Cousin Craziness 2013

I know I've used that title the past couple years to name the cousin visit, but there is just no other title more appropriate.  We embarked upon our yearly trip to Idaho on July 16....and the craziness began.  On top of all the regular craziness, we also had Masen leaving for his mission during our visit.  So we packed it in!!  You may notice that many of the activities and outings don't change much from year to year, but we always seem to find a new idea or two and also run out of time to do every activity from years past.  

So this year.....(pictures are not necessarily in this order, and as I discovered do not have pictures of even close to every activity)....we PLAYED, lots of playing at grandmas, swimming of course, crazy games involving lots of play food, bags of toys, dolls, and guys of all sorts (those kids can make a MESS).  We got lots of ice cream from Doug's Burger Den and got soaked in the fountain.  

We went to Wahooz and were super excited to learn that the MaxFlight (big fake roller coaster) was included with the passes this year!  There was a video camera inside the ride, so we all got a real kick out of watching everyone scream and fly around!  Carson lasted about 10 seconds before pushing the emergency stop button. 

We had fun in the sun at Roaring Springs!  The highlight:  getting us all (everyone but Charlotte, Carson, Ruby, and Callie) to go on the Cliffhanger (new slide where you get closed in a "launching capsule" and the floor slides out from under you to shoot you straight down six stories) otherwise known as The Death Trap.  I am sad to say that although I conquered my fear of heights and scary things, and impressed my boys by going, I was quite hysterical and made a real scene.  So my boys might not have been TOO impressed!  Even little Ella went, despite barely being tall enough.  She burst into tears as soon as she got to the bottom.  It was scary, I tell you!  

The boys had a lot of fun riding the 4-wheeler.  It's supposedly for hauling grass after a good lawn mowing, but I don't see the trailer of grass anywhere in these pictures...

We had our Boys Night Out, Girls Night Out!  The girls all went out to dinner at Jakers and then roller skating!!  Roller skating was a new activity, and boy was it hilarious!  The little girls were having a real hard time staying on their feet (I forgot how hard roller skating is to learn).  My grandma and Aunt Susan were in town for it, and of course didn't want to be left out of the fun!  I was terrified that my 80+ year old grandma was going to fall and break a hip!  Charlotte skated around a little while holding Stephanie's hands quite tightly, but much preferred to be held and skated around.  My mom decided to give Stephanie a break and skate Charlotte around.....they were going quite fast.  And coming to a stop proved difficult.  She fell straight backwards on her tailbone....OUCH!  It actually took about 4 weeks for her to fully heal. :(  But the night was a blast!  The Boys went out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings and then off to see Despicable Me 2 (no pics of them in their matching outfits :)

We spent a day at Eagle Island.  Tyler and Colbie "powered" that raft, and took the little kids on quite a fun ride.  

We cheered on the horses at the horse races, and my favorite jockey, Joe Crispin, proved to be the MAN!  (Is it sad that I have a favorite jockey???  Yes, it is.) 

We spent a day (a FULL day) back to school shopping!  We were so happy to learn that if there's enough entertainment and adults present, Charlotte can literally shop till she drops!  We train them while they're young around here.  The kids later put on their annual fashion show, complete with music and dance moves.  My favorite part of the fashion show is the fact that the entire family is forced to come and watch.  Just look at 16 year old Dallen in those pictures!  He's just following orders.  :) 

We hit the Discovery Center.  It's become a little bit of a joke, because the older kids and most adults think the Discovery Center is quite boring.  But those little kids LOVE that place and the pretend store!  So we made them happy one afternoon, and let them shop and check out all the pretend food they wanted.  Even Tyler got in on the fun (even though he says it was just to "help" the little kids!)  

We indulged in half-price shakes at Sonic (more than once).  

The little girls got their hair and nails done!  And although Charlotte didn't have any hair to get cut, they did let her in on the fun by painting her fingernails!  She was so excited.

The kids participated in a couple Cousin Campouts....complete with tent and all.  

Saying goodbye to Masen was SO HARD!  We will all really miss him so much, but especially the boys.  I'm so glad we were there to send him off, though!  The boys got up at 5am, put on shirts and ties, to take him to the airport.  We had a great last night together, too, playing a fun game of "Masen Memories."  We are already missing him, but are SOOO proud of him!! 

Some things not pictured:  We floated the Boise River.....soooo fun!  We visited several parks and splash pads around town.  We saw some "free movies" at Edward's.  We went to Jump Time (a big hit again) and Big Al's for some bowling (fun)!  We tried out the Friday night movie at Settler's Park.  Fun!  (And late!) I'm probably forgetting some things, but you get the idea....  

It really was a crazy, jam-packed, super fun couple of weeks!!  They are my kids' favorite weeks of the summer.  I hope I'm still writing this Cousin Craziness post for the next 15 summers!! :))