Cousin Sleepover

As often happens after the family gathers, one cousin (or more) want to go home with another cousin.  Father’s Day was no exception.  The boys were vying for sleepovers at various houses, complimenting their moms hoping for results.  Not gonna work boys!  The girls were asking as well.  Well, they ended up getting their desires for the most part.  Megan came to our house. 

They had showers and headed to bed fairly quickly after getting home.  It was late.  They had all had late nights on Saturday.  They had played hard all day at my parents’.

Today, they woke up, played babies, put on make up, drank hot chocolate, and then the fun began.  With the opportunity to play outside.  In the rain. 

I said, You can get wet, but you don’t need to be covered in mud.

Famous last words.

They played at first in the front. Safe. Wet. That’s it.

   

Then, they moved around back.  Found the “water slide.” Found the mud from our recent construction.  Learned you could ski on mud when holding onto swings.  Then, they just started smearing it on each other.  Spa day??

    

It doesn’t matter.  A quick load of laundry and they were shiny new, eating lunch, and Meg was headed home.

Father’s Day

I did not do the big to-do Jeremy did for Mother’s Day.  I will say that he “had” to do something because we couldn’t get together, go out, or do much on that day.  So, he was creative and fun.

Event #1:

The girls went overnight to Megan’s one night last week.  We decided to go out – patio dining at Old Carolina followed with golf at Riceland.with Jeremy.  Well, actually, I just rode in the cart, help track balls, and keep score.  I had never "golfed” with Jeremy before.  Usually this is a solitary thing he does or with some guys. It was relaxing and quiet. 

         

Event #2:

When I asked the girls what they thought we could give him for Father’s Day, they said maybe we could take him fishing.  What that really means is he takes us fishing – gets the poles, finds the bait, strings the bait. 

I can cast a line.  I did try putting bait on, but it came in the first time Madison cast her pole, so I don’t think I really knew what I was doing. We went to P. Graham Dunn – close and free for kids. There were some people on one side, so we ventured to the far side.  We practiced casting, worked on being patient, got impatient, and cast again.

         

Ellie thought the dock would be our lucky spot – and it was!  I assume people just feed fish bread there and they are more likely to come to the bait.  Jeremy caught the first fish.

    

Madison caught the next one.  I love the way she changes from delight to disgust to avoidance.  She then wanted to throw it back in herself. Which surprised me since she wasn’t keen on touching it.

          

Ellie caught the next one.  She wanted none of the silly kiss the fish Jeremy tried on Madison.  But she was pretty excited about her catch!

    

Madison caught another one, but it broke the pole.  We said she could tell any kind of story she wanted about “the one that got away.”  Not sure why the pole broke; she wasn’t reeling in a shark or a 20 pounder.  It makes for a story though.

We headed out and made it to bed by about 10pm.  It was a good night.  And while fishing (just like golf) isn’t really my thing.  It was fairly enjoyable.

Event #3:

The final event was a gathering at my parents’ house with all the people.  We decided on rice bowls – Steph R’s idea – and it was a hit!  Steph brought shrimp as one proteins – love!  I made two different chicken marinades both linked from this post. I tried the Chipotle Chicken and the Salsa Verde Chicken.  The Chipotle was the winner, but the other was more mild for the kids.  I also made her avocado crema – a serious success.  Steph had brought yum-yum sauce as well, which is spectacular, but I don’t have a recipe.  I was in charge of black beans as well.  Normally, I would just pop some cans open and be done with it, but I made my own! I used this recipe, and it was good.  (And yes, I did soak my beans overnight and slow cooked them for about 8 hours; I also did 2 cups instead of 1-1/2 cups.)  Jen made corn casserole, which I think is about as good as a dessert.  And then we had tons of other toppings.  Steph M got fancy and got the queso fresco!  The dads did a little work by grilling the chicken, but I think they enjoyed the camaraderie that grilling brings.

We had a “program” put together by Grandma between lunch and dessert.  Each dad sat in the middle while his kids told a story or memory about him. 

Afterwards, we had Pie – apple custard pie, lemon pie, chocolate pudding pie, triple berry (blueberry, strawberry, cherry) pie, and peanut butter pie.  Plus, of course, ice cream.  It was over-the-top, but for my pie loving husband, it was perfect.

The kids played some kick ball while we grown ups sat on our butt for the rest of the day.  It was relaxing.

Creative Fun

We pulled out some oldies but goodies in the last week or so.  Sidewalk Chalk and Play-Doh.  They had fun drawing at Grandpa’s one afternoon with some of their older cousins. 

   

Then, they came home and tried out the blending technique they had learned for making cool sunsets. 

Often, they watch cooking competitions online/tv – Chopped, Nailed It, etc.  Then, when the cook something, they narrate themselves doing it and make it into a cooking show.  Apparently, this makes it much more fun and exciting.  (Maybe I should try it when I cook supper!?!)  Other times, they will give each other themes and have to create “food” with their play doh.  One day, they had a beach theme.  They worked for probably an hour busily grating sand and sculpting figures.  This is Madison’s finished products – both under the sea and out of the sea:

         

These are Ellie’s finished creations:

    

Gloria has a wide collection of hats.  I forget why – I think for a gathering she goes to or from teaching?  Anyway, there were a few setting out the other day.  A hat from when Maynard was a security person; Jeremy modeled that one. 

Madison took a different hat, struck a pose, and here you go.

Construction Time

We had a new deck put on the house last summer.  The old deck was old and not holding up well; in fact, when they took it down, there didn’t seem to be much holding up some of the stairs.  We envisioned the deck stairs landing on a patio to open up the outdoor space a little more.  Finally, it happened.  They came and dug up the area to level it.

  

Then, they put the forms in to prep for the cement.  Finally, the cement truck pulled in. 

Megan was here.  My dad was here; he can’t really stay away when construction is happening.  He enjoyed talking to the workers,

explaining things to the girls,

   

and photographing the event for us. 

   

We are happy with the final product, although we will be much more excited when it is actually all done – the lawn landscaped and the ruts gone.

Jeremy thought it would be nice to move the swing set away from the house a bit and open up the area.  So, he started prepping the ground to level out the space where it will set. 

  

The girls got into the action that night.  Sometimes they would pick it up and throw it.

   

Other times, they would utilize the wheelbarrow and haul it to the pile.

    

Either way, they did a job Jeremy was dreading and helped him get it done more quickly.

        

I had hurt my back trying to pull a few little weeds out of the mulch around our house.  So, I am (and was) out of commission to help with any of these outdoorsy projects.  While I would usually be elated at an excuse to not have to do yard work (particularly weeding) being hurt sucks.

As the summer progresses, we hope to finish up these projects.  Not sure what our next home renovation will be.  Some of the paint on our siding (yes, they painted the siding) peeled off during this process.  So, maybe new siding?  Our windows are not our favorite feature. So, maybe new windows?  We have a really retro meringue type living room ceiling… maybe that?  There’s always something.  But hopefully, we can just enjoy what we have and eat outside a bit more.