Cousins from Cleveland

Uncle Brian brought Morgan and Molly out for a visit last week, and this is the best photo I could get. Lots of laughter and silliness!

It is so special that the cousins get opportunities to hang out like this. They are infrequent but full of memory-making. Molly and Morgan were SO excited to meet Oli and Bella in person - they've seen them through Skype or in pictures, but not face-to-face. They just kept hugging them.

We fit in a visit to the zoo and a lot of hanging out at the house. We love when Dem Clevelanders come to town!

Bounce House Bonanza Birthday Party

As I said in the previous post, we tried this year to celebrate the kids' birthdays efficiently. The January through April season in our group of friends is one that could conceivably have a party every weekend...which gets exhausting. Plus, Benji suggested we get a bounce house for his next party.

While pondering all this, a thought occurred to me - what if we did one party to celebrate all three of the kids? Better yet, what if we combine efforts with all the other families who have kid birthdays this season? Good for us, we have wild and crazy friends.

In the end, we celebrated SEVEN children's birthdays!

Cameron and Benjamin turned 7.
Sadie June, Caleb, and Noah turned 5.
Sadie Lou turned 4.
Oliver turned 3.

And this silly party was a SUCCESS!

So here are a few pictures from the day:

Playing in the fort

This guy - before losing his two front teeth

Two of the birthday boys (and their mama taking pictures)

A table full of birthday kids and their friends

Sadie Lou inspected her "4" candle.

He didn't like Red Velvet cupcakes after all.

Oli takes cupcakes VERY seriously.

Noah had his mama bring ocean-themed cupcakes.

Speaking of cupcakes...each birthday family brought their own type of cupcake - something their kids would love!

Sadie got an Elsa dress that day - of course she put it on immediately.

See Bella in the back?  This little guy is one of her buddies from church nursery. They are only five days apart!

No P-Pod party would be complete without cousin Caleb and his hoop shooting.

Hanging with Baby Caleb

We see a bit of this guy - my sister's quickly growing baby. Sadie calls him "Baby Cayeb." And Benj looks like he could be his older brother!

Sunny Tuesday

Today was a back-to-back adventure kind of day. We got some grocery shopping done in the morning, then stopped by the Children's Discovery Museum for a quick hour.

The kiddos played for a bit. Actually, Benjamin did a lot of playing. Sadie mostly ate her snack.

And came back for seconds. And thirds. Girlfriend does love to eat. Benjamin played astronaut and made a buddy who played pilot.

 And then it was time for an impromptu hour of slip-and-slide with the cousins.

Slip-and-slides are terribly fun, even by oneself. But when cousins are involved, well, the fun reaches a whole other level.

And if Mama pulls out the plastic cups...

I'm not sure what to say about the next photos, except that the boys are really into making silly faces. And they are pretty darn cute.

Cabin Fever Abated

Mama needed some fresh air after all the sickness and rainy days that kept members of The P-Pod housebound (excepting The Papa, who seems to think it's fun to ride 60 miles in the rain with the stomach bug).

So we snagged cousin Judah and headed to the nearby mountains.

Being that the one-hour winding ride into the hills caused poor Jude to lose his lunch, we decided that a refill would be the only way to start our journey.

After dining at the playground (at a county park near Julian), we set off on our hike.

The loop was actually a one-mile route, but we probably added another mile with all the walking we did from the car to the playground back to the car and to the trailhead. Not bad for these boys with short legs.

Sadie rode in the baby backpack, which is why there are no more photos of her.

What, you thought she could hike up this hill?

We spotted a deer...actually there were three hiding in the brush.

They ran off as the noisy ones approached.

At the top of the hill we rested on the fortuitously positioned bench.

Somewhere along the way, Benjamin lost his hat. That boy has a knack for losing his hat.

And after the hike, we drove into the nearby mountain town for a treat from a bakery.  And I forgot to bring my camera inside.

Apple pie is what the town is known for...but the boys wanted a frosted cookie. They were cuter (and smaller!).

The Good Reverend also accompanied us.  It was lovely. And the kids went to bed early tonight. Amen.

Cousins and Public Art

We sometimes meet our friends in this mystical garden of mosaic sculptures created by Niki de Saint Phalle.

Our last visit included cousins Judah and Ryah.

Absolutely no goofiness occurred.

None.

This was Sadie's first experience with a totem pole.

And she loved it!