picture taker and there are sure to be some good ones. The best part is that they ALL sleep in my parents room with them. They make a pallet on the floor and that lasts until Ashton wakes up mad because Soren is kicking her, Wyatt complains because Soren stole all of the covers, and all of this stirs Reese and she climbs up in the bed next to Pops and nuzzles right up under his arm. Classic.




I was able to drive Soren to drop her off this morning without having to take Reese. I always love to be with my kids one on one. Soren is such a talker. She is very interested in learning new things and she loves to tell you about the things she has learned. She competed in UIL at school this year and won 2nd place in storytelling. She had to listen to a 5 minute story and then retell it. The judges were looking for detail, expression, accuracy, etc. That is right up her ally. She really loved it. Right now she is focused on driving for some reason. She wants to know what every sign means (I never realized how many road signs there are that I never pay attention to!), what all the different gears are used for, when you can go on a red light, when you can pass, what is against the law. It cracks me up how many driving questions she asked me on our 45 minute trip. When Pete was in nuclear medicine school, Soren studied with him. She still remembers all about the parts of the body from his anatomy and physiology class. She was only 3. I love spending time talking to her with no three year old interruptions. We are reading the one year bible together and that has prompted many interesting conversations. Another thing I did not pay attention to was how much sex talk there is in the old testament. She has learned a lot; I guess that takes the pressure off of me to bring the subject up, but I was not planning on that being part of our daily bible reading!


This evening when Pete went to ride I had the same kind of time with Reese. Pretty funny. She was on a tangent about bottoms. I had to shower so we could go run some errands and through the glass shower door she commented "mom, do you know what?" "What?" I asked. "Yours bobo is big." Great. That is as bad as when I was pregnant and Soren patted my legs and said "mom, your legs are pregnant, too!" Anyway, after getting ready we went to Hobby Lobby to get some t-shirts for cousin camp and she pointed out to me in her usual loud voice that the lady behind us had a lot bigger bobo than I did and it sticks out a lot. Nice. So we got to go to the car and have a little discussion about manners. I got off easy with Soren in that department. I only remember one time when she pointed out a large person in public. Maybe I will be as lucky with Reese. We will see. These are the days we forget, but I want to remember. What in the world did we do for entertainment before we had kids?