Ooo. I know. I need to get my hiney in gear. I've been pretty negligent of my blog(s) as of late. Don't fuss at me. Life happens. But...along with tracking my calories every day, exercising regulary, reading through the Psalms and catching up with the second season of Downton Abby (a girl has to have her priorities) my summer resolution is to blog more. Eat less...Blog more. Now that's a plan. And by the by...Does anyone else do Summer Resolutions? I figure if it didn't take at New Years why not try letting the summer heat work it's magic?
Anyhoo. We recently had our second annual Cousin Camp at my Mom and Dad's farm way out in the "Cun-tree." This year was something else. More Kids! More Pets! More Activities! More Craziness! All of the cousins were able to attend this year. Our oldest cousin, lovely Kalynn, could only come for the last few days (band camp, summer school), but she still counts.
I thought I would relay our Cousin Camp adventures chronologically. And given the fact that there were almost 1000 pictures during the week I would employ the use of the "collage." I love the "collage."
Our camp theme was (aptly so) "Into the Wild!"
We started off the morning with a Wild Kingdom Breakfast Bar (yogurt, cheese, fresh fruit, oatmeal, granola bars, juice...that sort of thing). We had a devotion every day and then campers would brush their teeth, do morning chores and get their water bottles filled up at The Watering Hole. I apologize to my little sis and sister-in-law. I could have paid more attention to the apparent lack of use of The Brush.
Cooking School! A Cousin Camp tradition! Today we made bread. Real Bread. They had a blast. And we got several loaves of tasty bread out of the deal. We have video of the kneading process...it's hysterical. I doubt you will ever see it. Mom got a picture of me kneading as well. I look like I need an IV drip of Coke Zero....and a comb.
Our next activity was our Outdoor Adventures. What do you get when you have 8 entergetic kids, a greenhouse project in need of a rock floor and a Southwest Missouri farm filled with rocks? You get "Papa's Bucket List!" It was the boys against the girls. The campers had to decorate their buckets, place them in strategic locations (they couldn't move them) and fill them with rocks for 15 minutes. Later in the day they would get weighed (pictures on down). You won't believe how competive these kids were.They cetainly didn't get that competitive gene from me. Some of the fruity stuff...now that's what they got from me. And maybe the ability to twist their fingers into weird positions.
Farm living is the place for me!
Lunch. Everyday I made Bento Boxes with a variety of leftovers. It's amazing what kids will eat when you put it in a "box."
Arts & Crafts. So I found this idea on Pinterest. You take a plain t-shirt. Attach stickers and then spray bleach water all over the shirt and remove the stickers. Instant T-shirt Art! Only it didn't work as well as I had hoped. Actually Josiah's worked really well. And Christopher's kinda worked (except he ended up with a mostly hot pink shirt). We wound up painting on the shirts later in the week. And the kids had a good time playing with toxic chemicals. You know there might be a problem when you hear yourself hollering, "Nobody spray the dog with that bleach!"
Aw. The Great Bucket List Weigh In. Girls Won! In fact, the girls won a lot. Considering the girls on this day were ages 3, 7 (x2) and 9....Just saying.
The Grill Miester! We cooked everything on the grill that week. If I could have figured it out we would have baked the cake on the grill...Helped our kitchen temps a lot!
Smores! Another Cousin Camp Tradition.
It needs to be said that music is a very important part of our Family Legacy. Both sides of my family are very musical. In fact, it goes back generations. And it was important to my Mom and Dad to include that legacy into Cousin Camp. On this night the girls dragged out the percussion instruments, Dad hooked up his bass guitar and Mom played her aocustic. And we sang and sang and sang. The boys particpated in the more enriching activity of The Video Game (you realize I'm being sarcastic) on this night...but they had to participate the rest of the week. With mixed results. We also have video of all our singing...and playing. Which at some point you may see because I am the one taking the video and there is no chance of humilation.
It looks like Payge is connecting with her Hillbilly rootes by playing the instrument with her toes. Her Daddy is from Ohio. She gets all her Hillbilly from her Mama.
Aren't they the cutest? I just want to thank my bro and sis for having all these lovely girls for me to love on.
So earnest.
At one point in the week there was an old fashioned Camp Meeting Jerchio March. A little bit of choreography and even some Wheels on the Bus. But tonight we were just content to make music.
More to come! Cousin Camp Day 2. Let Them Eat Cake! A Hillbilly Water Park and Dancing...Lots of Dancing!
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