Cousins weekend

I have finally downloaded some of my pics from our "Cousin's weekend" last weekend.

My aunt (Pam) and uncle (Dickey)-(my mom's sister and brother-in-law)- live on Lake Conroe. They have 2 sons (Kevin and Keith) and they both live up in the area with their wives and children. When we were kids and we would come to Houston to visit, they were the cousins we spent most of our time with. When we have family reunions or other family activities, we don't always get to spend time with them and their families. So, we planned a "cousin's weekend" so that we could get some good quality time with them.

Here's a pic I took from the deck Saturday morning...


We had so much fun with everyone. Here's a breakdown of the families:
Pam and Dickey= 2 son's: Kevin and Keith
Kevin and his wife, Mandy= twins Hunter and Hannah
Keith and his wife, Jana= daughter Kaitlyn

And then there's my family: (I'll break it down for the readers who don't know my family)
Mom and Dad= 3 kids: (oldest to youngest=) Jason, me, Brad
Jason and his wife, Jenn= Julia and Johnathan
Me and my hubby, Steve= no kids
Brad and his wife, Shannon= Mallory and Morgan

There were a total of 14 adults and 7 kids (all 3 years old or younger).

It was fun and an experience! Obviously Steve and I are the only one's who were there that do not have children. It's a different world for us... but the norm for everyone else who was there. It's amazing how much everything revolves around the kiddos. It wasn't a bad thing at all... it's just not something Steve and I have to do yet, so it's different for us. ALL of the kids did so wonderful and were such a joy to be around! And the parents are all awesome to their children and it's fun to see them all be parents.

So, here's what we did that weekend...
Friday: everyone arrived and hung out (we got there late that night, so I'm not sure what they all did before we arrived)
Saturday:
- All the guys out on the boat at 7am to go fishing
- Girls just hang out on the deck with the kiddos- note: not at 7am... more like 10am
here's one of mom lovin' on Johnathan- he just soaks up the "cuddle" time! Precious!


- Late that morning all the girls got all the kids dressed in their matching clothes (from B-mom) and we attempted a photo shoot! (the first attempt went down hill as soon as we started putting them in place- never had a chance for one picture to be taken... the second was a little better and we moved to a different "location"- actually had a chance to snap a picture or two!)

(left-right) Johnathan, Mallory, Julia, Hunter, Morgan, Hannah, Kaitlyn




- Guys return from fishing trip and clean/gut the fish (I stood and watched the whole thing... quite disgusting, but I couldn't stop watching)
Here are the guys (minus Keith... he was inside helping put his daughter down for a nap I think)

Steve, Jason & Johnathan, Kevin, Dad, Uncle Dickey, and Brad


- photos with the fish and some of the Bankhead kids
In this one Mallory's not sure what to think, Johnathan just wants to grab one, Julia is mesmerized, and Hunter is probably trying to figure why the other kids are acting so weird... he's seen fish plenty of times as opposed to those Bankheads!



- lunch and visit with everyone
- kids down for nap and the girls go to Sonic and then shopping (had a 2 hour get-a-way before the kids were up from their naps)

- we load up for a boat ride around the lake

The captain (Uncle Dickey- see... yes... I got your picture!!!) and Kevin and Mandy trying to console Hunter while Hannah sits in between them calmly


Mandy, Jenn, Johnathan, Jason, Julia, Mallory, and Brad


- all kids 2 and under + on a boat + hot sun + life jackets up in their faces = not so happy campers after a little while.
Morgan crying... this is before the blankie and lots of consoling:

After:


Johnathan- crying with Morgan- before being cuddled and sang to by my dad (Pop)

After having Pop sing to him, he's about to be asleep:


Here's a video of everyone on the boat... before the little one's got upset... (WARNING- turn your volume down... the wind is VERY loud)


- The boat ride ends...


- home from the boat ride then straight to the slip-n-slide for the kiddos






- go eat at Incredible Pizza for dinner... which I must say I thought was INCREDIBLE! (they named it just right). The food was great and the entertainment/environment was even better! This place has EVERYTHING- go-carts, miniature golf, bumper cars, ice skating rink, mini-bowling alley, laser tag, video games/arcades, and a little room for small children. All the toys/furniture in this room were all rubber (with the exception of a few that the kids ride on verses climb on). It was great. Oh, and it was ALL in-doors!!

The men chillin' while the kiddos play (Steve, dad, and Brad)


Mallory riding the carousel


Hunter and Hannah on the slide w/ Mandy close by to make sure they don't fall off


Julia on the carousel


Hunter, Hannah, and Johnathan on the "dancing" game


Dad w/ his fun hat!


Julia and Mallory love each other so much...




- home to visit and then go to bed

Sunday:
- breakfast with everyone
- family photo shoot- Keith and Jana couldn't come over unfortunately, so they aren't in the pic :-(

I accidently had my camera set on "video" so, I thought I had set the timer for my camera. Welp, I did set the timer, but I set it to start video taping in 10 seconds! This is what we do to make the kids smile and ourselves laugh!... ( I think this is better than the actual pictures!!!)


- everyone departs to go home :-(

Again... it was such a wonderful time with everyone!!! The things that aren't told are the fun stories, teasing, funny people, visiting, and all the other stuff that takes place when you're with family! It was wonderful and I hope we do it again next year!!!

Lastly, we missed our "babies" after being gone all weekend. We left them at the Pet Hotel and this is how excited they were to see us when we picked them up... they are pretty much dragging the poor girl!!!