cousins come to town

When I went to Jessica's house before Cammy's retirement party, she asked if we wanted Garrett and Caroline to come visit in July.  And I said they could absolutely come visit!  Well, the week before their visit, Jessica asked if she, Emily, and Jason could come too and have a three-day getaway.  The more the merrier, and the hubs and I started finding beds for all these folks!

The gang showed up on Tuesday, and Wednesday we went to the water park and pool across the street from my neighborhood.  Jason had not taken a long nap that morning, so he was quite cranky and not feeling the pool at all.   He stuck a toe in the shallow end, then hung out under the umbrella with Jessica.

So the hubs and I headed to the big water slide.  Garrett and Caroline loved it, Emily was too short to go down it, and Britton got to the top then decided she wasn't going to do it.  We went swimming in the pool, then headed over to the splash pad area.

During "adult swim," we hit up the concession stand!  The kids had never had a Slush Puppie before (and if you haven't either, they are like Slurpees), so we ordered some and took a break under the umbrella.

After we got home from the pool and changed, I really wanted to get a picture of all the kids together.  We scouted out a good spot in the backyard and I took as many pictures as I could before they all got restless.  Barrett went with his "Blue Steel" smolder because smiling is so last week, you know.

Every day we sent the kids outside, and they loved playing on the swing set.  Caroline and I took turns pushing everyone in those swings!  And we took walks in the neighborhood, which allowed the hubs to get dinner started without six kids running around the kitchen.

On Thursday morning the hubs and Garrett went to go see the new Transformers movie, which us gals waited out Jason's nap.  Caroline mentioned that she had seen a website where someone turned boxes into an American Girl doll sofa.  Challenge accepted!  Before going to the movies, the hubs ran out to the post office to sneak away some boxes, and Caroline and I hunted through my fabric.

Some fabric, foam, and an ornery glue gun later, we had a couch!  Then Caroline picked out some fabric and made those adorable pillows on the couch.  They are reversible!  And I put together a bag of three-inch squares so she can make a quilt for the back of the couch when she gets home.

After lunch, we went to Fun Fore All - an arcade/carnival/putt-putt place.  Britton and I played some skee-ball while Emily and Jason tried out the ball pitt/three-story play structure known as Ballocity.  Then we headed outside for the carney rides.  First up - the "Fiesta Express" roller coaster!  Caroline spent the entire ride preventing Jason's head from slamming into the side of their car.  Poor thing kept sliding across the seat with every turn!

And the tea cups, a classic.  Britton wasn't feeling this ride at all, or to be more accurate, she wasn't feeling so good about halfway through.  But the hubs and Garrett showed up at this time (yes, that movie is 3 hours long!) so she took a little rest while Caroline and Emily went on the swing.

Britton was really excited about the bumper boats, and luckily Caroline agreed to accompany her.  I knew the bumper boats had squirt guns, but I had no idea she'd get completely soaked (which she did).  She was a trooper and spent the rest of the day in wet clothes.  We got some Slush Puppies (yes, they are available everywhere here) and hit the games.

Jessica packed up her brood and headed out this morning.  I think they were all ready to get back into their own beds and normal routine, and we all went pretty hard for three days.  But it was fun getting to see them all and stay up late watching bad television shows with Caroline and Garrett and try out the hubs' new fajita recipe (two thumbs up!) and enjoy a little summer vacation.

The Barrett and The Garrett