We love our cousins!!!

I know I've said this a few times:  "The highlight of our trip is _________", and then I fill in the blank with whatever beloved activity I'm writing about.  It's true - there are several favorites!  I can assure you, however, that none of these activities would be nearly as memorable or wonderful without the BEST cousins!!!  We love you, cousins!!!  Thanks for always making our trips to Idaho the BEST!

Swimming and Sleepovers

There are two activities at grandma's house that have become a given - swimming and sleepovers.  There doesn't seem to be a day that goes by that the kids don't swim.  The pool and hot tub are always in use, and the kids just love it.  Even the moms can usually squeeze in an afternoon or two to relax in the pool.  The kids play games, do tricks, and get braver and braver each year.  The cousin sleepovers began a few years ago with a once-a-summer Cousin Campout.  It has now evolved into a twice a week request, from the older crew down to the younger crew.  Dallen informed us this summer that 16 is too old for the Cousin Campout.  How sad is that??  He did humor them for one sleepover, but after that it was Callie, Colbie, Spencer, and Tyler.  Tyler had double duty, too, since he has a little shadow-cousin, Carson, who really wants a boy to have play with and sleepover with!!  Thankfully Tyler likes playing the role, and they were able to squeeze in a sleepover of their own.  The little girls (and Carson) had two sleepovers at grandma's house, one at Stephanie's house, and Ella and Aubrey had one by themselves (while Ruby was sick).  Such fun pictures and great memories for these kids!

Shopping and a Fashion Show

For the past couple of years we have been taking the little girls shopping.  They love this!!  Last year my mom and Mary were stuck in the burn unit in Salt Lake, and so they missed the whole day.  We were all very sad!  To help them feel like they didn't miss out at all, we had the girls put on a little fashion show, wearing their new clothes, and we took a million pictures and sent them down to mom and Mary.  This is how new traditions are made, and we all insisted on another fashion show after the shopping day ended.  First, I must point out that these girls love to shop!  Dangerous?  Maybe.  Fun???  Definitely!!!  We hit Old Navy, Nordstrom Rack, detoured at The Olive Garden for lunch, then headed over to the mall.  They were real troopers, and we all had a great time.  Grandma treated the girls to cookies at the end of the day, and we all headed back home with our spoils.  Then the fashion show began!  They posed, we snapped pictures, then we turned up the tunes and they modeled and danced for the family.  For three very shy and quiet girls, I'm so glad that they can let loose and have fun together!!!

Poor, poor Ruby

Poor little Ruby got sick in the middle of our trip.  Actually, truth be told, Aubrey and Carson passed along a nice little bug that they had when we got there, but it really took hold in poor Ruby.  It started with a day of an upset tummy and a lack of appetite.  It continued on in the form of lots of throwing up over the course of several days.  It would not go away!!!  She was so dehydrated, despite me following her around with an array of drinks, and looking back now I should probably have taken her in for an IV.  But finally, after about three days of PJs and missing out on all the fun, she finally got better!  We tried a new place this summer, called Bounce, that is an indoor play area filled with inflatables, Velcro suits, and giant boxing gloves.  Stephanie and my mom took the kids there while I stayed home to take care of Ruby.  Then we went to our annual Boise Hawks baseball game, and my mom stayed home with Ru.  Both were a lot of fun, but were also dampened by the fact that Ruby was home missing out.  :(