Last week my two little sisters (Andrea and Emily) drove out with their 3 kids and my mom to visit us. What a fun-filled chaotic week. The great thing about my family is that you can do everything or nothing and still have a great time. All of the cousins had so much fun together. The first day they did a lot of chalk coloring outside, riding bikes, waving to the garbageman (a favorite pastime my boys introduced to their cousins), playing on the swing set, eating plums, and going to the hotel to swim in the cool pool and warm up in the hot tub.
On Wednesday we all dressed in orange (easier to keep track of our kiddos) and went to 6 Flags. It was perfect weather. Our kids' favorite amusements were the animal shows. Caleb and his 20 mo. cousin, Jonas, seemed especially into the pirate, seal, and sea otter show. We all thought the shark tunnel was really amazing. Emily's kiddos, Conner and Mikayla were totally into the thrill of the roller coaster. Since roller coasters do two of Daniel's biggest "no nos", going fast, and going up high, we separated for a little while and had fun at the killer whale and dolphin show. While we were watching the cougars, someone came by and taunted them with a nearly life-size leopard stuffed animal. The cougars went crazy and were trying to bite at the fence and run around looking for a way out. My boys loved it. Caleb was on Nate's shoulders and kept whacking him on the head and shrieking in delight. Liam said his favorite ride was the jumping frogs and the swings. (I rode it with him and I thought they were fun too). Grandma was heaven sent (as usual). She was the extra set of arms and legs that we needed to keep up with our rascals, and much of the time was a designated photographer, stroller controller, and babysitter (watching the babies that were still too small to ride the rides). It was a really fun day but why does 6 Flags close at 6 PM in a warm sunny place like CA? Honestly, the kids might only have lasted one more hour before they all had to sleep walk to the car--but one more hour would have been fun. I guess that's a good sign. We all left tired, but with smiles on our faces.
On Wednesday we all dressed in orange (easier to keep track of our kiddos) and went to 6 Flags. It was perfect weather. Our kids' favorite amusements were the animal shows. Caleb and his 20 mo. cousin, Jonas, seemed especially into the pirate, seal, and sea otter show. We all thought the shark tunnel was really amazing. Emily's kiddos, Conner and Mikayla were totally into the thrill of the roller coaster. Since roller coasters do two of Daniel's biggest "no nos", going fast, and going up high, we separated for a little while and had fun at the killer whale and dolphin show. While we were watching the cougars, someone came by and taunted them with a nearly life-size leopard stuffed animal. The cougars went crazy and were trying to bite at the fence and run around looking for a way out. My boys loved it. Caleb was on Nate's shoulders and kept whacking him on the head and shrieking in delight. Liam said his favorite ride was the jumping frogs and the swings. (I rode it with him and I thought they were fun too). Grandma was heaven sent (as usual). She was the extra set of arms and legs that we needed to keep up with our rascals, and much of the time was a designated photographer, stroller controller, and babysitter (watching the babies that were still too small to ride the rides). It was a really fun day but why does 6 Flags close at 6 PM in a warm sunny place like CA? Honestly, the kids might only have lasted one more hour before they all had to sleep walk to the car--but one more hour would have been fun. I guess that's a good sign. We all left tired, but with smiles on our faces.
After driving back to our home we had pizza and celebrated Caleb's first birthday. His brothers and cousins would have been more than willing to show him what he was supposed to do with a chocolate poky puppy cake. Instead, he preferred to try and stay clean--weird. I guess he must have been too worn out by all of the fun at the park.
On Thursday we enjoyed a laid back morning playing at home. Then we picnicked at Livermore Park. It is so fun! There is a big built-in waterfall for the kids to play under and the water is circulated down into a little stream with a drain at the bottom. The kids spent hours floating things down the stream (anything from boats to flip flops), chasing each other with buckets of water or squirt guns, sitting and splashing, and running under the waterfall. Livermore Park is one of our family favorites and it was so fun to share it with our cousins. On the way home we stopped for some ice cream while Andrea and Emily hit the outlets to do a little shopping. For dinner we all went to the Spaghetti Factory. The kids were rowdy, but considering how hard we'd been playing I think they all did pretty well. We did joke that the bus boys were all drawing straws for who had to clean up after our mob left. (It was probably good for his sanity that Nathan had to work late and had us just pick something up for him!
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Friday, we went to Old Sacramento. We had to go to the candy shop that lets you eats candy for free while you are in their store (you only pay for what you take out with you). Then we checked out the train tracks and the river boat, took lots of pictures, and ended up at the Train Museum. All of the cousins loved climbing aboard the big trains. One of the engineers was especially kind to take pictures with our group. We sang "Choo Choo" (the song we all learned from Supermom and have now taught to our kids) to him for his trouble. He smiled--but I wonder if his hearing aid was turned down!?? Caleb's birthday presents got opened that night--not really by him, but who could blame 2 five-year-olds and 2 three-year-olds for wanting to help! Grandma and Grandpa got him a flip the flap Bible board book (very cute-a great one to bring to church), little boats that will be perfect for our next outing to Livermore park, a ball popping spinny toy that makes Caleb giggle, a new outfit and a little soft stable with animals from IKEA. Caleb instantly loved the animals, but the three-piece stable took two of us an hour to figure out (laugh if you want, but I'm convinced instructions from IKEA are meant to be a big joke on the consumer). Now Caleb loves trying to crawl inside with the animals--he manages to get his head in the door but so far he can't get the rest in. All of the cousins got PEZ treats and Star Wars action figures from Grandma. Along with shirts from the train museum. Wow! What a load. We are so spoiled.
Friday, we went to Old Sacramento. We had to go to the candy shop that lets you eats candy for free while you are in their store (you only pay for what you take out with you). Then we checked out the train tracks and the river boat, took lots of pictures, and ended up at the Train Museum. All of the cousins loved climbing aboard the big trains. One of the engineers was especially kind to take pictures with our group. We sang "Choo Choo" (the song we all learned from Supermom and have now taught to our kids) to him for his trouble. He smiled--but I wonder if his hearing aid was turned down!?? Caleb's birthday presents got opened that night--not really by him, but who could blame 2 five-year-olds and 2 three-year-olds for wanting to help! Grandma and Grandpa got him a flip the flap Bible board book (very cute-a great one to bring to church), little boats that will be perfect for our next outing to Livermore park, a ball popping spinny toy that makes Caleb giggle, a new outfit and a little soft stable with animals from IKEA. Caleb instantly loved the animals, but the three-piece stable took two of us an hour to figure out (laugh if you want, but I'm convinced instructions from IKEA are meant to be a big joke on the consumer). Now Caleb loves trying to crawl inside with the animals--he manages to get his head in the door but so far he can't get the rest in. All of the cousins got PEZ treats and Star Wars action figures from Grandma. Along with shirts from the train museum. Wow! What a load. We are so spoiled.
At the end of the week I realized that there were 6 kids here, just like when I was growing up. Somehow, my mom managed to keep all 6 of her crazy bunch alive (and amazingly happy most of the time) without all the extra hands that we had here. She is Supermom and now Super Grandma. I'm so glad that Super Dad (Grandpa) let her come play with us. I love my sisters so much. I watch them and learn how to be a better mom and person. I am so glad they thought I'd be worth the trip...or at least my cute kids or at least CA is! (I know it's not a fun car ride with little kids.) The only things that might have made it even more fun would be for Heather (my older sister, now living in Germany) to join us and for the dads to take the kids for a day. Maybe next time! As Daniel and Liam waved bye from the fence, they turned to me and said, "Mommy we miss our cousins." (The cousins had only driven as far as our next door neighbors' at that point.) They also wanted to know when we could drive to the mountains to go to Grandma's house. What a week! Let's do it again soon.
3 comments:
So fun! I have a supermom too, and I hope I can be as good as her someday.
What a fun week you had with your mom and sisters! It's always nice to see family and have cousins around to play with.
Cute pictures!
Sounds like so much fun!! Wish I could have been there... oh wait, I was! Thanks. Glad Jonas' fingers up the nose made it onto your blog! I'm such a proud mom! :) Good times!
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