Cousin Camp (last full day) - Wednesday

The last full day of cousin camp.  Boooooooo!

They made tons and tons of melty bead things to sell (not this trip, thankfully, will we have a melty bead thing sale) in the morning and after lunch we took a bike ride. This bike ride was much to the distress of C8, who cried and whined and moaned and complained for a long long time (despite being ignored) until I just yelled the heck at her. After that she shaped up.

But K9  & Q7 were exited and happy to go. As was I. We were often waiting for C8 to catch up to us. First, because she was walking her bike (if it wasn't perfectly level she wasn't on the bike) although I demanded that she get on the bike and enjoy herself. Second, because she is just very cautious. Which doesn't lend itself to fast bike riding. It is a little strange, because last year she was all speed crazy. The video is all wobbly b/c I kept looking backwards to get C8 to get going. I love the little Ka-Chunk noise her bike is making right now (but I would hate it if it were on my bike!). Does she remind you a little bit of Miss Gulch?

We biked 3 miles round trip, not far, but to a play ground and back.

And an ice cream truck was at Magruder, so we stopped an had some. K9 and C8 ate their ice cream fairly quickly, but Q7 had a giant popsicle that melted all over the place, including her face, her arm, and my foot.

To continue our "New water adventure every day" theme, they begged to go to Hamilton Splash Park. I did not want to go, but it was nice. Not crowded, not loud, the water was clear, not cloudy, and it was chilly. And it had lots of stuff to do.

Here is C8 getting eaten by a hippo while Q7 and K9 cheer the hippo on:

C8 & K9 on the alligator, and Q7 on the hippo at the end of the visit:

 

Cousin Camp - Tuesday

Tuesday was filled with lots of different things, we didn't have a coherent plan

A visit to the library  (here is the evidence; they spent the next hour sitting and reading.):

 

We made cake ... well, I let them decorate a layer of cake that I didn't put on my birthday cake and let them decorate it with leftover frosting and sprinkles and toppings ... K9 ate hers up, C8 almost finished hers but not quite, Q7 who had a HUGE lunch ate about half and then threw up.

We attempted go to the fountain in University Town Center, but it was OFF. Boo. So we headed toward a visit to Brentwood Park and the spray frog and the park. On the way there we passed the pool, which was virtually empty, so I suggested we go there b/c it would be warm and we'd have the pool to ourselves ... one vote yes, one vote no, and one ditherer who wanted to make both girls happy but couldn't figure out how to do that. In the end we went to the park:

Piano lessons ... turns out our piano teacher is taking a full-time music director position and won't be able to continue as our music teacher. So, we need to find a new piano teacher/teachers.

And the National Night Out celebration in Hyattsville. They did the bouncy castle (much too crowded. They let about 15 kids in at a time! Yikes. And little 2 year olds with the big 9 year olds! I was freaking out. K9 C8 and Q7 left after about a minute because it was too crowded), the bouncy slide (also quite crowded, but the went up and down it about 5 times), and the harness things. We waited about an HOUR in line for these things, but the girls said they were worth it.

Cousin Camp - Monday

The morning started off rough ... K9 & C8 were a little exclusive and didn't want to include Q7. Q7 bit C8. Although when questioned, Q7 said her mouth was open and C7 put her shoulder in Q7s mouth JUST as Q7 as Q7 was shutting it. Hm. That sounds a little suspect to me. Anyway, C8 & K9 went off and played and Q7 spent the morning in her room.

After lunch, though, things picked up. I took them to Chillum Splash Pool, where we spent 2.5 hours in the pools, and 3/4 of an hour at the playground.

I got zinged for taking photos, but I didn't delete them. So, let's start with two videos. Not sure why they were doing bridges under water, but I thought it looked cool.

About 20 minutes before I planned to leave, they hit the lilly pads ... so much fun trying to walk across the pool on those pads. Q7 just swung across on the netting if she lost her footing. C8 fell in once or twice. And K9 was very deliberate and did not fall off the pads!

 

With this visit to the splash pool the girls found their cousin camp theme: Water. The first day they went to the pool (and the 2nd). The 2nd day they spent hours on water balloons. Today, the splash pool. Tomorrow they want to go to a public play-in fountain (and the library. And we have to go to piano lessons). The last day they want to go to a splashground, but it may end up being the sprinkler under the trampoline for a while, then the pool. Good summer theme, though, I think!

Cousin Camp

Cousin camp has begun~

OK, it isn't all the cousins. Just one cousin, K9. But I don't think I could take all of them from both sides. So far, we've done ... nothing special. Saturday we went to the pool and a pool birthday party (including pinata), C44 and I had Bánh mì (basically Vietnamese submarine sandwiches). Mine was rather un-Vietnamese, as I had no cilantro on it. But it was DEEEEE-licious. And the girls had pizza from Franklin's. And of course they stayed up late. So late that I had to separate them, and put Q in her bed. She railed at me for about 5 minutes then she fell in the crack between her mattress and the bookcase and fell asleep.

Today was similar. I sent them outside, they blew up water balloons for 3 hours then came back in. I sent them outside again, where they ate lunch, then they had a short period of time inside and then we went to the pool. We swam, ate baklava, and came home. They played outside before dinner (Go outside or do chores is my new mantra). Dinner, reading, bed.

Nothing special, but pretty much all fun.

Going to try to get them to sleep slightly earlier tonight ... possibly wishful thinking...

What a beautiful sight

Q7 has been singing a lot. This she made up earlier this year.