cuzzzzzins!

When Aaron and I got engaged and he came to my first family function, he was shocked by the size of my family. On the drive home he quietly said, "I'm never going to be able to convince you to move away, am I?" I assured him that I was up for an adventure and would go wherever he wanted to go. After 10 years of living hours away, I think I am ready to move back. My kids are missing out on sleepovers and parties and game-nights and memories and it kills me. I know what it's like to grow up down the street from your cousins and I feel bad that my kids aren't getting it. I am not saying we WILL move, but it's definitely been the topic of conversation since we've been home.

The main reason for this early trip was because Corah and Addy flew in from Atlanta to go to camp with the other girl cousins. They had been playing for a couple of weeks before we arrived. The boy cousins were anxiously waiting their reunion with the Shumway boys. When we pulled up, boys were mosh-pitting in the street before I could park the van. I pulled out my phone as fast as I could to snap a picture. I was chocked up watching these grown boys love on each other. If only I could have captured the screams and excitement on video...

The rest of the trip included non-stop games, fireworks, sleepovers, pizza, parks, playdates, swimming, bbqs, popsicles, movies, splashing in puddles, bike rides, trampoline jumping, glowsticks, starburst unwrapping contests, hiking and absolutely no SLEEP at all. Many nights my kids were staying at a different place than I was. We were playing musical cars and houses and clothes. Luckily there were boys with the same size feet as my kids because it was nonstop chaos... and that's exactly what makes a vacation a vacation! there were no rules! Being with their cousins was definitely the highlight of their summer. They are counting down the days until they can seen their crazy cuzzins again!

Unfortunately, not all of their cousins were pictured.