Cousin Week

Suz put together a fun little kids' camp at her house the third week of June!  (Eliza was also invited to participate, though between gymnastics and a day at her other cousins' house, she was only able to attend twice, and I don't have any pictures of her.)  One morning on the way to Suz's, Eliza and I brainstormed about names for the camp and we decided it should be called LIFT: Learning Is Fun Time.

At LIFT Camp, Suz taught the kids how to make a different dish for lunch each day.  Meals were sloppy joes, flatbread pizzas, French toast, grilled cheese, and homemade chicken nuggets.  Suz even compiled the recipes she used into a cookbook for each of the kids at the end of the week.  After lunch Suz showed them YouTube videos introducing the day's topic before putting together a science-based craft project.  Projects included building a robotic hand, roller coaster design (for marbles), creating musical instruments, building stomp rockets, and making Father's Day cards.  The kids loved it!  And they became friends with Whit's neighbor, too.

Robotic hands!

After camp one day we all went to the neighborhood pool and the fun continued!

The kids got bonus cousin time when Ben and I stayed at Snowbird overnight for Ben's quarterly leadership meeting.  Jack and Eliza stayed at Lindsey's while Luke stayed with Suz.  So fun!

Meanwhile Cat was having a different kind of cousin week.  She flew to South Carolina as an unaccompanied minor - not because I was worried that she couldn't get herself on and off a plane and navigate the Atlanta airport, but because I wanted her to have extra protection in the event that she caught the eye of a predator.  She did not like being babysat - and sometimes not babysat when left in the minors' lounge with little kids - but I appreciated knowing she'd be safe.

She had a blast with Megan's family!  She and her teenage cousins spent a day at Carowinds, a Paramount theme park about 75 minutes away.  They also took the younger kids to the zoo on Megan's birthday so Megan could have a little quiet time at the house.  They checked out downtown Columbia, went to a flea market (where Cat got us all fun souvenirs!), visited Cowpens National Battlefield (a Revolutionary War battlefield), and went swimming at a friend's house.  Megan showed Cat the house she and her family were buying and would move into soon.  They took Cat to some of their favorite local dining establishments, including Pelican's Shave Ice, Waffle House, Mellow Mushroom, and Groucho's Deli.  They watched movies and played games at home and just had a fun week.  Yes, I was envious of all of those things but so glad Cat could be there and have a fun week with Megan and the cousins!

Cat flew out very early in the morning so she got her goodbye
hugs the night before.  Luke's hug was a big one.

The ticket agent gave Cat this nifty UNACCOMPANIED MINOR bracelet
to wear.  I had to stay with her until her plane left, so as we were hanging out
at the gate I got up to talk to the gate agent and told her not to get kidnapped.
She said, "Don't worry, I have a bracelet."

Cat arrived safely and was rewarded with shave ice!

The next morning she texted me to say she had 10 bug bites already.
Welcome to the South!

Cat, Colin, and Drew went to Carowinds on her first full day in town.
I texted her that day to ask if she'd gone on the wooden coaster yet
and she sent me this picture because they were in line right then.
Me: "Is it still Wayne's World themed?"
Cat: "No idea what that is."

After looking out for the famous (to locals) NC/SC border
sign, they finally found it.

I love that Colin won this giant Pikachu and
had to walk around with it all day.

I'd recommended she check out Papa Jazz in downtown Cola and
she did and she fell in love with it.  She came home with several records and
CDs and told us that she'd prefer that 3rd car we buy have a CD player.

Cowpens:

Groucho's - perhaps what made me the most envious of all.

Luke was particularly excited to see Cat when we
picked her up at the SLC airport :-)

That night he orchestrated a Cuddle Party on my bed,

with extra blankets and pillows and lots of hugs, which quickly

became tickling, which quickly became wrestling...