Happy Camp 2011

This weekend we ventured off to a resort on the lake for "My Cousins Rock ~ Back to School Weekend 2011".  We did not tell the kiddos where we were going for the weekend and my nephew Hunter was very nervous.  Nana and I had him convinced we were going camping for a while and he was completely miserable with the thought of it.  I can not say I blame him since it has been 102 degrees around here.

Emma & Gavin love their big cousins and they are pretty crazy about them too.   Gavin will be moving up to the 2 year old classroom this year, Hunter is going to 4th grade, Cameron is going to be our big kindergartner and Emma is beginning Pre K 4. 

Curtis and I stayed up the night before we left to make these silly little Tshirts for all of them and they wore them with pride.

We stayed in a suite facing the lake and had big fun jumping on the beds, eating pizza, swimming, sliding, roasting marshmallows, watching the pirate show, floating the lazy river, making smores, feeding the ducks, enjoying fireworks, playing checkers and just hanging out.

These four did not have a problem finding things to entertain themselves and it was monkey see, monkey do all weekend long.

These two played their hearts out this weekend with their favorite two cousins and really did not want the weekend to come to an end. 

Lots of first timers around this fire roasting their Marshmallows to make smores and they turned out so YUMMY!

Just ask Emma Lou, she thought they were finger licking good and so did we.  Hunter and Aunt Stacey turned their marshmallows completely black, but we still ate them.

This little girl has become a really good swimmer this summer and is officially using her arms and legs properly in the water while swimming.  Daddy taught her to come up for breaths this weekend and she can almost make it across the pool all by herself.  She loves the water and has become very confident in her abilities, sometimes a little too confident.  Looks like we will be joining Coach John next summer for swim team if she continues to improve her skills and her love for swimming.

Hunter was so excited from the second we arrived at the resort because of the Chess and Checkers game.  He enjoyed teaching Emma how to play until Gavin kept taking the checkers away and throwing them everywhere.

Cameron was so sweet all weekend and has finally realized that Emma is going to kiss and hug her constantly no matter if she likes it or not.  Emma just can not get enough of her and Cameron can not get enough of Gavin.

Emma had to sport this big purple neoprene swimband because of her recent ear surgery.  To date this is the most expensive headband I have purchased (ha ha), but the little sucker did its trick and her ears stayed dry.

Here they go on the Lazy River and looks like Hunter is leading the way. 

It is a miracle Gavin is not sick every time we leave a  pool of any kind because when he gets thirsty he handles the situation himself.

I love all these kiddos so much and am truly blessed that they are a part of my life.  I really enjoyed watching all of them run, laugh and play together this weekend.

Hunter loved the water slides and each of us took  turns sliding with him. I think he liked sliding with Uncle Curtis the best because they would lay down and go super fast.  This boy is sweet, polite and I hope Gavin loves me one day as much as he loves his Momma.

Emma climbed the stairs a couple times and went down the big red slide with Mommy and Daddy.  I think it might have been a little too fast for her liking because she decided she would rather wait at the bottom and watch Hunter shoot out into the water. 



So this was our last little adventure before school starts and I am so glad we made time to fit this into all of our busy schedules.

We were excited that Nana got to join us on our little getaway and we are already thinking about where we will spend  "My Cousins Rock" next summer.

As the summer comes to an end and the COUSINS get ready to head back to school, I am praying and hoping that they all have the best school year ever.  I hope they are blessed with God loving teachers that will love and nurture them while making them rise to very high expectations.  I pray that school will be a great experience for each one of them and they continue to love learning.  I know each one of them will be successful and soar during the 2011-2012 school year.