At last....
So after four months of social distancing, isolation and pure loneliness, we at last had our summer Cousins party! Can I get an AMEN? So what is a cousin party, you ask? This is a party where all four of our grandkids spend the day and night at our place, with no parents, just them and us, Meme and Pepe! We started this tradition seven ago when our youngest grandchild was just over a year old! Back then we barely could do 12 hours on our own! Now that they've grown and aged, we are doing a full 24 hours plus. Someday we'll do two days so that we can fit more activities in!
We make sure they are 100% supervised, fed well, and have all they need, plus a little extra. This year because we were so excited, I've been collecting things during COVID, and their Pepe made them each a stained glass Peace sign which all got included in their swag bags! These were a hit, oh...there may have been a bit of candy in the bottom of the bag, come on, it's a party!
At first we tried to be fancy with the food but kids want easy, yummy and tasty foods they know. This year we went with hot dogs and fries for dinner with a big tray of veggies and fruit. it all got gobbled up, especially since they swam for 3 hours straight! We had single serve bags of chips for snacking so that no germs are being shared as you would with a big bowl of chips. I also made single serve bags of popcorn/Chex mix. That's always a hit. Trust me, nobody goes hungry at my house unless it's their choice but I usually can wear down the best of them!
We started the day with a quick trip to Justice as my grand-daughter had birthday money to burn! And burn she did, like a pro. That girl can shop, she was finding bargains like the best of them. We made one more stop at Old Navy and all three girls got themselves some lovely things. Shopping done, we placed our order at Byron Pizza and headed straight there to pick it up. Then we met my sweetie and our grandson, they'd stayed back as shopping is not their thing! They played catch while we were gone and were happy to smell pizza when we waltzed in the back gate. pizza picnic it was!
After lunch we swam and swam and swam. Denis and I take turns swimming with them, always one of us on the deck keeping an eye out. All four kids are great swimmers but you never know...always, safety first...ALWAYS. There was also painting at times, our kids are crafty so there's always paints available and things that need painting, speaking of which, need any yard doodads painted? I promise, they do great work!
Finally after talking about this all day, it was getting dark, Pepe made a campfire, they roasted marshmallows and then...they had their glow in the dark swim! Truly a fun experience, just go to the dollar store, get some glow sticks, crack them awake, then toss in the pool. Our grandson thought it would be a great idea to break them open but that idea quickly got nixed! DO NOT BREAK THEM OPEN in the pool! Luckily Pepe is on the ball and he didn't get a chance to even open the glo-stick! But many giggles were had, smiles all around and after a while of getting all their giggles out, they were off to bed. I have to say, it was never easier to get them to bed, they were so tired, as were Meme and Pepe!
Morning was a blur of waflles, thank you Kinnikinnick for gluten free waffles, sausages and hash brown patties. Again, easy, quick foods make for happy kids and soon they all headed home, hugs all around and teary good byes. We plan to see them often this summer, sometimes on their own, or all together, either way it's fun and so much more appreciated now that we are all reunited. Please stay safe, keep your bubble of ten strong and healthy.
Thank you to our daughters for these amazing kids who light up our life everytime we see them!
#kinnikinnickglutenfreewaffles
