Dozens of cousins-- almost!

Back in January, when my sister first asked if I’d be willing to keep her three girls for a week this summer so she and her husband could vacation without them, I didn’t hesitate to agree.  My children immediately started coming up with ideas of all sorts of great things they could do with their cousins.  For seven long months we looked forward to it but finally....

This week has arrived!

On Saturday at 9 a.m. their minivan pulled up and my nieces jumped out ready for fun!  As a last minute change in plans, we also got my other sister’s 2 children for a couple of days.   So, I write these words to the joyful, heart-warming sounds of 10 happy cousins playing together.  They are: a 14 year old, a 12 year old, a 10 year old, two 9 year olds, three 8 year olds, a 4 year old, and an almost 4 year old.  Only my brother's two boys are missing.  At 18 and 13, they are probably not too sad to miss out on the "little" kid fun though.  

Watching the kids together reminds me of some of my best childhood memories.  I have SO many memories of playing with my own cousins as a child.  We would only get together once or twice a year but whenever we did, we would play made up games and elaborate pretend scenarios.  The time would fly by so fast as we had the times of our lives (with only a few little tiffs and disagreements popping up here and there).

My sisters both wished me luck and thanked me profusely as they drove away childless for the week, but, really- I feel like I should be thanking them for this chance to spend time with my nieces and nephew.  I absolutely love seeing all the kids playing so well together.  I actually love joining in their silly games and their crazy, fun ideas too.  :)  It's been two years since we have had ALL the kids all together like this and two years is a long time when you’re a kid.

Last week, I went to Pinterest and pinned tons of fun activities to do at home with a crowd of kids because I knew we would be housebound this week.  I can only fit 7 people in my minivan, so there is no way to go out to the park or the beach or even the store with the 10 children.  But, I have yet to use even one of those great ideas I pinned because the children are too busy making their own fun.  So far, there haven't been any tiffs or disagreements- just lots of giggling, lots of running around and wrestling, lots of happy screeching, and TONS and TONS of fun!  I’m afraid this week is going to go so quickly the kids will not fit in all they want to do together.....

Here are just a few of the 200 pictures I've taken so far!

Working on a picture showing the trip from Missouri to Florida

Playing bandits (in p.j.'s, right before bed)

Learning to crochet together