Thursday, July 07, 2016

Boys. And more boys.

My sweet sister, Janessa, or Aunt Nessa as my kids so fondly refer to her, was so kind to watch my kids while we went to Mexico and now it was our turn to return the favor. Even though she's in El Paso, this is the closest we've lived together in 12 years and it's so fun that we can finally swap babysitting and that our kids can spend so much time with their cousins. We couldn't have planned it any better the way our girls and boys all line up together, everyone has a best friend. They've had a countdown on since we pulled out of their driveway in May until they pulled into ours, so to say they were excited to have their cousins stay for 13 days was an understatement. They took their girls with them to Guatemala (which worked out since Kylie was gone to girl's camp this week) and their oldest boy got to spend some quality outdoor time with Grandpa in Utah so it was the youngest three boys who got to stay and party with us. I have to admit, I was a little nervous but it went way better than I had anticipated. They would wake up, pull out toys and play all morning using their imaginations. After lunch we would go on an outing then come back, swim, eat dinner and watch a movie before bed. They all got along so well and I loved sitting back watching them make memories with their cousins like I used to do with mine. It was a house full of boys with endless fort building, poop jokes, nerf wars, lego creations and all things boys. They lived in their swimsuits and bathed and brushed their teeth occasionally. This tribe of boys are thick as thieves and I loved every minute of it.


We got to have a couple of days with the whole family before they left, so of course we had to squeeze in a lake trip.




I love Maddox's hair after he goes on the tube. Bonafide rockstar.





The majority of activities revolved entirely around water. Obviously. Swimming, water parks, splash pads, water balloon fights, sprinklers on the tramp, lake...I told my sister to only pack one pair of actual clothes. Patting myself on the back for keeping their milky white skin mostly burn free.


















My favorite Ryder picture of all time











If I had one picture to describe little boys....


















When we weren't sopping wet, we played a lot of Settler's of Catan. One of my favorite past times with these boys. Who also played an unhealthy amount of xbox.




We had a couple of movie days to see Finding Dory and the Harkins Summer Movies. Picking out a box of candy at the dollar store was probably their favorite part. And the popcorn and soda. It was a healthy lunch option.


A pew full of boys in white shirts. Be still my heart.


By the last few days I was beginning to run out of ideas to keep them entertained. So I disguised my errands as a fun day out. They loved getting all the free samples and lunch at Costco (which is worth noting, I fed 8 people for $12.50!). They were all so well behaved and as I sat down to eat I was feeling pretty good about how well grocery shopping with 7 kids went. And then I realized I had no idea what happened to my shopping cart. I totally left it at the check out when I grabbed my receipt and trailed after the kids to order their lunch. Maybe I wasn't cut out to go grocery shopping with 7 kids after all, but at least it wasn't a kid that I lost!


It was 12 days of fun, noise, laughs, mess and memories. We had such a great time with them, although I wanted nothing but a quiet house and a long nap after that. And a big bowl of ice cream. I don't know how my mom ever raised 10 kids, I sure have a greater appreciation for her!

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