Cousins in October

The Cousins had a short, but sweet and fun time together last weekend. I'll post a few pictures to give the essence of some of the events, but as always, there are a lot of pictures, a lot of action, and it would take more space than a mere blog entry to tell it all. 

A successful restaurant: The opening ceremonies for Cousin Weekend involved the biggest restaurant extravaganza the cousins have yet to concoct. It started on Friday night after Hannah and Vivi arrived in St. Peter. Miles and Westy were here to greet them, and had some time to play. The four of them rearranged and reorganized the sunroom so nearly every square inch was covered in contents from the play cupboard. Business took off. Owen and Ethan joined in on Saturday morning, and business continued to thrive. Cousins were taking orders, working the sandwich line, making change, serving food, and collecting tips for the poor. 

A tray of doughnuts with monster teeth and six little monsters to gobble up the goodies: Enough said.

A birthday party for a six-year-old: The youngest cousin is now 6, and has caught up to Vivi. In poker terms around here a pair of 6's, a pair of 7's, an 8 and a 9 make a FULL HOUSE.

   

A sleepover: E & O stayed overnight at our house so C & A could get up and out the door early to run in the Mankato Half Marathon. While the runners were running, the cousins were goofing around.

A post-run selfie:  Hurray for Mommy/Auntie Angie and Daddy/Uncle Charlie!

A workout at the TreeMendous Playground:  Surprisingly, we've never taken a photo of all six cousins playing on the equipment in Gorman Park. We almost didn't get one this time, as a couple of the impy-er cousins preferred running away from the photo shoot. But eventually, all six convened long enough for some smiles together.

A Halloween scavenger hunt:  Six cousins x one clue per cousin = six spooky prizes per cousin to hand out to the other cousins, with an occasional photo to document the fun.

A campus visit:  The cousins love to run around the Gustavus campus. Here are Owen and Cousin Pumpkin. Vivi managed to get a snuggly ride from Uncle Charlie.

A happy grandpa:  He'd be even happier if Miles and Westy had still been in St. Peter when this picture was taken, but he managed to be amused by four out of six for a while.

Thanks to the cousins and their parents for a fun weekend. 

Evan, we missed you!

Westy is 6!

Happy Birthday Weston Charles-Sometimes-Jay Grimmius!

We love you lots. Enjoy being SIX!

Viv's turn for a birthday

And now she is SIX!

Happy Birthday, Vivian! 

Lots of love to you from us.

Birthday girl

Happy Birthday, Elisabeth Susan Potts Dellon

Still one of my favorite photos of you, ESPD.  I've always wondered...did you find toenail fungus when you looked at Dad's foot under the microscope?  We love you!

September, the month of birthdays

Happy Birthday Gpa/Gpappy/Dad/Larry!  

The party continues...

This looks like a Gustavus ID card photo from (quite) a few years back. You probably still have the sweater. Lots of love on your birthday and every day!

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I have to add this picture, too, for posterity. It appeared a few days ago out of L/D/Gpappy's files. Going back even further in time...

Notes about the VW from Larry on GroupMe:  
That was my project through the spring and early summer of 1971, taking breaks while writing my thesis. I cleaned up all the rust, repaired holes in the floorboards, filled holes with fiberglass/epoxy, and sanded and sanded and sanded. My friend Jim Dietz and I did the paint job...old color was black. New color Baia Red. 1964 bug.

ESPD:
Awesome pic! ;) Hannah identified Grandpappy immediately, even without zooming in on the photo.  Vivi is giggling about Grandpa's Mickey Mouse T shirt.

Charlie:
That's the one under the troll in Seattle!

Annie: 
MJ commented on the Mickey shirt right away, too. Ha!

Somebody is a year older

Happy Birthday, Tiger Grimmius!

Fairy Garden

I wasn't going to write about the wedding we went to yesterday, but you'll see why I changed my mind in a moment. Oh-- if you haven't read the previous entry about the cousins starting school, please read it as well. Those kids are growing like weeds (did I really say that?) and getting older by the minute (did I really say THAT?).

Katie, the daughter of a friend of ours and also a former fifth grade student of mine, got married yesterday afternoon outside of Stillwater at Camrose Hill Flower Studio and Farm. If you take a look at the website, be sure to choose the farm tour link to see how lovely it is. The pictures will show it better than I can describe it.

When I'd looked at the site last week, I saw a picture of a fairy sculpture that was charming and funky. I found it near the reception tent and managed to get a photo without human distractions all around. Not easy, because it was a busy area, but I was patient, managed to lean in the right direction at the right time, and got a passable photo.

Then this little guy showed up. He loved the fairy, too. I loved watching him admire her, and then admire his shoes.

The most fun of the evening was talking to two SPHS classmates of Katie. Christine and Kari remembered a lot of the same things I remembered when they were in my class, and we shared other funny moments that they can be amused by now that they're adults! Their memory of that year is especially clear because the St. Peter tornado occurred in March of their 5th grade year, and it brought an already close and caring class even closer. It's funny for me to be Mrs. Potts to them now that they're in their late 20's. I'm working on being "Jill" to them. They sent a selfie of the three of us to their friend Andy (also in their fifth grade class), who's in Boston (I think). I told them I would be surprised if he knew it was me standing between them. Christine said, "Don't worry--I told him it was you." I'm somewhat relieved she didn't add, "I wouldn't take a picture of just any old lady to send to Andy."

Beautiful wedding, good time talking to not only Kari and Christine, but friends from Gustavus that we haven't seen in a while.