Cousin Camp

While I often wish our parents or siblings or some family relation lived in the same city as we do, I am so grateful to have such supportive families on both sides who will bend over backwards to make our rare times together extra memorable and meaningful. My husband's family invited our children to spend 10 days with them this summer for a fun visit which I call "Cousin Camp" because the kids spent most of their time out there bonding with their cousins.  They kids grew closer to my husband's side of the family during those 10 days than some families who live in close proximity to each other ever experience in a lifetime.

The kids were treated to fun adventures every single day and made so many wonderful memories that they will always cherish.  My MIL kindly shared some photos she took over the course of those 10 days which I have used to create a few pages for the kids' scrapbooks.

The boys played golf while the girls painted pottery.

Grandma and Grandpa took all the younger cousins to Seminole so they could spend the day at a children's museum.

 

 

They had sleepovers almost nightly, made regular trips to Sonic for slushies, and ate lots of Braum's ice cream. They spent a day at the zoo and dined at nice restaurants.  The boys went shopping at Target where they were treated to impressive nurf guns while the girls picked out new outfits at Justice.  They enjoyed energized youth outings at Church on the Move and their cousin's church in Owasso.  Impromptu pool parties and trips to water parks kept them cool and active.

 

While my extremely social daughter was thrilled to spend all that time with family, she also enjoyed bonding with Grandma's many pets.

 

Grandma rehabs and rescues wild animals, so our daughter got to interact with a variety of wild animals during her visit.  Our animal loving girl got up early every morning to help take care of the fish, cats, dogs, and chickens.  She also helped clean out the raccoons' pen and "helped" Grandma when she released some rehabilitated hawks into the wild. 

Fly away, Mr. Hawk, you are free!

She loved holding the baby squirrels.  One squirrel also formed a unique friendship with Mia, our daughter's favorite cat at Grandma's house.

Baby squirrel and Mia

 Fun and exciting adventures can always be found at Grandma and Grandpa's house.