The End

Wednesday (6/26) my oldest sister and her family packed up their car and headed home. I helped Grammy pack up all our stuff at the Yellow House and we took it back to her house. I tried not to unpack any of my stuff because I knew we'd be leaving the next day. The kids were great helpers (they didn't have anything else to do). I spent the day doing laundry and packing the car and setting up the movie stuff, so we'd be ready to leave the next day.

Thursday we made the drive home. I left later than I had wanted but it all worked out just fine. We made it home safely, and Kevin was ready with ice cream. The kids sat down for "dinner" and when they saw the bowls of ice cream they were NOT excited. Ben said, "Can I have pizza instead?" After a day of eating snacks, crackers, etc, they were ready for real food. We thought it was funny and will have to remind them often about how they really don't want ice cream for dinner every night.

We had such a nice visit with my parents and family. I'm so glad that we are able to get together and I hope it continues so that we can strengthen our family relationships. I'm sad that one family missed out but hopefully they'll be able to come to the next one. Love you guys!

Terrific Tuesday

Tuesday was filled with lots of activities. I was a little worried about having Domonique get her hair cut because I'm so afraid of loosing the curls. I ended up having her hair trimmed but not very much. Fortunately, the curl is still there.

 

My oldest sister had lots of activities for the kids Tuesday afternoon. The first one was egg shell painting. She had been very diligent at cleaning out a dozen egg shells, letting them dry, and then putting paint inside them. 

 

 

 

 

 

The second activity was a snowball fight. Well, sort of. We mixed shaving cream with corn starch and split the cousins into three groups. They each got a bowl of the stuff that they could make into balls and throw at each other in their group. Why groups? We've got quite the age range so we wanted the littler kids together, then the middle kids, then the older kids. I think it worked out nicely.

 

We decided we may have over mixed the stuff because it wasn't packing together like it should have. Maybe the kids and I will have to try this again at home and see what happens.

Of course, after you make a mess like this you have to use the hose to rinse off. And bowls, buckets or whatever you can find that holds water. And I'm sure no one is surprised at how willing everyone was to rinse someone else off.

The third activity was a little tricky. The kids were supposed to tie balloons to their ankles and then try to pop each others balloons by stepping on them. Unfortunately, the balloons popped when the kids went into the grass. So we moved to the cement patio on the other side of the house, but we were a little afraid of kids getting hurt. Fortunately, no one did. None of the younger kids wanted their balloons popped but they were very ready to pop someone else's balloon. Strange.

You might say that was a full afternoon! And it certainly was but that was not the end of our activities. Before dinner we found a nodder. She just couldn't stay awake any longer, but wouldn't go to sleep in her bed.

After dinner, my younger sister and her kids headed home (she needed to get home for appointments and packing and moving stuff) so we all gave hugs and kisses and saw them off. Then my oldest sister had another activity for my kids - making wands. They took a trip to my parents house to find better sticks and then came home to decorate them.

And that was not all, oh that was not all. My sister and her family wanted to see Vocal Point so my kids, and Grammy, joined them. I stayed home with a sleeping Domonique and Harmonie. I must say it was kind of scary to be in that big house, in an unfamiliar city, all alone. I tried to keep busy (working on my wand, cleaning up and so forth) but it was still very hard not to get a little paranoid. They kids all had a nice time and everyone was happy when they returned home.

It was truly a full day of fun, family and activity! Thanks for such a great time!

Here's a picture of our finished wands. Well, they are not quite all finished, since the kids left for the concert and came home late but this is what we have. I am missing Xiomara's because it got broken and may have gotten thrown out, even though I wanted to keep it. Anyway...

From left to right: Ben, Kemiah, Emily, Marissa, and mine.
Marissa's is the least completed because she ended up burning her finger on the hot glue gun and went to the concert. My is complete, because I didn't go to the concert. We don't really play with them or anything. Mine stays in my car just to remind me... well, of whatever I want to be reminded of. It was fun.

Monday Madness

Okay, it wasn't really madness. The boys got some time to do some real wrestling. The oldest boy cousin took on two of the younger ones and he put up a really good fight. I was a little concerned that someone would get hurt, but was happy to see that they all took off their glasses before getting rough. (I was also a little concerned when I saw the bruises Ben had after all the cousins left - knowing they had come from the wrestling. Ouch!)

 

 

My oldest sister enjoys feeding my youngest ones - and they enjoy eating from her. Both Harmonie and Domonique have been on the lighter side of the weight scale so it's nice to see them eat when their Aunt is around.

 The craft for the day was different for the boys and girls. The girls made necklaces, and the boys painted rocks. Each group enjoyed their activity, so that was great. My girls made three necklaces and then an extra charm to be made into a magnet when we got home. Ben wanted to make a magnet as well, so he was able to do both crafts.

The boys went down by the Mississippi River with two of their aunts and their Gaffa to collect rocks for the painting craft. The adults were thinking of smooth, rounded rocks, but they couldn't find that kind. they had a variety of jagged rocks and enjoyed being creative. Ben made a tic-tac-toe board and painted rock pieces to go with. One of the cousins was very creative and painted several things: a bee that had a rock painted like a flower to sit on, a turtle that had a rock painted like a log to sit on. It was fun to watch them create.

 

My oldest sister was in charge of the Family Home Evening lesson for Monday night. She talked about choices and consequences. She shared the story that President Monson shared in General Conference from his youth at the family cabin. He chose to play with matches, even though he had been taught and knew he shouldn't.

She has made a board game like Chutes and Ladders, but we got to make up the choices and consequences. The kids really enjoyed it and I hope we all learned something.

All my girls got trims before their haircutting aunt left the reunion. Don't worry, Kemiah wasn't really sad, she was just acting.

Relaxing Sunday

In Keokuk, there is a branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They are always excited when the Payne Family Reunion comes around, because we add quite a few to their numbers. Of course, their numbers fluctuate all summer long because they are so close to Nauvoo, so lots of visitors come through their branch. We always enjoy our time at Church, filling up a couple rows and sitting with our extended family.

 

After Church, the cousins just hung out, made pictures and paper airplanes, and some thought they might take a nap.

 

 

My younger sister had dinner and it was pretty yummy - cream ranch chicken (I think).

 

My brother, and his family, has to leave Monday morning so his oldest son decided to have a hair cut before they left. I think it was an awesome choice.