The Cousins

Allyn and her kids are spending the week with us.  That's six extra people in the house!  Two of whom wrestle to the death if they are inside for too long.  We had to have a plan and a sanctuary.  (The sanctuary is the master bedroom, guarded by the "reindeer" on the wall.  Noah asked how the reindeer got there.  Brian said he shot it and ate the rest of him.  "Why?"  Indeed.)  Sunday was church, which I have almost blocked from my memory due to a blowout diaper from one of the new nursery children.  Let's move on.

While we were waiting for the pool to fill up, I got out the sidewalk chalk and put Adam and Banks to work:

Once the pool was full, it was time to do some cannonball photos:

Where is my child?  Why no cannonball shot of her?  It's because she has been busy making this face for the last four days:

Yes, standing in the shade holding a flower.  She always wants to know where The Cousins are and she likes to observe them, but her interaction is sporadic.  

My awesome neighborhood friends put out the lawn chairs and set up the ingredients for a water fight across the street, so that was the afternoon for us.  In the evening, Brian took Adam and Banks for bowling and pizza while the girls went to Makenzie's for a tea party.  (Noah and Gabriel were next door jumping on the trampoline with a babysitter.)

Notice the pretty headbands?  Allyn talked me out of buying one at the Artisan Fair (they were really popular and cute) and she whipped up enough for almost everyone (Emma's wasn't quite done in time) to wear at the tea party.

Then our polite conversation and delicate atmosphere were interrupted:

Noah got so mad when Allyn tried to take a bite of her own cupcake that he had a little breakdown:

As soon as he heard my camera click, he hopped up and came over to me, "Can I see the picture?"

I was going to make cake, but it was sooooooooooooooo hot outside that I didn't want to turn my oven on for any reason.  Even for cake.  Besides, Dippidee is right on the way to Makenzie's!

(I cannot catch Emma with her eyes open!  At least in this photo it made sense.)

Bridget and Gabriel go way back, so they made up a game as soon as the cupcakes were done:

Now that's the face I'm used to on Bridget!

Even though we had a couple of party crashers, it was a nice tea.  I do love being with The Sisters. :)

(It was such a beautiful sunset - everyone was rose-tinted.  And Makenzie was out of focus in real life, too.  Ha!  No idea.)  I'll leave you with some lovely cosmos in Makenzie's front yard: