Cousin Club

I love it when the kids can be with their cousins. And having all the cousins on the Garner side together at once was super fun! It was five days of constant joy.

I sent these girls on a nature scavenger hunt. They had to find 10 things outside and make a picture with them.

A lovely flower

A caterpillar

All the seven kids participated in digging a new hole in the yard. As they were working on it, one of them suggested that they call it the Cousin Club. I LOVED that idea! They dug out benches into it and lined them with rocks. 

I love them all!

They also helped a lot with moving the rock pile you see in the background and earned some money. Gina suggested building a sifter for our rock piles, which Jon did, and it has been an amazing help!

We played some Kubb which is always fun

Sean said he was a one-eyed aimer.

The girls had an opportunity to wash dishes. They were amazing helpers!

I hosted my first Midsummers Eve party (AKA Pancake Party). It involved pancakes and whipped cream and fruit and fun. It was great! 

We had two kids with casts on their arms, but they still managed Kubb just fine.

We moved the party down to Amy's for a couple more days of fun.

After Gina left, I took these three to the zoo for a day. It was my favorite zoo trip ever. I didn't have tons to carry and the kids stayed together and were mostly happy the whole time. And it was a chilly day which meant it wasn't too crowded.

Matthew's favorite animal is a stingray so he was thrilled to be able to pet some.

Times like these are part of the reason that makes summer amazing!

(Mom, I hope you are loving all the pictures!)