Grateful for A Week with Cousins

My sister and her kids came in town last week to get a little bit of Arkansas and a whole lot of cousin time into their summer.  We spent four days all together and then the older kids headed off to Discipleship Camp with Taido while we took the younger ones over to Hot Springs.

It’s always so fun for all the cousins to be together and I’ve been compiling a list of the sweet memories I’m grateful for from this visit!

(PS, this post would be no fun without the wonderful instagram skills of my family and friends, Whitney, Peter, Anna and Bryan)

daily trips to the pool

frogs

three bigs, three middles, three littles

having BOTH Anna AND Whitney around to make me laugh at myself

extra beds

extra sleep noises in the house at night

very fine toothed combs

hair consultants

our tenth cousin, Tony Hall

kids playing sardines at the new War Memorial Splash Park

my brother Peter, a big kid

my Mama Polly loving watching all the kids at the park

ZaZa’s patio

Boggle

Nertz

card games

box sledding

my brother being off work all week to play with us!

hot sunshine

shady spots

nature center treasure hunt

watermelon

boys gearing up to watch The Lord of the Rings

dart wars

sword fights

hide and seek

girls’ night

sundresses

french braids

elevator rides

all of us piled in the car singing to my Grandmother

Grandmother singing along

yummy food

ice cream, cupcakes, popsicles and more ice cream

Carol’s cookies

pedicures and manicures

sending kids off to DCamp

Ben’s enthusiasm about his first time as a camper

handing out t-shirts in the parking lot

watching Taido do his thing as everyone gets loaded up

so many precious adults and young adults going to help

wishing I was going, but glad to stay behind

having only 5 kids to 6 adults

beautiful morning on the patio at Wilson Point

drinking coffee

looking out at the water

soaking in Whitney’s parents’ generosity

cinnamon toast

yogurt

nonstop swimming and being in the sun

comfy pool chairs

reading magazines

reading a page of a book and falling asleep

the smell of sunscreen

watching Simon learn to go underwater

Simon’s joy at figuring out swimming

my sweet family working with him all day long

Phineas’ complete lack of fear

water guns and buckets

aloe in the fridge

ice maker that makes the perfect little cubes of yummy ice

getting my hands dirty in an exquisite kitchen

watching for pictures of the big kids at camp

seeing them smiling

the comfort of knowing that they are all in good hands

my parents’ relaxing, enjoying the kids

in and out of the hot tub

emily and wilson being the big kids for a few days

late night laughing

soft, cozy beds

cousins snuggled together

sticky red picnic tables at Cream Castle

vanilla shakes

fried catfish

hamburgers

the smell of the smoker out back

taking all the sleepy cousins to Peter and Whitney’s house to bed down

late night trip to Target

seeing my Mama smile

being in the same row at church with my brother and sister

Grandmother’s purse full of tootsie rolls

sad goodbyes

kids loving each other so, so much!

My heart is full.