Cousins Camp 2013

On the 2nd day of our family trip to Utah in June, I had planned a Cousins Camp day for my boys with their Perkins girl cousins in Logan. After we woke up at my mom's house in Tremonton and had breakfast, the boys played the wii for a while I got ready for the day.

 

My sis-in-law Jen had a booth at her Farmer's Market, and wouldn't be done until after 12:00, so the boys and I ate an early lunch at my mom's house, then we drove over to Logan and did a bit of shopping before the Cousins Camp activities began. We went to Gossner's and loaded up on flavored milks and cheese. Then we went to DI and I scored with 2 new (to us) dining chairs, which we had to creatively squeeze into the van packed with boys and bags! Then we stopped at Sams Club for a few groceries before heading to Mick & Jen's house.

 

Our first planned activity together was to go swimming at the Logan outdoor Aquatic Center. The kids all changed into their swim clothes before we left the house; Jen took her 3 older girls, and I took the boys (Mick stayed at the house with baby Sunny). As soon as we arrived at the pool, it was the lifeguard break time, so we had a few minutes to sit and chill before getting in the water.  

 

It was a sunny, hot day, and the kids couldn't wait to jump in the water when the lifeguards finally blew their whistles. At first, the older kids went to the deeper pool, and Jen & I stayed with the two younger kids in the shallow pool.

The Logan Aquatic Center has two slides in addition to the pools, and we took turns going on the long/fast slide and the winding/slower slide. Everybody went on both except Kanyon and Abbie, and I took lots of pics of their slide-runs, but unfortunately didn't get one of Libby.

Jen

 

Aspen

 

Micah

Jonah

Ammon

Ammon always had such huge splashes on the fast slide, as evidenced here with just his feet visible!

 

Kanyon had a bad experience with a waterslide a few years ago, and has refused to go on one since. But I bribed him with money if he would go on the slower slide, and showed him how the lifeguard would catch him at the bottom, and he actually decided to go ahead and try it. I was so proud of him! And I was surprised that he liked it! He went a few more times after that; I was so shocked!

 

After some sliding and swimming, the older kiddos thought it would be fun to go jumping off the diving board and high dive together. My boys had never been on a high dive. I hated that thing growing up, so I volunteered to take photos instead of jump...

 

Jonah

Aspen

Micah

 

Libby on the high dive & Jonah on the diving board doing simultaneous jumps/tricks:

Ammon

Jen had the best jump shot of the day!!!

As soon as we were done doing lots of jumps/dives/tricks, the lifeguards had another break time...

 

At this point, a lot of people in the pool began to leave, but our kids were still having fun and didn't want to go yet, so we stayed longer. It was nice having more room to play in the water.

 

We stayed at the pool for over 5 hours, and the kids had a blast. When we all started getting tired and hungry, we left to go back to Mick & Jen's house. My mom had previously prepared a dinner for us, so that we could relax and not have to worry about the food (thanks, Mom!), and Mick grilled up the hamburgers & hot dogs. It was a delicious dinner that included her yummy potato salad,  flavored chips, pop, and dessert.

 

The kids played in the backyard for a while, enjoying their relaxing time together.

They played a made-up game with a soccer ball, that baby Sunny got a hold of...

and older sister Libby made a joke out of...

Then we went for a bike ride/walk almost a mile away to a new park, and the kids played until it was dusk.

The kids all sped ahead on their bikes, so it was nice to spend some time walking & talking with Jen. Except, I got pooped on by a bird on the walk. Yuck!

After we walked/rode back to Mick & Jen's house, it was almost dark and the kids decided to put up a tent in the backyard to sleep in. Jen & I, and Aspen & Ammon put it up and it was no easy task!

The kids brought in their sleeping bags & pillows and got them all situated to have a camping sleepover with their cousins. Libby didn't make it through the night before coming in the house to stay, but the other kids slept all night in the tent!

On Sunday morning, Jen made us a nice breakfast, then we made a gift for Grandpa P. because it was Father's Day. I drove back over to Tremonton and took my boys to my parent's ward Sacrament Meeting. Then we had a family dinner after church, and Mick & Jen's family joined us and my youngest sister Katrina came with her boyfriend Dan.

I packed up the car, and got everything ready to go. I left all of Ammon's stuff there so he'd be ready to leave for Scout Camp the next day with my dad, and we said our goodbyes to our cousins and my parents and Ammon (but not before having one last popsicle).

It was a super fun weekend! I love it when the boys have opportunities to play with their cousins. I remember when I was younger how much I loved having time to be with my cousins, because we didn't live by any of them. I'm so glad my boys get along with their cousins, and I'm grateful for happy memories that are created when we do get-togethers like these.