We didn't manage to have a complete cousins' camp this summer. Partly because some of the cousins moved an entire time zone away and partly because some of the cousins played on three different baseball teams all summer and partly because of my own lack of planning.
We did get two sets of cousins together last weekend, though. All their parents needed to be out of town at the same time, and we took advantage of the moment. There were only seven cousins, but they ranged in age from two to ten, so that kept things interesting.
By the time they went home, Grandpa and I were pretty much exhausted. But we made some great memories! (That's what people say when the memory of a thing is much nicer than the thing itself. ) That isn't entirely true. It is probably more accurate to say that in the midst of the activity, we had trouble concentrating on anything except the tasks at hand. Afterwards, we could replay events in a more lesuiely fashion and remember how wonderful it was.
They have only been gone a few hours, and I'm already planning for next year. (I have a brilliant idea for bringing in more grandparents!!!) Felicity wisely pointed out it will become harder to pull off a Cousin's Camp the older they all get. So, I'm not letting a summer slip away again. At least not if I can round them all up and hold them still long enough to get one good group hug. And a picture.
This post made me think of the "cousin camps" my cousins & I went to. Actually it was more like we all got shipped to Grandma & Grandpa P's who lived in a trailer in Corona, CA where the average daytime summer temp was 98 degrees. (7 cousins in a trailer! What were our parents thinking?)
ReplyDeleteThere was a swimming pool in the trailer court but we could only go there for an hour a day. (Why, I don't know.) The girls had to learn to sew (Grandma wasn't very patient) & the boys had to learn to work with tools.
While we didn't have near as much fun as your gang did, we certainly made memories that we still talk & laugh about.
I'm just glad that you & Wendell are nice, fun grandparents!!
When we got in the car to leave, the door closed, and John said, "Well, I was excited all the way here and hoping this would never end. And it just did."
ReplyDelete