Cousin Camp 2011 Day Four

We began day four by attending church at Lynwood Baptist. We love our church family! We ate pizza at the church because Counselor Aunt Angie/Mommy had a meeting to attend. Following our meeting we headed out to Streator to meet up with Mimi and Papa! While we were driving we heard another chapter of Hank the Cowdog! About an hour later we were excited to arrive at Cow Camp!


















Upon our arrival we found out the shocking news that Mimi and Papa's cows had been taken by a gang of Rustlers! The Sheriff was on top of the case and it was up to us to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity! We decided we better go talk with the Sheriff's Posse and get a little training, in case we needed to ride off in the sunset after a cow or a crook! Deputy Sheriff Lois and Deputy Sheriff Ruth walked us through all of the ropes, with the help of their trusty steed Bernie!


























































All of that cowboy and cowgirl training worked up quite an appetite for us! Luckily Mimi's Cafe was serving up some amazing treats! The Menu for the night included:

Hank The Cowdog's favorite burgers - 3 kisses
Rootin Tootin hotdogs - 2 kisses
Yippee Aye A Fries - 2 kisses
Texas Ranger chips - 1 hug
Florida Cattleman's dip - 1 hug

Your choice of beverages: Home on the Range Rootbeer, Cactus Gulch Apple Juice, or Silver Spurs Water

And for dessert - Ooey Gooey Ranch S-mores

Well, if you've never eaten at Mimi's Cafe you are missing out! The two cooks are out of this world! We enjoyed a feast!



With our energy regained we played on the rock pile! Mimi had us help pull some weeds, we worked for our supper that way!





Then, we had a camp fire and ate delicious s'mores. There were many important discussions. Two being how to properly throw a plastic bottle into the fire and the right way to eat a marshmallow. Mimi and Counselor Aunt Angie/Mommy are very partial to the completely burnt variety!






















Finally, we headed off to sleep under the stars in our tent. It was amazing to look up through the roof of the tent and see the hundreds of lightening bugs flitting around. A great night's sleep was had by all!

Day Three Favorites

Aiden: Swimming!
CJ: Swimming!
Anthony: Waiting in the car while Daddy went into Wal-mart to get stuff for dinner.
Abby: Swimming!
Nan: Watching Patrick be so patient making breakfast with the kids.
Patrick: Going to splash country!
Angie: Swimming! That water felt so, so, so good!

Cousin Camp 2011 Day Three

Cousin Camp began with everyone helping Chef Uncle Patrick/Daddy make a big breakfast! Patrick always amazes me when he cooks with the children. He is incredibly patient with them and they love helping him! He believes that no little one is to little to "help" him in some way!
















Plus, it's always delicious! CJ was eating "Uncle Patrick's Grits" and said, "mmmm, mmmm, mmm, mmm, mmmm!" It just doesn't come across the same in print. :)









Those who weren't helping cook busied themselves with a little tea party while they waited for their turn.



Then, I found out that Patrick was having some back pain. I couldn't believe how patient and wonderful he had been making breakfast in such pain. THEN, I found out he had been having the back pain for over a week and hadn't told me. THEN, I found out on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst pain, he was at an eight! And THEN I took Patrick to an urgent care center to get checked. Silly boy. I don't have any pictures of that little visit, but while Patrick and I did that, Nan held down the fort full of campers!

The campers painted some beautiful sun catchers in a western theme. I love how Abby, at 17 months old, is painting so well with a q-tip! Her fine motor skills amaze us!

















The finished products are gorgeous! Just look at those proud smiles!

















We finally got Patrick out of the doctor's office and on some high powered medication. We were thrilled to find out it was only a lower left lumbar strain. Nice! He hurt the right side of his back playing soccer back in high school. So, now he has a matching back!

We decided to head to Blackberry Farm for a little picnic and some fun! Blackberry Farm is a local place with really neat historical buildings. Throughout the year they do alot of special events that teach the children history. There are animals, a carousel, and a train to ride. It's a lot of fun! We enjoyed all of that and our Kentucky Fried Chicken lunch!






















It was a very hot day and right across the street from Blackberry Farm is Splash Country. We had never been to it before, but you can buy a joint ticket for Blackberry and there. We had so much fun here and will definitely be going back! We found out very quickly that all four of our campers are actually fish!!! Last year for Cousin Camp we went to a different water park. It was amazing to me the difference a year has made in our three big kids! They all have some Mad swimming skills now!!! The very cold water felt amazing! We don't have alot of pictures from this, mainly because, well we were having fun in the water! All of the big kids really enjoyed the lazy river, the slide, and the big pool. They were very sad when we said it was time to go.


























We left wet and happy! We stopped at Walmart and Patrick ran inside for some food. We all stayed in the car and waited since we were wet. Then, we finished off the day with sandwiches and a big slice of yummy watermelon. It was a great day!

Day Two Favorites

Mommy/Aunt Angie: Showing CJ the fireflies!

Daddy/Uncle Patrick: Taking the camper to the park to play!

Nan: The popcorn and movie!

Aiden: The Treasure Hunt! I liked finding the Gold!!! Gold I tell ya! Eureka!

CJ: Playing outside at the park with Aiden and Anthony!

Anthony: Finding the gold!

Abby: Seeing Dr. Kleinfeld! I love her!