More Hugh Cousins

A few other fun activities last week with the cousins:

The girls set up a lemonade stand.  They made signs and stood on the corner of the street and waved to people.

They had no shame it was so great watching them.  They made over $20 in just a little over an hour.  They were so excited about their individual wealth.

We went over to Papa and Nona's one night and after some pizza had a game of outdoor cards.

Wembley wanted so badly to steal the cards and eat them.

She didn't appreciate the mauling instead.

When the kids were here, I was sort of a stickler and made them do chores every day just to keep us somewhat in our routine.  On Saturday, we give Briz a special Saturday chore, so all of the kids got extra saturday chores as well.  Portia  learned how to mow the lawn and thought it was pretty awesome.

We headed over to another splash pad and park.  

Palmer loved the feel of the water.  It was extremely entertaining just watching him.

And Papa and Nona had fun with the kids swinging.

Wembley and Papa have a mutual obsession with each other.   He can make her giggle like no one else.

We got ready for church by taking a bubble bath  . . . again, and painting our toenails.  

I'm sad I didn't get a picture of the girls at church.  They all had on matching Hannah Anderson dresses and their hair in buns.  The three big girls sang "Gethsemane" in sacrament meeting and did such a good job.  

Swim Park

In Lake Oswego, my parents have access to a really cool swim park.  The kids can go and swim in the lake or the little kiddy pool.  So I took the 5 kids I had (plus a friend for Palmer).  They were entertained and we had so much fun just being in the water and the sun.

Palmer and his friend Trenton could not be separated.  They spent lots of time playing and discussing the intricacies of Minecraft.  

The girls are taking a break from swimming.

And then decide to build some stuff out of giant wooden blocks.

Dubs is in heaven: people, food, outside, water.  Doesn't get any better than that.

And after playing in the sun, they girls loved taking bubble baths in my big jetted bath tub.  Lots of dramatic play with the barbies.  And Wembley just loved the party.

Oneonta

I met my Mom, Dad, Tanner, and Sierra up at the gorge and we hiked up Onenonta falls.  I've been wanting to do this hike all summer, and I'm so glad we finally did.  It's a big dicey at first cause you have to climb over a bunch of suspended logs.  But we got through it and the kids did great (after a bit of whining).  We then hiked for about a half a mile along this stream.  The water was COLD but felt very refreshing and good.

Nick carried Dubs on his back, which was nice, cause I probably would have been a bit nervous to do it myself.  

The girls wanted to show me how tough they were by sitting in the water.

Little did they know it would eventually go up to their neck.

We ended up at a cool waterfall and swimming hole.  A few of us jumped off some rocks into the swimming hole.  It felt really good.  

The week was a bit of a blur (it gives me a bit of a glimpse of what its like to have five kids), so I don't remember exactly what we did when.  We went to the library to see the "reptile man."  They kids loved it.  And Portia even got to go up and hold the big yellow python.  

Wembley was a bit of a disaster, there was a lot of people and she does not hold still.

Splash Pad

The next day, Bri was still in town, so we all met at a nearby Splash pad.  The kids played for hours there. 

Wembley's favorite thing is to walk around, so that's what she did for hours.  

Palmer made some random friends and started a water gun war.

That night, Bri left back for Seattle and my parents and I rotated the three older kids between us.  We had a week full of adventures.  And at times I was a single mom of 5 kids.  Needless to say, I was tired.

Hug Point

We came home from the cabin Saturday night.  We all went to Papa and Nona's ward on Sunday (we were very loud and disruptive).  At one point, Thatcher tried to hurl a bowl at Bri's head, she deflected it and it went flying through the air ten feet.  About 5 rows behind us, a man reached up his arm and grabbed it.  It was one of the funniest moments I've had at church.  People were laughing for a while about it.

After church, we headed out to the beach.  Recommended by a friend, we tried out a new one, Hug Point.  I think it might be my favorite beach.  The huge cliffs on the side block the wind, and there are a ton of cool caves and waterfalls to explore.

Brizzy and I were crazy and actually went all the way in the water.  

The kids discovered these cool jelly like balls all along the shore.  We couldn't figure out what they were, but the kids decided they were jellyfish.

We found these really cool walkways along the beach.  There were different rocks, shells, and anemones to discover.  And the waves were crashing like crazy right there at our feet.

Dubs passed out on the way home.  Nothing makes me happier than to see my kids are worn out :)

Cabin Time

We had our annual cabin gathering, minus a few people.  Paul and Mac didn't come, as they are in San Diego with their new baby.  Ronell was in Germany, and Nick had to work.  I ended up going up for just a little under 2 days cause I also had to work.  It was still fun though.

Landon brought Jen his new fiancee!  She definitely won the popularity contest because all the kids just swarmed her.  She was a good sport.  The Ainges can be a very loud, chaotic bunch to be around.  

I didn't get many pictures of the water which is too bad because it was amazing.  The water was not painfully cold this year, and it was 90 degrees every day.  So we basically lived in the water.  At night, the kids colored, played games, and watched the Lego Movie.

The Kuykendalls came up on Saturday and took us out on the boat.  I got my annual surfing fix.  I was in heaven!  Tyus is just about to leave on his mission, so it was fun to spend some time with him.  We were making fun of him for smelling his food prior to eating it.

Thatcher wanted to throw rocks the whole time.  And that's it.  He also loved Tanner and Sierra's dog, Saylor.  He wanted to jump on her, push on her, bite her . . .

And Teya as always is the family cuddler.  This is my favorite picture from the weekend because it shows how Teya is NOT shy.  Tyus really appreciated the attention.

After dinner, we played games of Charades and 2 truths and a lie.  The little kids thought it was hilarious.

I love the cabin.  It's a lot of work with two little kids by myself, but its so worth it.