Cousin Camp Day #2

We started Day #2 off with a Service Scavenger Hunt. It sounded a lot more fun than it was. The plan was for the cousins to work together and help get Grandma & Grandpa's house spic n span. Se we divided into two teams and gave them a list of things they could do, which they got points for. And whoever got the most points would win and we would all go to McDonald's for ice cream.

Well, for the most part it was just a big fight. There was some cleaning and some working together for a few moments, but not enough to make any difference to the house or to the cousin bonding experience or to the learning to serve experience.
We should have had at least all the cleaning supplies figured out and ready to go, which may have eased the pain a little bit. But we tried!

Sweeping is definitely always a big hit at Grandma's house. And I think almost everyone had a turn doing it.

Later that day we went to the $1.50 movies at the Golden Triangle Mall and we saw Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. My kids laughed a ton in the first one, this one wasn't as good. But still good to go out.

We took a picture here two years ago at cousin's camp with Grandma & Grandpa. It is fun to see how much they have all grown.

2009 2007
Dinner was at Aunt Mandi's. We hamburgers and S'mores over the grill.

I had to take this picture of Max with his dirty face, hands & feet, tattooed arm and baggy pants. I just love that he is ALL boy.

Speaking of boys. Here is little Matthew with Uncle Scott , Aunt Amy & Fun Cousin Ethan.

Rachel & Isabelle showing off the necklaces we made.

I can see these two being BYU roommates in the future. So Cute!

Good Night Day #2!

Cousin Camp Day #1 - Turner Falls

Day #1 was a last minute change of plans. And are we SOOOO glad we made this change. We all had a blast. I used to come here as kid with my family and remember it a little bit differently. However, if I remember anything at all it is always a little different. I do think that we used to be able to go down the waterfall and I thought that it was a lot bigger than it was this time.

It is a great place for the kids to really enjoy themselves in a ReAl water park.

The rocks were a little slippery in some places. It made it all the more fun and exciting.

The cousin's found the water hole first and loved the not so natural super tall water slide.

Rachel

Cailie

Isabelle

Ethan

Matthew

Next in the park was a self guided tour of this stone castle built by a doctor (that's all I remember about the history of it) that was found at the end of a long stair case.

The five of us decided to continue up the stairs to see what we could discover at the very top. We were able to get a picture of the waterfall from where we were.

Here is that huge waterfall I remembered as a kid. We decided that I would take the older five cousin's on a hike up above the water, so not many pictures of the little ones.

And here we go on our exciting adventure.

First, we came upon a really cool cave that obviously was discovered before we got there, by the look of all the trash.
After our trek up the mountain, we had to trek it down. It was a little steep, but as you can see it was oh so worth. It was like entering the undiscovered water paradise.

I liked this picture because it looks like they are standing on the edge of the waterfall. However, they are actually not that far from it. There were ropes blocking it off so you couldn't get that close, well, you could if you really wanted too.

When it came time to leave, Matthew led us up the mountain and down again on a different trail. It was a little steeper that one before but there were some great views along the way. Being the leader, Matthew didn't stop to enjoy the scenery and when he got to the bottom, thought something had happened to the rest of us and hurried on to tell Aunt Mandi something was wrong. By the time we all got to the bottom he was back and had a scared and concerned on his face. He was so worried. Mandi was not too far behind with all the other little ones. I felt so bad we scared them, but our adventure was a good one.

To end our time at Turner Falls we all had an ice cream.

( I love this cute little picture of Lauren.)

And this is a sign of a good day!

One more story I have to tell about this fun day...I told my kids that we would go back to the water hole after we checked out the rest of the park. So I kept my word and we all loaded back up into our cars and drove to where we could park. And I let them go by themselves across the water, around the mountain to the water hole. I told them they could go down the slide one time and then come right back. Because we had also planned to go out for dinner on our way home and it was that time. Well, a little while later Cailie and Isabelle came back without my kids. They said they were still there and wouldn't come back after one slide.

Once I finally got them back after driving around and ending up leaving the park and reentering to try to see them from the road , this is what I got, " You said only one time down the slide. We were jumping off the diving board......." Needless to say, we went straight home without stopping for dinner.

It was a FuN dAy!

Cousin Camp Opening Ceremonies

We arrived in Decatur on Friday and Cousin's Camp didn't officially start until Sunday evening. But we still had a few cute cousin moments before then.

Matthew and Max having a great time hanging out together, like always.

The two of them with their pet Salamander.

I love this cute picture of "The Boy."

Watermelon tradition with Grandpa.

Little Matthew trying to be like his Dad and Grandpa, already.

I thought this was a funny way for Ethan to fall asleep, so I took a picture. The cute girls, Macy & Lauren, finally asleep together.
Our Cousin Camp opening ceremonies just consisted of having dinner all together. I actually made a Spendlove recipe, Italian Delight, for all the Cannons. It has turned out to be a favorite on the Cannon side too.

After dinner we had a Family Home Evening on Families and working together. So for dessert the kids made their own ice cream. It consisted of a few simple ingredients in a Ziploc bag slipped into another Ziploc bag full of ice and then wrapped with lots of newspaper and tape to make a good ball to toss.

After playing ball for awhile, we all enjoyed some great tasting homemade ice cream.

And off to bed we went to get ready for our big day tomorrow. (Cannon Cousin's Camp Day #1)