Cousin Camp!!

July was magic. I mean, summer is always magic when you are a kid. No school, ward weather, long days. But it is especially magic for my kids because my sisters come to visit - and that means COUSINS. Who would want to go to summer camp when you can go to cousin camp. This year " Cousin Camp" was great - full of outings to the beach, the wave pool, Drumheller and of course the cabin at Shoeswap lake.

Deanna, Ella, Alice, Max and Jack - Jumping of the dock. This summer we didn't get as much time out at the lake, but the weather was superb, and ever minute was full of fun. The girls cried when we left.

Eve and Dotty at Bowness park. Dot is a delight to have around. The girls got a long great most of the time, which is great considering they are very different: Eve excels with her body, Dot with her voice and mind. This means that when they didn't get along Eve was seen running away with a toy and Dotty was screaming after her. Next year when they are four there should be less drama.

Jackie, Max, Alice and Ella outside our motel in Golden. They closed the highway due to an accident on the way out to the cabin, so we got to stay the night in a cheap motel. It had a pool with a water slide so no one was complaining. We had three rooms all in a row. They kids loved having their cousins next door.We had a spa set up in our room for a while, with nail polish and face masks and make-up. This picture was a slightly less girly moment.

Other highlights of cousin camp: The games: mousetrap, mousetrap, mousetrap, with a little wink murder mixed in. And of course Grandma and Grandpa's new basement and old dress up clothes provide plenty of scope for the imagination. The clothing store with Jack the mafia boss in the back was fun for everyone, everyone found something to buy (They even sold maternity clothes for Erin). Most of the pretend games were no adult allowed games,: but from what I could see were full of grave peril, with Ella often being tied up and needing to escape and dive roll. Last Sunday Jackie and her cousin Elise had a falling out. Jackie was crying and the reason was the Elise didn't want to keep playing her game. Elise said, " I WAS" going to play her game, but I don't want to be tied up". Clearly Jackie was missing Ella. She could play with her forEVER. Erin and Mary - thanks for coming to visit. Hopefully, we will be able to come and visit you for a change soon.