Fun with Cousins!

All the kids were up and ready to have fun together on Saturday! Sofia and Olivia actually had soccer games at 9am, which Sofia begged to miss so she could spend the morning playing with her cousins. We convinced her she had to play because her team depended on her to show up and Connie promised to bring their cousins down to the soccer field to watch. Connie and the girls' cousins arrived about halfway into Olivia's game and watched her play then we all walked over to watch Sofia's game. After the game, we walked back to the house. Sofia held Jackson's hand and helped him as we walked and she completely loves hanging out with him. It's so cute that she wants to be with him and hold his hand. Olivia held Connie's hand while Chandler and Jillian ran up ahead.

As soon as the kids were back at the house, we ate donuts and the kids all changed into their swimsuits to swim! The weather was marginally warmer although the water couldn't have been very warm. Once again, Jillian and Olivia played and stuck together and Sofia and Chandler floated around on the pool toys. I'm not entirely sure any of them actually got completely wet, but they had fun floating on the water and playing around the pool. Finally, they started making a little mud and water concoction in a sand bucket and then started playing in the water toys the cousins' brought for the girls. They gave the girls a whale and octopus that shoot water out the top when attached to a hose. They had so much fun squealing from the cold water and running around. Finally, they were hungry for lunch which we made sandwiches again and then they all had popsicles and hung out together on the huge turtle floaty.

After popsicles, they were all too cold to swim so we walked over to Marco and Stacy's backyard to play on their play structure and swings. Stacy and Marco are in New York visiting his brother and family and they offered us use of their minivan, play structure and even their extra bedrooms. Their minivan has been really useful already and the kids had a ball on the play structure. Olivia and Jillian had a great time swinging together and playing in their swimsuits. The kids played for a while and had a great time before we headed back to our house for pizza.

The kids were really wanting to sleep together, and we offered to let them try it out since it was their last night together. As it was, the girls slept on a blow-up bed in our bedroom while Chandler and Jillian slept in Olivia's bedroom - one in the bed and another on another blow-up bed. Jackson was on yet another blow-up bed in the middle of the playroom upstairs, which ended up causing Connie to sleep on the couch to be sure he didn't get up in the night and fall down the stairs. The four cousins wanted to all sleep in Olivia's room, which we thought for sure would mean NO ONE would sleep, but we went ahead and gave it a try. After dinner, the kids all took baths and went to bed after yet another fun day playing together. As far as we know, all the kids slept relatively well.

Sofia and her buddy Jackson

Love this picture of the kids walking home together....

Grandma and Olivia

Jillian and Olivia - best friends!

Sofia reading before getting into the pool

Swimming

Making mud and water creations

Popsicle break

Swinging together!