May Cousin Weekend, part 1: Cousins on the couch

This is a reminder to myself to organize photos from the May Cousin Weekend to put together into a Snapfish or Shutterfly photo album. I love having the pics to look at on my computer, iPad, and/or phone, but I like them even better when I can page through printed photos. So I'll get to that some time this week!

In the meantime, the usual wild and dizzy weekend of cousin confusion was here and gone before I knew it, so I'll need a blog entry or two to prove it.

Why not start with the couch collection? Thanks to Janet, the kiddos had facial attire for our requisite photo session. We had a lot of fun and LOTS of laughs!

The cousin group shots were easier than ever this time. I guess if you're concentrating on keeping a piece of cardboard balanced on the outside of your nose, there's no time to complain.

The big kids were quite well behaved, too.

Even Ira wanted in on the act.

Dad/Larry/Gpappy and I tried on several before picking our personal faves.

Mine is in honor of Owen, for obvious reasons.

Evan, since you weren't here and because I didn't think about sending home some cards for you to choose from for your own mug shot, I improvised. You already have great facial hair and nice teeth, so this is the best I could do with a pic from a google search and a lame app. Techno-Aunchie would've done a lot better. We missed you!

Tune in later...tomorrow, probably... for a few more moments from May Cousin Weekend.

Pictures I didn't take

The cousins will be together next weekend, which means new adorable pictures of all six of them together, and in various combinations. For now, I'm stealing photos from the parents of those cuties. This is one of those times that social media comes in very handy. Click, copy and save!

  Vivian befriends a worm.

Hannah's piano recital gone wild! 

Angie, with a bunch of dudes.

The boy with one front tooth--we're watching and waiting for it to come in, Owen! 

This boy has both of his top front teeth.

 

The big news in the Grimmius family is a new baby, born to 

 Anne Marie Grimmius... the OTHER Anne Marie Grimmius... and Uncle Will.  

A new boy cousin, Jonathan David Grimmius!

Uncle Tanner got a turn... 

...and so did Auntie Annie! 

Here's a picture I DID take. It cracks me up. It was taped to the door of the blue bedroom to keep out intruders. You'd better "beatit" if you don't want the cops to show up. I'll keep my eye out for other warning signs when the cousins are here.

We're 7!

Happy Birthday, Owen and Ethan! 

We love you lots and lots and lots!

Into the woods

Miles came to visit Church Street today. Westy was with Grandma Doreen, helping put down mulch at Uncle Will and Aunt Anne's house. Meanwhile, their carefree parents had a leisurely afternoon on the Owatonna Country Club golf course.

Do you all know that Annie has her own set of golf clubs? More importantly, does Annie know that she has her own set of golf clubs?

On the to-do list at our house was a "Guess Who?" tournament. Gpappy and Miles are the experts at guessing who.

We invited the St. Peter cousins to go for a walk in the woods to the park with the big slide.

After a few rides down the slide, construction foreman Ethan got busy digging a hole. 

Owen, rosy-cheeked from lots of running around

Miles, wondering why he doesn't fit in the little-kid vehicle anymore

 

Half the whole set of cousins 

While these guys were playing and eating DQ treats, Westy was in Shakopee hauling mulch. Alas, I have no photographic evidence of his hard work, but I have word from Grandma Doreen that it's true.

Today in NC, Vivi and Hannah were helping their daddy sail through the Tarheel 10-Miler. Way to go, Evan!

Beautiful warm and sunny weather in MN and in NC today so everyone could have some outside fun!

Las ciencias

There's been a lot of science going on lately for some of the cousins...

Here is Hannah's science project that involved a chemical reaction between polvo de hornear and vinagre to make globos expand...

And here are two young Potts boys learning about chemistry in Nobel Hall.

Gpa/Dad/Larry is happy to see the tradition continue!

Thanks to the parents of the young scientists for these photos.
 -----------------------------------
Sunday, April 10: Turns out there's more... it must have been 
Science Saturday in Chapel Hill yesterday, too!

 

Easter Weekend in NC

And now it's April!  The cousins, who had spring breaks at various times, are back in school or will be on Monday.  Larry/Gpappy and I had a quick and enjoyable trip to NC to see the chica cousins over Easter weekend. So pleasant to see flowering trees and bushes while it was still quite brown in MN. The rain over the past week has greened it up here, though, so we're on our way to spring, too.

We were greeted at the airport on Friday evening by these two adorable kiddos.

Our first stop on Saturday morning was Bouncing Bulldogs. H and V are wizards at Double Dutch and all sorts of other tricky rope-jumping feats. 

Afterwards, Elisabeth and I went with Hannah to her piano lesson while Evan, Vivi, and Gpappy went to A Southern Season to pick up yummy food for lunch.

The neighbors got together for an Easter egg hunt on Saturday afternoon, and although I don't have pictures, I can assure you it was a great success. Lots of kids, lots of plastic eggs, lots of candy inside the eggs.  

Coloring Easter eggs after the fun with the neighbor kids was highlighted with an attempt by H and V to crack eggs like Ramona's father did in the book and movie, Ramona and Beezus. We decided it must take a lot of practice to do just the right amount of cracking on the top of one's head to be able to blow the egg out of its shell. Fun to try, for sure!

Playing puppies is a cousin thing, no matter where the cousins are or in which combination. This time, Hannah took on the role of new puppy owner, and Vivian was her little dog, Fifi. Great name for a Vivi-dog, don't you think?!

Evan, Hannah, and Vivi collaborated on grating potatoes to make yummy cheesy potatoes for Easter dinner. Ham on the grill and fresh green beans were other featured items. I was more than content to observe, photograph, and enjoy the deliciousness!

Cousin Linda was kind enough to let us invade her apartment in Raleigh on Sunday afternoon. The weather wasn't cooperative enough for a hoped-for trip to a local park, but Linda provided a substitute outdoor venue under the canopy on the pool deck of her apartment building. It was the perfect spot for enjoying cupcakes and taking pictures. Thanks, Linda, for the lovely time and for the photos!

On Monday, we went to the local library so H and V could return books and check out another mountain of titles. The library is huge, bright, and cheerful. Outside, these fun sculptures invite kids to climb and play. And read.

Home for lunch, a trip to A Southern Season and to a nearby park for some play time, and then off to the airport. Thank you to Elisabeth and Evan for a great visit! It flew by, but we managed to get a lot of time with Vivi and Hannah, which was what we wanted to do!