Macin's Cousin Camp - Day 2

The day began with a round of chocolate chip pancakes. The emphasis being on the chocolate chips. After breakfast we started on our craft project of the day, sun catchers. Macin decided on a butterfly and flip-flips.

We had a little paint 'explosion' which was remedied with a dash to the sink, a change of clothes and a load of wash. No worries!

For the afternoon we decided to do some park hopping. After a stop at Quiznos for some lunch, we dropped by to pick up Kennedy's friend, Emily and her 6 year old brother Ashton. By the end of the day, it was being assumed that Ashton had a new girlfriend.

We headed out to Beaver Park to play in the splash pad along with tossing the Frisbee around. It was so hot that our next park hop stop was Noelridge for a few hours at the pool! Macin and Ashton had fun in the BIG sand box. While they also ventured down the pool slide over and over and over again.

All were tired and hungry by the time the pool closed. So we headed home for some shrimp salad, veggie pizza, and chocolate chip cookies! YUM!

This evening we finished up all of our craft projects, framed the Barbie puzzle, glitterized the English Cottage, and attached fishing line to our sun catchers.

Once again, Macin is hanging with the BIG girls outside and Aunt Jill is POOPED!

Tomorrow morning has Macin and Madison hanging out at home until noon, while Aunt Jill needs to get some work done. We head out at 2:00 to deliver Macin back to her mama before nightfall.

Another fun and successful Cousin Camp!

For a full slide show of Macin's Cousin Camp, log on to my facebook page!

toodles..

Macin's Cousin Camp - Day 1

After a good night's rest, some of us hit the ground running this morning. Within 15 minutes of going to bed Macin was fast asleep and slept until almost 9:00. A bit different than last year's first night at Cousin Camp. But then again, she is NOT at Cousin Camp this year!

Aunt Jill got up early to make hay while kids slept and lounged, heading out to work early to get most of her work done before 12:30.

Kennedy made pancakes for the crew including two friends that slept over. The from the looks of things a lot of lounging, Disney channel, and puzzle assembly was done this morning.

Aunt Jill left a 'little project' on the table for the crew to work on while she was gone. The assembly of an English Cottage, fit for a princess has gotten underway with still some more detailing to be complete tomorrow. Word has it that Cousin Eric was working on it this morning as he waited for his 1:00 interview.

Macin and Madison were invited next door for lunch, baloney and cheese sandwiches before we headed out for Madison's violin lesson.

The check engine light is now on the van, so I assume something a bit more than just my fuel gauge being off. It has a visit schedule to the van doctor tomorrow morning at 8:00. That coupled with the need for a new camera battery, a piece of siding lost on the house, red nail polish spilled on Kennedy's carpet plus speckled in the bathroom sink, and a crock pot that mysteriously lost it's knob and got dented this morning...things are breaking right and left around here.

The afternoon consisted of hanging out with the neighbor girls in the sprinkler before we ventured out for Kennedy and Madison swim meet. And an adventure it was! We were no more than 30 minutes into warm-ups when a MAJOR storm blew in. Within minutes may hem let loose; lifeguards were yelling, blowing whistles, pandemonium, lawn chairs flying, kids crying, and people running for shelter!

Honestly we didn't know what hit us! Thankfully we all made it safely to the van after both Macin and I stepped in this HUGE mud pile. Aunt Jill, with two lawn chairs, 2 jugs of water, a purse, and Macin in tow was attempting to locate her daughters in the crowd and maintain calm in the panic. For Macin, the only thing really concerning to her was that she had mud on her sandal.

'Aunt Jill, I have mud on my sandal. Aunt Jill, I have mud on my feet. Aunt Jill, I have mud on my ankle. Aunt Jill.....'

So we got in the van, turned on the radio and called our weather man (Uncle Milo) for a decision should we go or should we stay. He said it was going to be nothing but hard rain.

So after a LONG ride home thanks to the may hem with everyone leaving in a panic, we returned safe and sound. Uncle Milo rolled in shortly there after we gathered around the supper table for french dip sandwiches, broccoli salad, watermelon, and strawberries.

This evening we worked some more on our English Cottage, rocked out to Guitar Hero, and glued the Barbie puzzle.

Tomorrow....Aunt Jill's taking the DAY OFF to play!

oodles of surprises are in store....

Well it is 9:30 and I am ready for bed. Milo, Eric, and Kennedy are in the basement watching a movie. Macin and Madison are creating dance moves to Taylor Swift.

P.S. Madison has been in charge of hair for the week. We had a pony tail up do this morning, followed by extensive brushing this afternoon, then a shampoo and bath to wash the mud off our feet!

Macin's Cousin Camp - Day 0

It started out to be an exciting morning when, Aunt Jill filled up the van for her trip to Charles City only to have the gas gauge drop back to E after only 5 miles. After a quick call to the mechanic to see if I would be safe for my travels and of course MY google diagnosis, it was 'assumed' that a faulty gas gauge could be easily remedied by simply tracking the miles.

So after a quick stop at the video store to rent a few 'age appropriate' Nintendo DS games, Madison and I were off. We arrived safely at our Kwik Star destination in Charles City only to have GAINED a full tank of gas while in route! WOW...I MADE money driving!

With our sign flying high we waved down Macin's transportation..aka..her mom and after a GREAT big hug and a potty stop we were back on the road to Cedar Rapids.

Besides the Ninetendo DS games some REALLY cool Hannah Montana INVISIBLE ink puzzle books were discovered in the depths of Aunt Jill's bag.

We rocked out the the 'Hoedown Throw Down'. Discovered that Macin thinks Kevin of the Jonas brothers is really cute. Sorry..DAD. And by the end of the 2 hours, Madison was convinced that having the 'role' of the younger sister by far has its advantages over the 'older' one.

And when asked if she was excited to come to Cousin Camp, Macin's reply, 'Well, I am NOT going to Cousin Camp.'

We arrived safely and with only 1/4 of a tank of gas gone after 200 miles.

Macin scored her birthday gift...aka..slip and slide and that was the afternoon activity of choice.

She preferred to pretend to be a dog at the end of the slide, lapping up water and I don't know if she quite grasped the whole run and slide concept, but instead resorted to the army crawl.

Speaking of dogs, Macin was a bit timid at the start but after feeding Riley her green beans at supper they are now BEST FRIENDS.

Beside green beans, two helpings of Aunt Jill's pull-chicken sandwiches was on the menu along with watermelon and strawberries. Banana cake for dessert and O..yeah...at cousin camp the fudge pops are in endless supply.


The evening brought a run to Best Buy to see about getting Aunt Jill a new camera battery. You can't have Cousin Camp without a working camera.

Then our evening project...a Barbie puzzle, which we plan to modge podge. Plus some BIG girl time and hanging out in the driveway with the neighbor girls.

So it is 9:30, I think Aunt Jill is a bit more tired than the rest of the crew.

Uncle Milo should be rolling in sometime late tomorrow after attending a class in Des Moines. Word on the street is that he plans to 'play' a bit on Wednesday.

And of course, Cousin Camp is such a hit that cousins who have graduated from college STILL come back to play. Aunt Jill was driving Cousin Eric around this evening so he knew where is 1:00 interview was tomorrow. Of course, I wouldn't drive him past is interview location until he posed with the Cousin Camp sign.

When Macin was asked to pose with the Cousin Camp sign I was reminded, 'Remember, I am NOT going to Cousin Camp.'

good night......