A full week of cousins...

As mentioned in the past post, both of my sisters, and their children were visiting this past week. We did alot of playing, alot of reading, and (as always) alot of good eating!

This HOT summer has consisted of water and mud time for the kids.
I believe this was pudding with garnishes...anyone hungry?
We have run and jumped in the pool too many times to count.

MK tries to keep up! It's been good excercise for her. Bless her heart!

Lately, they've been into acting out Cinderella and cleaning/scrubbing everything.

Occassionally, we forced some hugs.

Hauling dirt was fun for the boys.

I was also able to take some family pictures for my sister. You can view some of my favorites on the photography blog. I think her children really became attached to me by the end of the week and I'm certain I'm the favorite of the bunch! ;)

First time meetings with all of the cousins!

This week we've enjoyed spending time with all of our cousins on my side of the family! This is the first time we have met baby Sam and Felix was able to meet my sister, Holly, and her children!

Please watch!!

Dragon Vs. Spiderman---Who wins?

Felix' first request while in Uganda was Spiderman underpants. ---check.

Soon after he found out he'd be going to school, he requested a Spiderman backpack---check.

He's talked about riding a bike since Uganda as well. So, of course, when I asked him what kind...a Spiderman bike.

Last week, I received an email from a merchant with bikes half off. I checked for Spiderman, with no fortune. It appeared there was an overstock on dragon bikes. I was faced the decision of great deal or Spiderman.

Dragons are cool, aren't they?

Passing the Days

If we are outside, we are in the water! Inside time is spent in many creative forms....

Dreaming of a rainy, cool day...!Trying out some new fashions with baby head bands...


Sibling bonding...

Wishing we were swimming...
Lots of book reading...

And occassionally a nap! (but he wasn't tired that day)

Our favorite neighbors!

We LOVE our neighbors! BUT we don't love that they are leaving us in a week! These three kids are seriously the sweetest kids and MK and Felix are going to miss them so much!

Felix and Claire were going to be in the same class this year. :(
MK and Claire are only two weeks apart in age! They've been friends for life!

MK has been sweet on Cole since she was a baby.

Just remember the Red River Valley...

(photo from the top of mountain)

" Come and sit by my side, if you love me
Do not hasten to bid me adieu

Just remember the Red River Valley
And the cowboy who loved you so true"

For ALL of you veteran readers out there of this blog, you may remember our family reunion trip to Red River two years ago. This past January, we were approached with the option again. We weren't sure how it would work out with the adoption timeline, but...

COOLER weather+fun time with family = sign us up!

We started the trip Wednesday with my mom, Aunt Ginger, Ray, sister Kizzy, her three boys, myself, and two kids. The hubbies had to stay home to work. (I guess people assume Roger used up his vacation time with our 5 weeks in Uganda.) We were toting 5 children, ages 5 and under. Okay...maybe not the best formula for relaxation!

While there we enjoyed time visiting with more family from my mother's side and had lots of adventure.

Day 1 took us up the ski lift to the top of the mountain.
The adult sponsors of the week.

Sisters.

And so (h)umble!

(inside joke!)

All kidding aside, I'm very thankful for both of them!

Making sure the children stay hydrated!
(And keeping them somewhat still for some photos.)

Me and the kids! (makes me chuckle to say kids--plural)

Kizzy and her trio!

This is what I call real life photography folks!

The three "big" boys
(I know F's knees are looking a little "ashy". Give me some time, I'm learning as I go.)

Bear hug, anyone?

Aunt Ginger provided some reading and relaxation techniques for the children before naptime!



Day 2's adventure involved a ride on the surrey! Who am I kidding, this is no ride, it's HARD work, especially with the hills of the Red River Valley! (And some people seem to be better at pedaling than others--another inside joke)

We packed in alot of playground time! The cousins had a great time playing together.
Look at this face, isn't it adorable!

And this one too!

Can you believe Felix is going to preK next year? I have a school aged child! Am I ready for this?
These horses survived many miles of riding! The boys loved saving Cinderella MK from the bad guys on them!

Go Kart riding was a hit!

Day 3, we went tubing down the mountain.
So much fun for the kids, so much excercise for the adults! Hmm...this seems to be a recurring theme!

Of course, we could not miss the "shoot 'em up" Saturday afternoon. Once again, I was amazed that they continue to draw such a crowd for this show.

I will have to wait until I get pictures from Kizzy for group shots of the kids and their guns, ice cream eating, and other fun times had at Red River 2011!

Also, I must throw in that the adults were able to play some games during nap times. I'm not going to go into details, but we'll just say I won far more times than I lost!