Fun with Cousins

A week after we got back from Yosemite, my sister's family came to stay with us for a few days.  They were taking the long way home from the family reunion, making their way back to their home in Florida, but with lots of stops along the way (her husband had to fly home for work, so it was just her and the kids). 

It was so much fun to see them again so soon after the reunion.  Whenever I get to spend time with my sisters and see my kids playing with their cousins, it makes me really, really wish we lived close to family. 

Her five kids plus my five kids made for quite the crew at the dinner table:

The weather was super hot, so we spent lots of our time at the pool. 

The cousins:

 

I tried to get a good picture of my kids by the little fountains like I did last year, but Henry was not near as cooperative this time around, and most of the attempts ended up like this:

Everyone had tons of fun swimming together.

 

Rachel and Gretchen picked up right where they left off in Yosemite, and were inseparable the whole time: 

Reading together: 

Hanging out in Rachel's closet (I have no idea what they were doing.  Or why Rachel is wearing one sock). 

 

Playing cowgirl.  The contrast between these two in this picture is making me laugh.  Cute little Gretchen posing, and then Rachel being Rachel.  Still with one sock.   

Pretty, Pretty Princess gangster girls:

There were hundreds of Pretty, Pretty Princess games played during their stay with us.

It turns out it can even be played in the middle of the stairs:

Luckily we had a few other games to offer for the non-princess crowd:

Some of the other activities included:

Puzzle time:

Drawing together:

Lots and lots of mothering to all the dolls (and unicorns) in the house:

Snacking:

Lego building:

Tristan and Oliver introduced their older cousins to the joys of Lego movie making, their latest favorite past-time (they borrow my camera and take hundreds of pictures of Lego guys in slightly different positions acting out a movie plot, and then they put it all together on the computer in high-speed, creating a Lego movie.  They made dozens of these over the summer).

Here is just one of the productions they created with their cousins:

(Yes, the red legos are used for pools of blood.  I'm sorry, Laura, for any influence my boys had on your sweet, innocent girls.)

The younger kids kept busy, too.  Henry was delighted to discover that his cousin Pace (one year older) is also a Star Wars fan.  Nothing like Star Wars to close an age-gap.

Reading to Pace from his new Star Wars book:

Saying goodbye in the driveway.  Everyone was sad when the time came for the cousins to leave. We miss you guys and can't wait until we can see you all again.