Some things never change

I made the mistake of taking someone shopping with me today. Our main purpose at WalMart was to get a dvd we wanted, but my shopping companion wandered off into the teeshirt section. I found him, but not before he found this:

 If the shirt fits...

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Scoll on down if you haven't read all of the 

August Cousin Convention entries. 

There are four of them.

ACC, part 6: Odds and ends

It's time to wrap up the August Cousin Convention pictorial review. There are dozens more photos to consider, so I'll try my best to hit some highlights. If one of the cousins' parents has a differing opinion on what should be included, let me know and I'll keep going! 

LOSING TEETH
Hannah lost a tooth while she was here! #8! She's ahead of Miles and Ethan, who have each lost two teeth. Owen has a good wiggle going with one of his, but no empty space yet.

BEFORE: "Maybe if I keep working on it, the tooth will come out!"

AFTER:  It's official!  And the Tooth Fairy flew all the way 

from NC to find Hannah!

THE THREE SISTERS 

In Russia, this would refer to a play by Anton Chekov. In the southwestern part of the US, this would mean squash, corn, and beans. In Minnesota, it's these three wonderful women who are mommies and aunties to the six cousins.

LUMBERJACKS
A recent interest of Westy's is the work of being a lumberjack. This involves axes and power saws and log rolling. Owen was an eager learner, and got right into it with Westy. 

A lumberjack is a fast critter, as I discovered while trying to capture the little guys performing the log rolling part of their show.

EXTRA TERRESTRIAL 
Dad/Larry/Gpappy climbed a ladder one morning to clean the haze from the outside of the dining room window. It took some inside coaching from Evan to get all the streaks removed. Evan imitated Gpappy's cleaning movements for a minute, and it reminded of a poster from the past.

WHEELBARROW FUN
The old wheelbarrow in the backyard was popular when the cousins played outside. Owen pushed the wheelbarrow around while Vivi gave directions.

Ethan turned the wheelbarrow into an ice cream stand, and later into this portable hardware store. He managed to sell several brooms and rakes.

LOVE

I love this picture of Miles and his mommy!

GOOFINESS

Here's a good view of one of the blonde heads...

 

one of the sweaty heads...

and some google-y eyes

BUDDIES
One final picture: the two cousins who have known each other the longest-- almost seven years of being buddies! 

Can't wait until all six of you are together again!

ACC, part 5: Games and activities

It's impossible to capture all of the activities, games, and creative play that go on when six cousins scheme with each other. 

There will always be reading and more reading. Charlie was snagged by Hannah and Miles to share a book with them. 

 

Auntie Angie read a bedtime story to O, W, and E the night that Westy camped out with his cousins. Well, camped IN...

 

While Vivi explained the rules of Old Maid, Hannah and Gma Jill read a Little Critter book. Hannah and Miles are great readers, and when the adults needed a break, one of them would read, too.

And here is the Queen of Old Maid. Vivi LIVES to play this card game! 

Everyone had a chance to play cards with Vivi! She and Auntie Angie enjoyed a game or two.

Ethan and Vivian played some Chutes and Ladders with Auntie Beesie. We no longer have Candy Land, so this was a substitute.

 

Sorry was a big hit with Hannah and Miles. They especially loved the sound they made when a playing piece slid along one of the colored arrows. You'll have to ask one of them about that. It's not suitable for printing in a family blog. Ha ha! Vivian played, too, when she wasn't trying to convince someone to play Old Maid with her.

The games moved outside much of the time. For sure there will be football and baseball and basketball when the cousins join forces. Owen and Westy lead the way in this pick-up game on the Gustavus campus.

Soccer, or some version of it out in the back yard, was fun, too.

When the craziness moved to Bunker Lane, running or riding bikes around the pond and through the woods was on the cousins' agenda.

Safety should never be taken for granted, so Vivi made sure to wear a protective bubble-blowing helmet. 

Not only were the kids busy on this cousin visit, but so were the monarchs. Ethan and Owen raised several caterpillars who munched through milkweed and formed chrysalises.  Some of them hatched (is that the right word??) while the kids were together. How exciting for everyone to release monarch butterflies!

There is never any down-time when the six cousins are together. They love to play "babies" and "puppies", and there is often performance art. This time Westy did his lumberjack show and Ethan performed "What Does the Fox Say?" in full fox costume. With all the cousins so busy and active, no wonder their parents were exhausted by bedtime!

ACC, part 4: Down on the farm

Here we go, off to Sibley Park for some time on the farm for the cousins! (Thanks to other family members for photo contributions.)

 

Riding the tractor is a big hit. Here's Hannah, giving Miles a ride.

 

Owen and Ethan show their tractor skills. Yah, baby!

 

Two little piggies are waiting for Vivi to give them some treats.

  

Owen, looking good!

 

 Members of the Cousins Ad-VISOR-y Board

  

 The "must do" silly faces pose

Lead cousins riding a wild animal

 

Four friends

Two good buddies, Vivi and Gpappy

We are lucky grandparents to have 

six smart, sweet, creative, funny grandchildren!

ACC, part 3: Water play

Warm and humid August days require running through sprinklers, filling water squirters, and lots of shrieking. The cousins did their part to water the lawn and each other.

Fill 'er up!

Vivi needed a break.

Ethan contemplated his next move...

Auntie Beesie got into the mix and ended up under water attack 

from all six cousins. 

August cousin convocation, part 2: BUGS

Bugs, bugs, and more bugs! I'm pretty sure these kiddos were more interested in smudging the magnifying glasses with their noses than locating creepy crawly things...

 

Vivi likes how she looks without a magnifying glass!

 

Relaxing near the fountain, eating clementines

This is more like it!

Ethan continued his entomology and herpetology studies 

when we got home.